head to head · open source
frigate vs ByteChef
frigate has 35,947 GitHub stars, 3,601 forks, 95 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ByteChef has 1,003 stars, 170 forks, 455 open issues and last shipped yesterday. frigate leads on adoption by 3,484% (35,947 vs 1,003 stars). frigate is written in TypeScript under MIT; ByteChef is written in Java under a custom or non-standard licence. frigate has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, ByteChef 17%. frigate was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (ai), 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 | ByteChef | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 36K | ★ 1.0K |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.6K | ⑂ 170 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick frigate if
- You weight community size — 36K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick ByteChef if
- You want the ByteChef feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and ByteChef fits your workflow better
About frigate
Frigate NVR is a complete and local network video recorder built for Home Assistant, with AI object detection. It uses OpenCV and Tensorflow to run realtime object detection locally on IP cameras, so video analysis happens on your own hardware instead of a vendor cloud. Project lives in the Home Assistant home automation ecosystem, with tight integration through a custom component, and it talks over MQTT so other systems can consume its events. Written mainly in TypeScript, MIT licensed, 8 years old, 35,896 stars and 3,596 forks on GitHub.
read the full frigate overview →
About ByteChef
ByteChef is an open source, Java based platform in the Productivity & Utilities / Automation category that unifies AI agent orchestration and workflow automation for developers, low code builders, and enterprises that need both capabilities in one system.
read the full ByteChef overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is frigate or ByteChef more popular?
frigate has 35,947 GitHub stars and ByteChef has 1,003. frigate has the larger community by that measure.
Are frigate and ByteChef free?
Both are open source. frigate is licensed under MIT, and ByteChef has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between frigate and ByteChef?
frigate is written in TypeScript and ByteChef in Java. 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 ByteChef?
Choose frigate if you want the larger community (35,947 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose ByteChef if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.