head to head · open source
frigate vs espectre
frigate has 37,274 GitHub stars, 3,798 forks, 95 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. espectre has 9,747 stars, 741 forks, 13 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. frigate leads on adoption by 282% (37,274 vs 9,747 stars). frigate is written in Python under MIT; espectre is written in Python under GPL-3.0. frigate has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, espectre 8%. frigate was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (home-assistant), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| frigate | espectre | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 9.7K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.8K | ⑂ 741 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick frigate if
- You weight community size — 37K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick espectre if
- You want the espectre feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and espectre fits your workflow better
About frigate
Frigate NVR™ Realtime Object Detection for IP Cameras \[English\] 简体中文 A complete and local NVR designed for Home Assistant with AI object detection. Uses OpenCV and Tensorflow to perform realtime object detection locally for IP cameras. Use of a GPU or AI accelerator is highly recommended. AI accelerators will outperform even the best CPUs with very little overhead. See Frigate's supported object detectors. Tight integration with Home Assistant via a custom component Designed to minimize resource use and maximize performance by only looking for objects when and where it is necessary Leverages multiprocessing…
read the full frigate overview →
About espectre
ESPectre Turn an ESP32 into a private, local Wi Fi motion sensor. When someone moves through a room, they change the way Wi Fi signals travel through it. ESPectre reads those changes and reports motion in real time. No camera, no microphone, no wearable, and no dedicated radar hardware: just a supported ESP32 and the Wi Fi network already in the room. ESPectre is an open source platform that brings together ready to flash firmware, an embeddable C++ SDK, a MicroPython implementation, browser tools, a host CLI, an open dataset, open model weights, and the research workflow used to build and validate the…
read the full espectre overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is frigate or espectre more popular?
frigate has 37,274 GitHub stars and espectre has 9,747. frigate has the larger community by that measure.
Are frigate and espectre free?
Both are open source. frigate is licensed under MIT and espectre under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between frigate and espectre?
frigate is written in Python and espectre in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, frigate or espectre?
Choose frigate if you want the larger community (37,274 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose espectre if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.