CCTV software for a Windows PC: what each brand provides

Look at the front of the recorder and at its sticker for the brand. The software for that brand is the one to use. Each maker's program is made for its own devices. Reolink, for example, says its software does not support any third-party camera or NVR.

If your recorder has no clear brand and its guide mentions XMEye, see our XMEye guide. If you are not sure whether you have a DVR or an NVR, our DVR vs NVR guide shows how to tell.

These are the programs each maker offers for Windows. Download each one only from the maker's own site. Where a maker calls its program free, we say so. For the others, the maker lists a download on its site and we do not state a price.

• Hikvision: iVMS-4200. Hikvision presents it as free client software. It shows live video, plays back recordings and lets you change device settings. It is for Windows, and there is a separate Mac version. Get it from hikvision.com under Support, Download, Software. iVMS-4200 Lite is not listed on Hikvision's download pages today. Our iVMS-4200 guide covers the download and adding devices.
• Dahua: SmartPSS Lite. Dahua's wiki says the older SmartPSS is discontinued and tells people to install SmartPSS Lite instead. The wiki hosts a Windows installer and one for Macs with Apple M chips. Our SmartPSS Lite guide covers the install, and our Dahua ConfigTool guide covers finding Dahua devices on your network.
• CP Plus: KVMS Pro Lite. CP Plus lists it, version V1.0, on its software page under Orange. CP Plus's release note lists Windows 7, Windows 8 and 64-bit Windows 10 and 11, and the page lists no Mac version. Our KVMS Pro guide covers the download and setup, our CP Plus IP Finder guide helps you find the recorder's address, and our gCMOB for PC guide explains how the phone app and the PC software fit together.
• Uniview: EZStation 3.0. Uniview lists it on its site as video management software for its IP cameras, NVRs and hybrid NVRs. The product page has a Download tab, so check it for the Windows version that suits your PC.
• Reolink: Reolink Client. Reolink says both the download and the use are free. It is for Windows and Mac, and it comes from Reolink's Download Center at reolink.com/software-and-manual. Our Reolink guide covers the Client.
• Lorex: Lorex lists desktop software on its downloads page. That is Lorex Client 13 for Windows, a VMS Client and a Cloud Client for Windows and macOS. Which one suits your recorder depends on the model, so use Lorex's compatibility chart. Our Lorex app guide covers it.
• Axis: AXIS Camera Station Edge. Axis offers it as a free download and says licences are included with Axis devices. It is for Axis devices.
• Other brands, such as TVT, Hanwha and Prama: look on your brand's own support page, or in the recorder's manual, for the software it names.

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• Where the file comes from. Use the maker's own site, never a download or software-library site. These programs keep the login details of every device you add, so a changed copy is a real risk.
• Your PC. Hikvision's datasheet for iVMS-4200 version 3.13 lists Windows 7 SP1 and later, including Windows 10 and 11, an Intel Core i3 or better, 4 GB of memory and a screen of at least 1280 by 768. Dahua's SmartPSS Lite datasheet from 2022 lists 64-bit Windows 7, 8 and 10, an Intel Core i5-6500 class processor, 8 GB of memory and a 256 GB disk, and it does not list Windows 11. CP Plus's release note for KVMS Pro Lite lists Windows 7, Windows 8 and 64-bit Windows 10 and 11. Check the datasheet for the version you download.
• How many cameras it can show. Dahua's datasheet lists up to 64 devices and 64 video channels, rated for D1 video (720 by 576). Modern cameras send far more detail, so expect to open fewer at once, or switch to the sub stream, the lighter second stream that most cameras send. Hikvision's performance table for version 3.13 (software decoding, for reference only) shows a Core i3-8100 PC with 4 GB showing 9 channels of 1080p video at 6 Mbps each, and a Core i5-9400F PC with 8 GB showing 18.
• Same network or serial number. If the PC is on the same network as the recorder, add it by IP address. If not, most brands let you add it by serial number through their cloud connection, which needs the recorder to be online. Our CCTV on mobile guide shows where to switch that on for each brand.
• Two passwords. When KVMS Pro Lite and SmartPSS Lite first open, they ask you to set a password and security questions for the software itself. Then you enter the recorder's own username and password to add the recorder. They are not the same password.
• Who records. The recorder keeps the recordings, and the software only shows them, although some programs can also save pictures and clips on the PC. The PC has to stay on, with the program open, if you want the cameras on screen all day.

Many recorders open in a web browser when you type their IP address on the same network. CP Plus's quick start guide gives the default address of its DVRs as 192.168.1.240, and its NVR manual gives 192.168.1.245. Newer recorders ask you to set a password at the first login, and the first time you open the live view the browser may ask you to install a plugin. If you do not know the recorder's address, our CP Plus IP Finder guide and our Hikvision SADP tool guide show how to find it.

Each program is for its own brand, so a site with two brands usually needs two programs.

If the cameras or recorders offer RTSP or ONVIF, other software can read their video too. Our RTSP and ONVIF guide explains both. Software that shows many brands in one window also exists, and your installer can tell you what they use.

Watching is only part of the job. None of these programs watches the screen for you. A person still has to be looking, or the recorder has to raise an alarm of its own, and recorders differ a lot in what they can spot. At 2 a.m. nobody is looking.

That is the gap we fill. Our software runs on a Windows PC at your site and tells you when something happens. Your recorder and the maker's software carry on as before. See alerts from the cameras you have.