72 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
72 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
# vs Frigate-DIY
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## Snapshot
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| Dimension | Frigate DIY | Blocao |
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| Cost | Free software + hardware you already own | Hardware + optional support |
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| Setup | Self-install on Home Assistant or standalone | Wizard-driven appliance |
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| Multi-site | Not supported | Native via hub |
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| GitOps | Not built in (user can DIY) | First-class |
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| Sovereignty | Inherently local (no cloud) | Inherently local + sovereign hub option |
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| AI engine | Frigate | Frigate (same engine) + enricher + re-id |
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| Operator UX | Frigate's web UI | Full forensic console with NL queries |
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| Fleet management | None | Hub with multi-site overview |
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| Evidence chain | None | Manifest + signature, post-MVP full chain |
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| Network architecture | Whatever the user has | VLAN-segregated by default |
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| Audience | Hobbyists, technical homelab users | SMB-to-mid commercial buyers |
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## Where Frigate-DIY wins
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- **Free**. Software is free. Hardware can be reused. For a single-site hobbyist, total cost can be near zero.
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- **Total control**. The user owns every component, every config file.
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- **Community knowledge**. Reddit, Home Assistant forums, GitHub — vibrant.
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- **Iteration speed**. Want to try a new model? Drop it in. Want to write a custom integration? Go ahead.
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- **Sovereignty by default**. There's no cloud to phone home to. (Same as Blocao.)
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## Where Blocao wins
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- **Production-grade integration**. Frigate alone is a great engine; making it work end-to-end with a router, MQTT bridge, GitOps, evidence chain, and an operator-grade forensic console is months of work most customers don't have.
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- **Operator UX**. Frigate's UI is for technical users. Blocao's console is for security investigators who don't want to read JSON.
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- **Multi-site**. Frigate-DIY has no built-in fleet management. Blocao's hub is purpose-built for it.
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- **Network sovereignty**. VLAN segregation, DNS sinkhole, firewall rules — Blocao bakes these in. DIY user has to know to do all of it.
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- **Support**. When something breaks at 3 AM, DIY user is on their own. Blocao customers have a path to escalation.
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- **Liability**. Insurance / regulatory / commercial customers need a vendor on the hook. Frigate doesn't have a vendor; Blocao does.
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- **Speed of deployment**. Wizard-driven onboarding vs read-many-docs-and-config-yourself.
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## Where each is comparable
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- **AI quality**. Same engine. Blocao adds enricher and re-id but a determined DIY user can match.
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- **Cost-per-camera at scale**. For 1-2 cameras, DIY wins on cost. For 10+ cameras across multiple sites, Blocao's TCO is competitive once you factor in operator time.
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## Sales conversation patterns
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When prospect mentions "we'll just use Frigate":
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1. **Ask: "How many sites?"** If 1, ask "how many cameras?".
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2. If 1 site, <5 cameras, technical buyer: respect it. Don't try to convert. Maybe refer to the [Blocao GitHub Sponsors program] or similar (post-MVP).
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3. If 1 site, >10 cameras: probe operational pain. "Who's on call when an event needs investigating?" "How do you audit config changes?". Frigate alone doesn't answer these.
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4. If multiple sites: the conversation is over. DIY doesn't scale to multi-site, period.
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5. If commercial use case (insurance, banking, retail): liability conversation. DIY = no vendor accountability.
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## Honest assessment
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Frigate is excellent. The team behind it built one of the best edge-AI surveillance engines in the world. We respect them, we use their engine, we contribute back where appropriate.
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Blocao is **not** an attempt to replace Frigate. We are a **commercial wrapper + extension** that makes Frigate viable for buyers who can't or won't DIY.
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For a hobbyist with one site and the time to learn: keep using Frigate-DIY. Don't pay for Blocao. We'd rather have happy users in the community than reluctant customers.
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For a commercial buyer with 1+ sites who values operator UX, sovereignty audit trail, and vendor accountability: that's Blocao's home. Frigate alone doesn't compete in that space.
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## How we contribute back
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Blocao Labs commits to:
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- Contributing fixes and improvements to Frigate upstream when our work is broadly useful.
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- Sharing model recipes and benchmarks publicly.
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- Recognizing Frigate explicitly in product material — never hiding the upstream.
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- Supporting Frigate's release cadence (we don't fork hard, we track upstream).
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This is the right thing to do, and it also keeps the Frigate ecosystem healthy, which keeps Blocao's foundation strong.
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