Double Take vs Kerberos Agent
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted video surveillance options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Double Take
Unified UI and API for face recognition on camera feeds
VS
Kerberos Agent
Lightweight video surveillance agent for a single camera
| Feature | Double Take | Kerberos Agent |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 38 · At risk | 83 · Excellent |
| Category | Video Surveillance | Video Surveillance |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | JavaScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, kubernetes |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,442 | ★ 1,120 |
| First released | 2021 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Nest Cam | Nest Cam |
What are Double Take and Kerberos Agent?
Double Take
Double Take provides a unified interface and API to coordinate multiple face recognition services for your surveillance cameras. It connects to Frigate and detectors like CompreFace to deliver named-person alerts.
- Unified face recognition UI
- Frigate integration
- Multiple detector backends
- Named-person alerts
Kerberos Agent
Kerberos Agent is a lightweight, single-camera video surveillance application that detects motion and stores recordings locally or in the cloud. Multiple agents can be managed centrally with Kerberos Hub.
- Single-camera agent design
- Motion detection
- Local and cloud storage
- Kubernetes friendly
Double Take vs Kerberos Agent: key differences
Double Take is written in JavaScript, while Kerberos Agent is built with Go. Kerberos Agent is the more established project (first released 2014), while Double Take arrived in 2021.
Why pick each one
Choose Double Take if…
- Coordinates several detectors
- Good Frigate companion
Watch out for
- Companion tool only
- Requires a detector backend
Choose Kerberos Agent if…
- Lightweight per-camera model
- Scales with orchestration
Watch out for
- One agent per camera
- Hub needed for central view
Frequently asked questions
Is Double Take or Kerberos Agent better?
Neither is universally better. Double Take has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Double Take and Kerberos Agent free and open-source?
Yes. Double Take is licensed under MIT and Kerberos Agent under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Double Take and Kerberos Agent with Docker?
Double Take: yes. Kerberos Agent: yes.