head to head · open source
frigate vs LiveKit
frigate has 37,160 GitHub stars, 3,782 forks, 95 open issues and last shipped yesterday. LiveKit has 21,994 stars, 2,526 forks, 189 open issues and last shipped yesterday. frigate leads on adoption by 69% (37,160 vs 21,994 stars). frigate is written in Python under MIT; LiveKit is written in Go under Apache-2.0. frigate has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, LiveKit 11%. LiveKit was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | LiveKit | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 22K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.8K | ⑂ 2.5K |
| 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 LiveKit if
- You want the LiveKit feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and LiveKit 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 LiveKit
LiveKit: Realtime infrastructure for voice, video, and AI agents LiveKit is an open source platform for building voice, video, and physical AI agents. This repository is the LiveKit server: a scalable, distributed WebRTC SFU that moves realtime audio, video, and data between people, devices, and AI models. The SDKs, agents frameworks, and companion services are linked in the table at the bottom of this page. LiveKit's server is written in Go, using the awesome Pion WebRTC implementation. [!IMPORTANT] If you're building Voice AI, LiveKit Agents is the SDK for code first realtime voice agents. STT, LLM, TTS, turn…
read the full LiveKit overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is frigate or LiveKit more popular?
frigate has 37,160 GitHub stars and LiveKit has 21,994. frigate has the larger community by that measure.
Are frigate and LiveKit free?
Both are open source. frigate is licensed under MIT and LiveKit under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between frigate and LiveKit?
frigate is written in Python and LiveKit in Go. 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 LiveKit?
Choose frigate if you want the larger community (37,160 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose LiveKit if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.