# Frigate

Cameras you run locally. Frigate is MIT — Ring and Nest without the footage in someone else's building.

**Replaces:** Ring / Nest

**Tier:** Medium

## Problem

Ring and Nest (Google) sell cameras plus a hosted clip vault. You wanted RTSP, local detection, and recordings on a disk you own. Frigate is MIT (NVR + realtime object detection; optional Google Coral). Home Assistant is a common neighbor, not required. This is not Ring's attention-zone SKU, Nest's every doorbell feature, or Immich's photo timeline. A GPU or Coral helps; a tiny Railway container is often the wrong box.

## Stack

- [Frigate](https://frigate.video) — MIT local NVR with realtime object detection

## Estimated SaaS cost saved

| You stop paying | Typical / year | Self-host instead |
|---|---:|---|
| Ring / Nest camera vault (household) | $1,200 | Frigate + recordings on a volume |

**About $1,200 / year** on a small team, before you count lock-in.

## Deploy on Railway

Placeholder: Frigate wants cameras, a large recordings volume, and usually a Coral or GPU. A home NUC or a GPU host is the honest path; Railway is rarely enough. No one-click template in this repo yet — Start on Railway. Photo libraries stay on /stacks/immich-photos.

[Start on Railway](https://c17.io/go/railway/frigate-nvr?from=%2Fstacks%2Ffrigate-nvr.md)

[Immich if this is a camera roll, not an NVR](https://c17.io/stacks/immich-photos)

## AGENT_PROMPT

```
Replace Ring or Nest cameras with Frigate (https://frigate.video).

- RTSP cameras you already have (or buy). Persist config and recordings. Optional Coral/GPU for detection.
- Confirm one camera and one event. Do not claim every Ring/Nest doorbell SKU. Write AGENT_PROMPT.md.
- A photo timeline is /stacks/immich-photos — different job.
```

## FAQ

### Do I keep the Ring/Nest hardware?

Only if it speaks RTSP or you can bridge it. Many vendor cameras are closed. Budget for cameras Frigate documents.

### Why not Immich?

Immich is a phone camera roll (/replace/google-photos). Ring/Nest is live cameras and an NVR. Frigate is that job.

Source: https://c17.io/stacks/frigate-nvr