head to head · open source
frigate vs tagreader
frigate has 36,043 GitHub stars, 3,619 forks, 95 open issues and last shipped yesterday. tagreader has 1,607 stars, 212 forks, 48 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. frigate leads on adoption by 2,143% (36,043 vs 1,607 stars). frigate is written in Python under MIT; tagreader is written in Shell under GPL-3.0. frigate has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, tagreader 13%. frigate 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 | tagreader | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 36K | ★ 1.6K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-09-21 | 2026-04-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.6K | ⑂ 212 |
| 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 tagreader if
- You want the tagreader feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and tagreader 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 tagreader
tagreader is a GPL 3.0 NFC tag reader built from an ESP8266 D1 Mini and a PN532 module running ESPHome firmware, created specifically so that Home Assistant users can scan physical tags and manage them inside Home Assistant.
read the full tagreader overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is frigate or tagreader more popular?
frigate has 36,043 GitHub stars and tagreader has 1,607. frigate has the larger community by that measure.
Are frigate and tagreader free?
Both are open source. frigate is licensed under MIT and tagreader under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between frigate and tagreader?
frigate is written in Python and tagreader in Shell. 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 tagreader?
Choose frigate if you want the larger community (36,043 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose tagreader if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.