head to head · open source
frigate vs emhass
frigate has 35,953 GitHub stars, 3,602 forks, 95 open issues and last shipped today. emhass has 679 stars, 165 forks, 50 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. frigate leads on adoption by 5,195% (35,953 vs 679 stars). frigate is written in TypeScript under MIT; emhass is written in Python under MIT. frigate has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, emhass 24%. 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-automation), 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 | emhass | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 36K | ★ 679 |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.6K | ⑂ 165 |
| 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 emhass if
- You want the emhass feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and emhass 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 emhass
Energy Management for Home Assistant EMHASS is a Python module designed to optimize your home energy interfacing with Home Assistant. Introduction EMHASS (Energy Management for Home Assistant) is an optimization tool designed for residential households. The package uses a Linear Programming approach to optimize energy usage while considering factors such as electricity prices, power generation from solar panels, and energy storage from batteries. EMHASS provides a high degree of configurability, making it easy to integrate with Home Assistant and other smart home systems. Whether you have solar panels, energy sto…
read the full emhass overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is frigate or emhass more popular?
frigate has 35,953 GitHub stars and emhass has 679. frigate has the larger community by that measure.
Are frigate and emhass free?
Both are open source. frigate is licensed under MIT and emhass under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between frigate and emhass?
frigate is written in TypeScript and emhass 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 emhass?
Choose frigate if you want the larger community (35,953 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose emhass if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.