head to head · open source
frigate vs itsyhome-macos
frigate has 36,081 GitHub stars, 3,629 forks, 95 open issues and last shipped yesterday. itsyhome-macos has 992 stars, 36 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped 24 days ago. frigate leads on adoption by 3,537% (36,081 vs 992 stars). frigate is written in Python under MIT; itsyhome-macos is written in Swift under MIT. frigate has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, itsyhome-macos 4%. 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 | itsyhome-macos | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 36K | ★ 992 |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-09-24 | 2026-09-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.6K | ⑂ 36 |
| 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 Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick itsyhome-macos if
- You want the itsyhome-macos feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You evaluated both and itsyhome-macos 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 itsyhome-macos
Itsyhome ( itsyhome macos ) is a native macOS menu bar app, written in Swift and published under the MIT licence, that controls HomeKit and Home Assistant smart homes from the Mac menu bar, and it is aimed at Mac users who want to operate their devices, scenes and sensors without leaving whatever they are working on.
read the full itsyhome-macos overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is frigate or itsyhome-macos more popular?
frigate has 36,081 GitHub stars and itsyhome-macos has 992. frigate has the larger community by that measure.
Are frigate and itsyhome-macos free?
Both are open source. frigate is licensed under MIT and itsyhome-macos under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between frigate and itsyhome-macos?
frigate is written in Python and itsyhome-macos in Swift. 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 itsyhome-macos?
Choose frigate if you want the larger community (36,081 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose itsyhome-macos if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.