head to head · open source
frigate vs operating-system
frigate has 37,326 GitHub stars, 3,805 forks, 95 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. operating-system has 7,634 stars, 1,335 forks, 95 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. frigate leads on adoption by 389% (37,326 vs 7,634 stars). frigate is written in Python under MIT; operating-system is written in Python under Apache-2.0. frigate has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, operating-system 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 (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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| frigate | operating-system | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 7.6K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-07 | 2026-11-06 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.8K | ⑂ 1.3K |
| 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 operating-system if
- You want the operating-system feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and operating-system 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 operating-system
Home Assistant Operating System Home Assistant Operating System (formerly HassOS) is a Linux based operating system optimized to host Home Assistant and its Apps. Home Assistant Operating System uses Docker as its container engine. By default it deploys the Home Assistant Supervisor as a container. Home Assistant Supervisor in turn uses the Docker container engine to control Home Assistant Core and Apps in separate containers. Home Assistant Operating System is not based on a regular Linux distribution like Ubuntu. It is built using Buildroot and it is optimized to run Home Assistant. It targets single board…
read the full operating-system overview →
More in Miscellaneous
Related comparisons
More Internet of Things (IoT) projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Internet of Things (IoT) field.
Frequently asked questions
Is frigate or operating-system more popular?
frigate has 37,326 GitHub stars and operating-system has 7,634. frigate has the larger community by that measure.
Are frigate and operating-system free?
Both are open source. frigate is licensed under MIT and operating-system under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between frigate and operating-system?
frigate is written in Python and operating-system 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 operating-system?
Choose frigate if you want the larger community (37,326 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose operating-system if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.