Frigate Notify vs Motion
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted video surveillance options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Frigate Notify | Motion |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 59 · Fair | 80 · Excellent |
| Category | Video Surveillance | Video Surveillance |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Go | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 413 | ★ 4,048 |
| First released | 2023 | 2000 |
| Replaces | Nest Cam | Nest Cam |
What are Frigate Notify and Motion?
Frigate Notify
Frigate Notify is a small standalone application that sends alerts for events detected by a Frigate NVR. It supports many notification channels and works without depending on Home Assistant.
- Notifications for Frigate events
- Many alert channels
- No Home Assistant needed
- Tiny footprint
Motion
Motion is a program that monitors video signals from cameras and detects movement. It can record video, capture snapshots, and trigger external scripts when motion is detected, all with a small footprint.
- Motion detection
- Snapshot and video capture
- External script triggers
- Very low resource use
Frigate Notify vs Motion: key differences
Frigate Notify is written in Go, while Motion is built with C++. Licensing differs — MIT for Frigate Notify versus GPL-2.0 for Motion. Frigate Notify is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Motion. Motion is the more established project (first released 2000), while Frigate Notify arrived in 2023. Motion has the considerably larger community, at 4,048 GitHub stars versus 413.
Why pick each one
Choose Frigate Notify if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Go
Watch out for
- Companion tool only
- Requires Frigate
Choose Motion if…
- Tiny footprint
- Highly scriptable
Watch out for
- No built-in web UI
- Configuration via files
Frequently asked questions
Is Frigate Notify or Motion better?
Neither is universally better. Motion has the larger community, while Frigate Notify is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Frigate Notify and Motion free and open-source?
Yes. Frigate Notify is licensed under MIT and Motion under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Frigate Notify and Motion with Docker?
Frigate Notify: yes. Motion: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Frigate Notify or Motion?
Frigate Notify has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Motion. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.