Cameras & NVR (Frigate, Scrypted)

The 2026 home camera stack is a NUC / mini-PC running Frigate or Scrypted, RTSP-only ONVIF cameras with the cloud features disabled, and a Coral or Hailo accelerator for AI. Cloud cameras (Ring, Wyze, Nest) are convenient but lock you out of your own footage.

For the hub above this layer see Smart Home Hubs; for AI add-ons specifically see Camera AI / Object Detection; for media server adjacent see Self-Hosted Photos & Media.

The default

• ★ Frigate NVR — Python + Go; record + AI object detection in real time; tight HA integration; HA Frigate add-on for one-click. Coral / Hailo / OpenVINO / NVIDIA / Rockchip NPU acceleration. The unambiguous default for HA users.
  • https://github.com/blakeblackshear/frigate
• ★ Frigate Plus — paid model-training service from the Frigate maintainer; submit clips, get a custom-tuned YOLO model. Subscription; funds development. Worth it once you outgrow the stock model.

Scrypted — the HomeKit pick

• ★ Scrypted — Node.js NVR; first-class HomeKit Secure Video support, including pulling cameras out of Apple Home into HA, plus AI detection. Excellent rebroadcast / WebRTC; pulls camera streams once and serves to many clients.
  • https://github.com/koush/scrypted
• Scrypted NVR — paid storage tier; HomeKit Secure Video alternative; runs locally.
• Pairs great with Frigate (different strengths) — many users run both: Frigate for AI, Scrypted for HomeKit / WebRTC streaming.

Other NVRs

• Shinobi — Node.js NVR; older; Pro tier exists; recently slow on releases.
• ZoneMinder — venerable PHP NVR; runs everywhere; UI feels its age in 2026; rock solid.
• AgentDVR / iSpy — Windows-leaning NVR; closed core, free tier.
• MotionEye / Motion — old Linux motion-detection daemon; light on resources; no AI.
• Synology Surveillance Station — closed; tied to Synology NAS; ★ excellent if you already have a Synology box.
• Unifi Protect — closed; tied to Ubiquiti hardware; great if you have UDM Pro / NVR appliance; HA integration is solid.
• Blue Iris — Windows-only; classic prosumer NVR; one-time purchase.

Cameras worth buying in 2026

The ★ camera you want has all of: RTSP main + sub stream, ONVIF, PoE, no cloud account requirement, and an option to disable internet entirely.

• ★ Reolink — best price/quality; PoE models with RTSP and ONVIF; firmware option to disable cloud; the homelabber default (Doorbell PoE, RLC-823A-16X, Duo 3, TrackMix).
• ★ Amcrest / Dahua — Dahua-rebranded; RTSP / ONVIF; reliable; great for bullet cams.
• Hikvision / Hilook — solid hardware; ban concerns in some jurisdictions; check policy.
• Annke / Lorex / EZVIZ — same OEMs (Dahua / Hikvision) under different labels.
• ★ Unifi Protect cameras — premium; only worth it inside the Unifi ecosystem.
• Eufy Security — was loved; trust hit by recent disclosures; verify current state.
• Wyze cams — cheap; cloud-leaning; flashable to RTSP firmware (xiaomi-dafang-hacks) on some models; trust issues post-2022 disclosures.

Avoid for OSS use: Ring, Nest, Arlo, Blink — closed / cloud-mandatory.

Hardware acceleration

• ★ Google Coral USB / M.2 — Edge TPU; the historical default for Frigate; ~10ms detection time. Note: USB Coral runs hot at sustained loads; prefer M.2 / Mini-PCIe if your host has it.
• ★ Hailo-8 / Hailo-8L — newer NPU on M.2; faster than Coral with bigger models; supported by Frigate in 2026.
• OpenVINO (Intel iGPU) — Frigate runs detection on Intel iGPUs (UHD Graphics 600+); free if you're already on a NUC / mini-PC.
• NVIDIA GPU — overkill but very fast; YOLOv8/9 native models; Frigate supports CUDA.
• Rockchip RKNN (RK3588 boards) — newer; supported in Frigate; the SBC option for low-power AI NVR.

Pre-recorded retention math

Rough rule for 24/7 + AI on a single 4 K camera at H.265:

• ~30 GB/day per camera at 4 Mbps.
• Detection-events-only retention (Frigate's hybrid mode) drops it to ~3-5 GB/day per camera.
• Plan 2-4 TB for 8 cameras × 30 days continuous; less if event-only.
• Use a dedicated SSD for the recordings; SD cards die quickly under sustained writes.

Practical guidance

• ★ Disable the camera's internet access on your firewall. Most cheap cams beacon home; block them at the router.
• ★ Two streams: high-res for recording, low-res for detection. Frigate has dedicated detect / record stream config exactly for this.
• Dedicated NVR box. Don't run Frigate on the same Pi as Home Assistant; AI inference + 8 cameras saturates a Pi 5.
• VLAN your cameras. They don't need to talk to your laptop or each other.
• Backup the Frigate config; recordings are throwaway. A 60-second clip database isn't a precious resource.

Pick this if…

• Default 2026 NVR for HA: Frigate.
• You also want HomeKit Secure Video: Scrypted (or run both).
• AI accelerator: Hailo-8 (M.2) or Coral USB (legacy).
• Synology user: Surveillance Station already; HA integration is easy.
• Unifi user: Unifi Protect already; HA integration is easy.
• Cameras to buy: Reolink PoE for cost; Unifi for ecosystem; Amcrest / Dahua for "no fuss."