head to head · open source
frigate vs spook
frigate has 37,160 GitHub stars, 3,782 forks, 95 open issues and last shipped yesterday. spook has 1,761 stars, 108 forks, 29 open issues and last shipped yesterday. frigate leads on adoption by 2,010% (37,160 vs 1,761 stars). frigate is written in Python under MIT; spook is written in Python under MIT. frigate has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, spook 6%. frigate was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (home-assistant, 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 | spook | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.8K | ⑂ 108 |
| 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 spook if
- You want the spook feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and spook 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 spook
Spook 👻 Your homie. [![GitHub Release][releases shield]][releases] ![Project Stage][project stage shield] [![License][license shield]](LICENSE.md) ![Project Maintenance][maintenance shield] [![Coverage][codecov shield]][codecov] [![OpenSSF Scorecard][scorecard shield]][scorecard] About Hi! I'm Spook 👻 and I'm a custom integration for use with Home Assistant. I will extend your Home Assistant instance with a huge set of scary powerful tools. 🛠️ Learn all about me in the extensive documentation ⚠️ Just to be very clear... Spook is not affiliated with, endorsed, recommended, or supported by the Home Assistant…
read the full spook overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is frigate or spook more popular?
frigate has 37,160 GitHub stars and spook has 1,761. frigate has the larger community by that measure.
Are frigate and spook free?
Both are open source. frigate is licensed under MIT and spook under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between frigate and spook?
frigate is written in Python and spook 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 spook?
Choose frigate if you want the larger community (37,160 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose spook if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.