Weapon Detection Guide

Gun Detection Software The 6 Best AI Weapon Detection Systems Compared, With Pricing, SAFETY Act Status, and Honest Limits.

AI gun detection software watches your camera feeds and alerts your team the moment a visible firearm appears, cutting the gap between a weapon being drawn and a lockdown starting. This guide compares the six platforms schools, hospitals, and businesses actually shortlist in 2026, prints what pricing is public, flags which vendors hold federal SAFETY Act designation, and is honest about the one thing no camera system can do: see a concealed weapon.

Last updated July 2026

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The Short Answer

What Is the Best Gun Detection Software?

The best gun detection software depends on your risk profile, your budget, and whether you need federal liability protection. ZeroEyes is the category leader and one of only two vendors here with a full Department of Homeland Security SAFETY Act designation; Omnilert holds the other and layers flexible human verification on top. Scylla emphasizes low false alarms and an air-gapped edge option, while Actuate and Coram AI add gun detection inside broader video platforms. All five run on the ONVIF and RTSP cameras you already own, so no camera replacement is required.

Every one of these systems detects a visible, drawn firearm. None of them can detect a concealed weapon, because only a walk-through screening lane can see under clothing. Prices are almost never published: ZeroEyes contracts in public records land between roughly $168 and $592 per camera per year depending on camera count, and the others quote per deployment. The table below compares all six on cameras, SAFETY Act status, and price so you can shortlist against your real requirements rather than a marketing claim.

Quick Picks by Need

Category leaderZeroEyes

Managed verificationOmnilert

Air-gapped / edgeScylla

Inside a video platformActuate / Coram

AI layer on your camsSurveillant

SAFETY Act designatedZeroEyes / Omnilert

Concealed weapons cannot be detected by any camera. Only a physical screening lane can.

Gun Detection Software Compared

Platform	Best for	Uses your cameras	SAFETY Act	Rough price
ZeroEyes	Category-leading dedicated detection	Yes, ONVIF / RTSP	Yes, designated	~$168 to $592 / cam / yr
Omnilert	Flexible human verification	Yes, existing cameras	Yes, designated	Custom quote
Scylla	Air-gapped / edge, low false alarms	Yes, existing cameras	No, NDAA 889 compliant	Custom quote
Actuate AI	Detection inside a broader platform	Yes, existing cameras	No	Custom, tiered
Coram AI	Detection plus cloud VMS	Yes, any IP camera	No	Per-feed custom quote
Surveillant	AI search and threat alerts on your cams	Yes, any ONVIF / RTSP	No	$39 to $42 / cam / mo

ZeroEyes and Omnilert hold Department of Homeland Security SAFETY Act designation, which provides liability protection when technology is deployed against acts of terrorism. Pricing is reseller and public-contract estimate; most vendors quote per deployment. Camera hardware is separate.

The Six Platforms, One by One

Each of these detects a visible firearm in a live camera feed and alerts a human. They differ on verification, deployment, compliance, and price, and none replace physical screening for concealed weapons.

1. ZeroEyes: the category leader

ZeroEyes is the most established name in AI gun detection and one of only two vendors here with a full SAFETY Act designation. It layers its model onto existing IP cameras and routes every possible detection through its own operations center, staffed by former military and law enforcement, who verify a real gun before dispatching an alert. It publishes no list price, but signed public contracts put it between roughly $592 per camera per year at 38 cameras and about $168 per camera per year at 650 to 800 cameras, so per-camera cost falls sharply as the count rises. Our gun detection system cost guide reconstructs that curve from the contracts.

2. Omnilert: best for flexible verification

Omnilert also holds a SAFETY Act designation and runs on existing cameras. Its differentiator is verification flexibility: a detection can be self-verified by your own staff, routed to a third-party security operations center, or handled by Omnilert's own UL-certified monitoring centers, and it ties into mass-notification workflows to trigger a lockdown. That range suits organizations that want to decide how much human monitoring they pay for. Like the rest of the dedicated vendors, Omnilert quotes per deployment rather than publishing a rate.

3. Scylla: best for edge and air-gapped deployments

Scylla focuses on detection accuracy and deployment flexibility. It advertises a very low false-positive rate and works within roughly a 15-meter range on standard Full HD cameras, farther on higher-resolution ones. It is NDAA Section 889 compliant and has been validated for US Department of Defense use, and it supports a fully air-gapped, on-premise deployment through its edge appliance with no cloud dependency. That makes it a strong fit for government, critical infrastructure, and any site that cannot send video to the cloud. It does not currently hold a SAFETY Act designation. Scylla publishes no public rate; our Scylla AI pricing breakdown covers the per-deployment model and what moves a quote.

4. Actuate AI: detection inside a broader platform

Actuate AI turns existing cameras into intelligent sensors for weapons and intrusion without new hardware, offered in tiered plans that scale detection features up as you pay more. It is a fit for teams that want gun detection as one capability inside a wider analytics product rather than a single-purpose service. Actuate publishes no dollar figure, so treat any quoted price as deployment-specific. We cover its tiers in the Actuate AI pricing guide, and take a closer look at what its published accuracy figure actually measures in our review of the Actuate weapons detection system. It does not hold a SAFETY Act designation.

5. Coram AI: detection plus a cloud VMS

Coram AI bundles gun detection into a cloud video management platform that works with any existing IP camera, so you get detection, recording, natural-language search, and alerting in one console. That is useful if you want to consolidate rather than add a standalone detection service on top of your VMS. Coram prices by the number of video feeds on multi-year terms and publishes no rate card, and it does not currently hold a SAFETY Act designation. It fits multi-site operators who want one platform rather than the deepest dedicated detection.

6. Surveillant: AI search and threat alerts on your cameras

Surveillant is an AI analytics layer, not a dedicated gun-detection service. It connects to any ONVIF or RTSP camera and adds plain-English search, threat and anomaly detection, and alerts from the cloud with no appliance, at a published $42 per camera per month on Plus and $39 on Pro, plus a free plan for one camera. For visible-weapon and unusual-activity alerting across a general security operation it is a cost-effective, flexible option. Honest limit: at scale our per-camera price works out to roughly $468 per camera per year, which is more than a large dedicated ZeroEyes contract at about $168, and we do not hold a SAFETY Act designation. If life-safety gun detection with federal liability protection is the single requirement, a dedicated designated vendor is the better buy.

What Gun Detection Software Cannot Do

Every camera-based system on this page detects a firearm only once it is visible in the frame. None of them can see a gun concealed under a jacket or inside a bag, because a camera has no way to look through clothing or fabric. If your requirement is to stop a weapon at the door before it is drawn, that is a job for a walk-through screening lane, not video analytics, and the two solve different problems. We break down exactly whether AI can detect concealed weapons and what actually can in a dedicated guide.

Camera detection also produces false alarms. A tool, a phone, an umbrella, or a prop can trigger an alert, which is exactly why the strongest vendors put human verification between the detection and the dispatch. Documented cases include a Texas high school lockdown set off by the shadow of a student's arm and a university alert from prop guns in a theater rehearsal. Expect to tune the system and to keep a person in the loop.

Finally, detection is not intervention. Security researchers note that many active-shooter events unfold in seconds, so the value of detection is measured in how fast it shortens your response, not in preventing the event outright. Treat any of these systems as one layer in a plan that also includes access control, training, and a response protocol, not as a standalone guarantee. Our AI gun detection guide goes deeper on real-world performance.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best gun detection software?

The best gun detection software depends on your needs. ZeroEyes leads the category and holds a SAFETY Act designation, Omnilert adds flexible human verification and also holds a designation, Scylla suits air-gapped and edge deployments with low false alarms, Actuate and Coram AI build detection into broader video platforms, and an AI layer like Surveillant adds visible-weapon and threat alerts on cameras you already own. Match the vendor to your risk, budget, and compliance requirements.

How much does gun detection software cost?

Most vendors quote per deployment and publish no rate card. Signed public ZeroEyes contracts range from about $592 per camera per year at 38 cameras down to roughly $168 per camera per year at 650 to 800 cameras, so cost per camera falls as the count rises. A general AI analytics layer with weapon alerting runs about $39 to $42 per camera per month. Always get a written per-camera number for your real camera count before comparing vendors.

Can AI cameras detect concealed weapons?

No. No camera-based gun detection system can detect a concealed weapon, because a camera cannot see under clothing or inside a bag. These systems detect a firearm only once it is visible in the frame. Detecting concealed weapons at an entrance requires a physical walk-through screening lane, which is a different technology that solves a different part of the problem.

Does gun detection software work with existing cameras?

Yes. ZeroEyes, Omnilert, Scylla, Actuate, Coram AI, and an AI layer like Surveillant all run their models on the ONVIF and RTSP cameras you already own, so no camera replacement is required. Detection quality still depends on camera placement, resolution, and lighting, so cameras with a clear view of entrances and common areas perform best. Poor night image or extreme distance will reduce accuracy on any platform.

What is a SAFETY Act designation for gun detection?

The SAFETY Act is a US Department of Homeland Security program that provides liability protection to approved anti-terrorism technologies. Among gun detection vendors, ZeroEyes and Omnilert hold a designation, while Coram AI, Ambient.ai, Scylla, and Actuate do not currently. Designation matters most to organizations that want the legal liability protection it confers when the technology is deployed against acts of terrorism.

How accurate is AI gun detection?

Accuracy varies by vendor, camera quality, and distance, and every system produces some false alarms from objects that resemble firearms. The strongest vendors add human verification between detection and dispatch to cut false dispatches. Real-world incidents show both misses and false triggers, so treat detection as a tool that shortens response time rather than a guarantee, and keep a trained person in the loop to confirm alerts before acting.

Explore More

Add Threat Alerts to the Cameras You Already Own

Surveillant connects to the ONVIF and RTSP cameras you already run and adds plain-English search and threat detection from the cloud. No new hardware, published pricing at $39 to $42 per camera per month, and a free forever plan for one camera.