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Cybersecurity · head to head

Milestone XProtect vs Prettier

Milestone XProtect logo

Milestone XProtect

Cybersecurity

Open platform video management software with perpetual per-device licences

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Prettier logo

Prettier

Developer Tools

Opinionated code formatter

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Milestone XProtect care Plus is presented as optional but is not in practice: without it, perpetual licences stop receiving version upgrades and eventually you cannot add a current camera because your frozen version does not support it.; Prettier inflexible style rules that cannot be customized significantly, forcing teams to accept opinionated defaults
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Milestone XProtect and Prettier actually diverge.

Attributes where Milestone XProtect and Prettier differ
AttributeMilestone XProtectPrettier
Pricing modelOne-time purchase per device licence, plus annual Care Plusfree
PlatformsWindows, Web, iOS, AndroidCLI, Editor Plugins, Build Tools
CategoryCybersecurityDeveloper Tools
FoundedUnknown2016

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Milestone XProtect

  • Open device support
  • Perpetual device licences
  • Federated architecture
  • Failover recording
  • Evidence export
  • Smart Map
  • Integration platform
  • Video summarisation

Only in Prettier

Nothing recorded that Milestone XProtect does not also cover.

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Milestone XProtect

  • A city or transport operator running tens of thousands of cameras across federated sitesnot Prettier
  • An enterprise with mixed legacy camera brands that refuses to standardise on one manufacturernot Prettier
  • A critical infrastructure site needing failover recording servers and tamper-evident evidence exportnot Prettier
  • An integrator building a bespoke security application on top of an open VMS platformnot Prettier

Prettier

  • Automatically formatting TypeScript files to project style standardsnot Milestone XProtect
  • Enforcing consistent HTML indentation across component filesnot Milestone XProtect
  • Removing style-related comments from pull request reviewsnot Milestone XProtect
  • Formatting GraphQL queries with consistent indentationnot Milestone XProtect

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Milestone XProtect

  • Care Plus is presented as optional but is not in practice: without it, perpetual licences stop receiving version upgrades and eventually you cannot add a current camera because your frozen version does not support it.
  • Per-device licensing means multi-sensor and multi-imager cameras consume several licences each, so a headline camera count badly understates the true licence cost of a modern design.
  • It is Windows only for servers and needs a properly designed server and storage architecture, so the software price is a fraction of a project that also needs recording servers, storage and an integrator.
  • Complexity requires trained staff or a certified integrator; organisations that install it without either end up running a large deployment on default settings and never using the features they paid for.
  • Milestone retired Kite from its portfolio in favour of Arcules from January 2025, which stranded buyers who had standardised on Kite and is a reminder that the cloud side of the portfolio has changed direction more than once.

Prettier

  • Inflexible style rules that cannot be customized significantly, forcing teams to accept opinionated defaults
  • Developers must format entire files rather than selective line ranges in some contexts
  • Limited language support compared to some alternatives, though it covers major languages

Pricing, plan by plan

Milestone XProtect

Free
  • XProtect Essential+Free
    • Free for up to 8 cameras
    • No recording time limit
    • No vendor support included
  • XProtect Express+$109/one-time
    • Perpetual device licence, distributor list price
    • Single site, single server
    • Care Plus purchased separately per device per year
  • XProtect Professional+$177/one-time
    • Perpetual device licence, distributor list price
    • Multiple recording servers
    • Edge storage retrieval
  • XProtect Expert$282/one-time
    • Perpetual device licence, distributor list price
    • Failover recording servers
    • Advanced video wall and evidence handling

Prettier

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Prettier review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Milestone XProtect if

  • You need open device support.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want perpetual device licences.
Milestone XProtect review

Choose Prettier if

  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on CLI, Editor Plugins, Build Tools.
Prettier review

Questions people ask

Is Milestone XProtect or Prettier better?
Neither clearly leads. Milestone XProtect starts at Free and Prettier at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Milestone XProtect or Prettier?
Milestone XProtect starts at Free and Prettier at Free.
Does Milestone XProtect or Prettier run on more platforms?
Milestone XProtect runs on Windows, Web, iOS, Android. Prettier runs on CLI, Editor Plugins, Build Tools.
Can I use Milestone XProtect for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Milestone XProtect best used for?
Milestone XProtect is most often used for a city or transport operator running tens of thousands of cameras across federated sites, an enterprise with mixed legacy camera brands that refuses to standardise on one manufacturer, a critical infrastructure site needing failover recording servers and tamper-evident evidence export, an integrator building a bespoke security application on top of an open vms platform. Of those, a city or transport operator running tens of thousands of cameras across federated sites and an enterprise with mixed legacy camera brands that refuses to standardise on one manufacturer are not what Prettier is typically brought in for.
What can Milestone XProtect do that Prettier cannot?
Milestone XProtect covers Open device support, Perpetual device licences, Federated architecture, Failover recording.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Milestone XProtect: Is XProtect really free for small sites?

Essential+ is free for up to eight cameras with no recording time limit, but it comes with no vendor support and no multi-server capability.

Prettier: Is Prettier free and open source?

Yes, Prettier is completely free and open source, available as an npm package with no licensing costs or subscriptions.

Source
Milestone XProtect: Are licences perpetual or annual?

Device licences are perpetual. The annual cost is Care Plus, the support and software update contract, which you need to stay on current versions.

Prettier: Can Prettier be integrated with ESLint?

Yes, Prettier integrates with ESLint by disabling ESLint formatting rules via eslint-config-prettier, allowing both tools to work together with Prettier handling formatting and ESLint handling code quality.

Source
Milestone XProtect: What happens if I do not renew Care Plus?

The system keeps recording, but you stop getting version upgrades, and over a few years that blocks you from adding newer cameras.

Prettier: Does Prettier support configuration customization?

Prettier is intentionally opinionated with limited configuration options to enforce consistency. You can create a .prettierrc file for basic customization, but Prettier does not support extensive rule customization like ESLint.

Source
Milestone XProtect: Who owns Milestone?

Canon. The portfolio also includes BriefCam analytics and Arcules cloud video, with Arcules replacing Milestone Kite from January 2025.

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