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.
Not the right match-up?
Frigate Notify
Standalone notification tool for Frigate NVR events
VS
Motion
Lightweight motion-detection video surveillance daemon
| Feature | Frigate Notify | Motion |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | ★ 399 | ★ 4,030 |
| First released | 2023 | 2000 |
| Replaces | Nest Cam | Nest Cam |
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
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.