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Frigate Review

Depends

Should I use Frigate?

Monitor your security cameras - frigate.video

· 1 week ago

Buy if you're a self-hoster with Home Assistant, RTSP cameras, and patience for configs. Skip it if you want plug-and-play or vendor support.

Confidence

Medium. Based on ~20 public sources; many snippets truncated, and some search noise refers to naval frigates or unrelated companies named Frigate.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support quality
  • Security posture

Pricing

$0

Frigate (open source)

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes
Frigate+Paid subscription (price not listed in sources)

Best for

  • Self-hosters already on Home Assistant
  • Privacy-focused multi-camera setups (15+)
  • Tinkerers comfortable with Docker and RTSP
  • Budget builders wanting local AI detection

Not for

  • Non-technical buyers wanting plug-and-play cameras
  • Anyone exposing the UI directly to the internet
  • Teams needing vendor SLAs or phone support
  • Buyers unwilling to add detection hardware

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

Public RCE exploit exists for version 0.16.3 — patch immediately, never port-forward raw

high

A user's exposed instance was actively exploited by a hacker

medium

Expect YAML configs, Docker, and camera compatibility fiddling before it works

low

Frigate+ custom-trained model features sit behind a paid subscription

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Free, open-source alternative to cloud services like Ring
  • Long-time users report it is stable
  • Handles 15+ cameras in one setup
  • Privacy-focused: local AI detection, no cloud footage
  • Extensible: face-recognition add-ons, REST API, Home Assistant integration

Cons

  • Too complicated for some users; they switch to simpler apps
  • Several public CVEs: RCE, auth bypass, command injection
  • Exposed instances have been hacked in the wild
  • Best detection performance needs add-on hardware like Google Coral
  • Some users question reliability and churn to alternatives

Sources & method

- 12 sources - Active open-source project with a real CVE history — including RCE and auth bypass; keep patched and LAN-only.

official x3review x5security x4
  • Remote code execution in 0.16.3, Public exploit published for Frigate NVR 0.16.3 RCE.
  • CVE-2026-33124 — auth bypass, Authentication bypass vulnerability in Frigate NVR per SentinelOne's database.
  • Command injection to admin-level access, Command injection bug allowed admin-level access.
  • CVE-2026-75607 — broken access control, Broken access control vulnerability listed for Frigate.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • $0

    Starting price

  • 12

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Free, open-source; only hardware costs money
  • Ease of use: 2/5. Users call it too complicated; some switch away
  • Feature depth: 5/5. AI detection, 15+ cameras, REST API, add-ons
  • Support quality: 2/5. Community forums only; no vendor SLA
  • Security posture: 2/5. Multiple CVEs including RCE and auth bypass
  • $0 Starting price Open-source, self-hosted
  • Yes Free tier Full product free; Frigate+ subscription optional
  • 5+ Known CVEs in sources Incl. RCE, auth bypass, command injection
  • 15+ Reported camera scale Single-user setup discussed on Reddit

Pricing

Frigate (open source)

$0

  • Self-hosted NVR
  • AI object detection (bring your own hardware)

Frigate+

Paid subscription (price not listed in sources)

  • Custom-trained detection models
  • Subscription access

Security

Active open-source project with a real CVE history — including RCE and auth bypass; keep patched and LAN-only.

  • Remote code execution in 0.16.3Public exploit published for Frigate NVR 0.16.3 RCE.⁹
  • CVE-2026-33124 — auth bypassAuthentication bypass vulnerability in Frigate NVR per SentinelOne's database.10
  • Command injection to admin-level accessCommand injection bug allowed admin-level access.12
  • CVE-2026-75607 — broken access controlBroken access control vulnerability listed for Frigate.

What users say

Long-time users find it stable and capable, but newcomers frequently find setup and tuning frustrating.

“Yes, Frigate is stable.”
Reddit, r/frigate_nvr
“Frigate was too complicated for me”
XDA-Developers
“Is there a user friendly alternative to Frigate?”
Reddit, r/homeassistant
Full analysis

Based on ~20 public sources; many snippets truncated, and some search noise refers to naval frigates or unrelated companies named Frigate.

Free, powerful local-AI NVR for tinkerers. Skip if you want plug-and-play; patch fast, never expose it publicly.

Methodology

Based on ~20 public sources; many snippets truncated, and some search noise refers to naval frigates or unrelated companies named Frigate.

Read how a report is made.

Sources

  1. Frigate NVR — official sitefrigate.video
    official
  2. Frigate+ subscription pagefrigate.video
    official
  3. Frigate product security pagefrigate.video
    official
  4. State of Frigate — Redditreddit.com
    review
  5. 15+ cameras discussion — Redditreddit.com
    review
  6. Frigate was too complicated for me — XDAxda-developers.com
    review
  7. PrivacyGuides recommendation threaddiscuss.privacyguides.net
    review
  8. UniFi Protect vs Frigate comparisonprivacysmarthome.com
    review
  9. Frigate NVR 0.16.3 RCE exploit — Packet Stormsploitus.com
    security
  10. CVE-2026-33124 auth bypass — SentinelOnesentinelone.com
    security
  11. Exposed instance hacked — Redditreddit.com
    security
  12. Command injection bug writeupdropshift.nightlybuilds.co
    security

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