Loki Eye Local NVR Frigate alternative
Frigate is excellent at spotting objects on the recorder. Loki Eye does less on purpose: your cameras detect motion, their streams are copied straight to disk, and the recorder is an ordinary app on the computer you already have.
Frigate runs in Docker with a YAML configuration, and its documentation recommends a dedicated Debian-based host. Windows is not officially supported. Loki Eye installs like any other app on Windows, macOS, or Linux and is set up in the browser.
Frigate decodes a detection stream from every camera and recommends a Coral, GPU, or NPU to run its models. Loki Eye uses the motion events your cameras already send over ONVIF, and needed 3.0% of one CPU core to record eight 1080p cameras in our measurement.
Frigate keeps footage for a number of days per recording type, and only deletes early when about an hour of space remains. Loki Eye limits footage by age and by one storage cap across all cameras, and shows how many days that cap allows.
| Feature | Loki Eye | Frigate Open source |
|---|---|---|
| Runs on | Windows, macOS, and Linux, as a desktop app. | Linux in Docker, including the Home Assistant add-on. |
| Price | Free for two cameras. €29 + VAT a year or €99 + VAT once for unlimited cameras. | Free. Optional Frigate+ detection models cost $50 a year. |
| Recording | H.264 and H.265 copied to disk exactly as the camera sends them. Continuous, or on motion with pre-roll and post-roll. | Camera stream written without re-encoding. Continuous, motion, or around tracked objects. |
| Motion detection | Uses each camera’s own ONVIF motion events, so the recorder never analyses video. | Analyses a decoded detection stream on the server for every camera. |
| Object detection | Records on the person and vehicle events of cameras that report them. No AI runs on the recorder. | Built-in real-time detection, its main strength. A Coral, GPU, or NPU accelerator is recommended. |
| Server load | About 0.1% of one CPU core and 19 MB of memory in our measurement. Video is only decoded for snapshots or on request. | Decodes the detection stream of every camera. Hardware decoding is recommended. |
| Retention | By age and by a hard storage cap across all cameras, plus a free-disk floor. Shows the days of footage the cap allows. | By days, per recording type. Oldest footage is deleted early only when about an hour of space remains. |
| Setup | Install and add cameras in the browser. Stream probing and an ONVIF port test check each camera. | Docker plus a YAML configuration file, editable from the web interface. |
| Phones and remote access | With a licence, any browser on your network, behind a password. Away from home, use your own VPN. No native app yet. | Web app you can add to your home screen. Remote access through your own VPN, proxy, or Home Assistant. |
| Integrations | Local HTTP API with an MJPEG stream and a still image for every camera, ready for Home Assistant and other home automation. | API, MQTT, and an official Home Assistant integration. |
Frigate details were checked in September 2026 against docs.frigate.video. Frigate prices are in US dollars before tax. For Blue Iris, iSpy Agent DVR, and Synology as well, see all five recorders compared.
Many cameras accept more than one stream connection, so you can usually keep Frigate running while you try Loki Eye on two cameras for free.
Download freeNot in the usual way. Frigate is distributed as a Docker container, and the Home Assistant add-on runs that same container. Loki Eye is a regular desktop app, with an installer for Windows and macOS and an AppImage for Linux.
Frigate does not officially support Windows, though some people run it under WSL or a virtual machine. Apple Silicon Macs are supported through Docker Desktop or OrbStack, with a separate detector outside Docker for hardware acceleration. Loki Eye runs natively on all three.
No. Loki Eye never analyses video, so it needs no accelerator. It records on the motion, person, and vehicle events your cameras report and writes their streams to disk exactly as sent.
Only through your cameras. If a camera reports person or vehicle events over ONVIF, Loki Eye can record on them. It does not run its own models, so it cannot recognise objects a camera does not report.
Loki Eye is free for up to two cameras with every recording feature and no account, and unlimited cameras cost €29 + VAT a year or €99 + VAT once. Frigate is free for any number of cameras, with optional Frigate+ detection models at $50 a year.
Yes. A local HTTP API serves an MJPEG stream and a still image for every camera, which Home Assistant’s built-in camera integrations can read without a cloud account. Frigate’s official integration goes further and exposes its detected objects to automations.
You want the recorder itself to spot people, cars, and animals, and you are comfortable running Docker on Linux. It is also free and open source for any number of cameras.
Install Loki Eye, add your cameras, and it starts recording to your own disk.
Download free