head to head · open source
frigate vs synology-api
frigate has 35,953 GitHub stars, 3,602 forks, 95 open issues and last shipped today. synology-api has 592 stars, 170 forks, 7 open issues and last shipped yesterday. frigate leads on adoption by 5,973% (35,953 vs 592 stars). frigate is written in TypeScript under MIT; synology-api is written in Python under MIT. frigate has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, synology-api 29%. 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 | synology-api | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 36K | ★ 592 |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.6K | ⑂ 170 |
| 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 synology-api if
- You want the synology-api feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and synology-api 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 synology-api
Synology Wrapper If you find yourself here, most probably you are trying to develop something for your NAS, this wrapper might come to your help to build your script. I would like to specify that I do this for hobby as is my passion and in my little free time. Said this, there is no warranties chained and this library is provided "As Is", you will find many things can be simplified, and I slowly will but feel free to Contribute. Premise I've tried this wrapper only with python3 . I do not know if it actually runs with previous versions Before opening an issue make sure you do your own research, if you are not sur…
read the full synology-api overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is frigate or synology-api more popular?
frigate has 35,953 GitHub stars and synology-api has 592. frigate has the larger community by that measure.
Are frigate and synology-api free?
Both are open source. frigate is licensed under MIT and synology-api under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between frigate and synology-api?
frigate is written in TypeScript and synology-api 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 synology-api?
Choose frigate if you want the larger community (35,953 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose synology-api if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.