Frigate vs Frigate Cards
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted home automation options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Frigate
Local NVR with real-time AI object detection
VS
Frigate Cards
Advanced camera card for Home Assistant dashboards
| Feature | Frigate | Frigate Cards |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Home Automation | Home Automation |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 34,903 | ★ 1,117 |
| First released | 2020 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Google Home | Ring app |
Why pick each one
Choose Frigate Cards if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Frigate or Frigate Cards better?
Neither is universally better. Frigate has the larger community, while Frigate Cards is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Frigate and Frigate Cards free and open-source?
Yes. Frigate is licensed under MIT and Frigate Cards under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Frigate and Frigate Cards with Docker?
Frigate: yes. Frigate Cards: check the project docs for container support.