Frigate vs Gladys Assistant
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted home automation options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Frigate
Local NVR with real-time AI object detection
VS
Gladys Assistant
Privacy-first home automation platform for everyone
| Feature | Frigate | Gladys Assistant |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 99 · Excellent | 88 · Excellent |
| Category | Home Automation | Home Automation |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Python | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 36,071 | ★ 3,201 |
| First released | 2020 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Google Home | SmartThings, Google Home |
What are Frigate and Gladys Assistant?
Frigate
Frigate is a local network video recorder with real-time AI object detection optimized for use with Home Assistant. It targets users wanting private, intelligent camera monitoring. It is deployed via Docker.
- Real-time AI object detection
- Coral TPU acceleration support
- Tight Home Assistant integration
- Local-only processing
Gladys Assistant
Gladys Assistant is a privacy-first, open-source home automation program that runs locally on your hardware. It controls smart devices, scenes, and schedules through a clean web and mobile interface.
- Runs fully locally
- Device, scene, and schedule control
- Clean web and mobile UI
- Energy monitoring
Frigate vs Gladys Assistant: key differences
Frigate is written in Python, while Gladys Assistant is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — MIT for Frigate versus Apache-2.0 for Gladys Assistant. Gladys Assistant is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Frigate. Gladys Assistant is the more established project (first released 2017), while Frigate arrived in 2020. Frigate has the considerably larger community, at 36,071 GitHub stars versus 3,201.
Why pick each one
Choose Frigate if…
- Smart local NVR
- Great with Home Assistant
- Privacy-friendly
Watch out for
- Benefits from a TPU
- Configuration is involved
Choose Gladys Assistant if…
- Strong privacy focus
- Beginner-friendly
Watch out for
- Smaller integration catalog
- Less powerful automations than HA
Frequently asked questions
Is Frigate or Gladys Assistant better?
Neither is universally better. Frigate has the larger community, while Gladys Assistant is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Frigate and Gladys Assistant free and open-source?
Yes. Frigate is licensed under MIT and Gladys Assistant under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Frigate and Gladys Assistant with Docker?
Frigate: yes. Gladys Assistant: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Frigate or Gladys Assistant?
Gladys Assistant has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Frigate. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.