# Fregata vs Scrypted, Blue Iris, Synology Surveillance Station If you're shopping for an NVR that runs on a Mac, the realistic short list is **Fregata**, **Scrypted**, **Blue Iris** (via a separate Windows PC; no longer a viable VM/Boot Camp option on Apple Silicon), and **Synology Surveillance Station** (on a Synology NAS, with a Mac as the client). This page is the side-by-side comparison. Every claim here is anchored to a primary source where one is publicly available. Where vendors don't publish a number (some pricing is behind a sign-in portal; some is on reseller pages only) the page calls that out so you can verify before deciding. For the Frigate-vs-Fregata side of the question (Fregata is *built on* Frigate), see [Fregata vs Frigate](/reference/fregata-vs-frigate/). This page is about everything else. ## TL;DR — pick this if… - **Fregata** — you have an [Apple Silicon Mac](https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/A29243E5-37F0-4858-ADDB-40E17FD781B7), you want a native macOS app with the Apple Neural Engine doing object detection, you want a one-time payment with no per-camera fees, and you're comfortable plugging into the Frigate ecosystem (MQTT, Home Assistant integration, Frigate+ custom models). - **Scrypted** — you want HomeKit Secure Video bridging for Apple Home as the primary feature, and you're willing to pay a per-camera annual subscription (Scrypted NVR) to actually record video locally. - **Blue Iris** — you have an existing Windows PC, you don't need Mac-native software, and you accept the post-12-month maintenance-renewal model (or rolling back to your last paid version when an update would otherwise watermark every feed). - **Synology Surveillance Station** — you already own a Synology NAS, you have eight or fewer cameras (license-cost inflection point), and the deep-learning analytics you want fit Synology's DVA-appliance lineup. The rest of this page is the detail behind those one-liners. ## Fregata vs Scrypted [**Scrypted**](https://www.scrypted.app/) is a video integration and routing platform. Its **core platform is open source** — though, importantly, with a per-module licensing model: the top of the [LICENSE file](https://github.com/koush/scrypted/blob/main/LICENSE.md) declares that "licensing… will vary throughout the repository," so there's no single SPDX license that covers the whole project. The piece most reviews leave out: **the recording engine is a separate paid product wither per-camera annual license fees**. ### The Scrypted NVR plugin is closed-source and paid The component that actually records video, runs smart detections, and powers the mobile and desktop apps is [**Scrypted NVR**](https://docs.scrypted.app/scrypted-nvr/) — a **closed-source, paid subscription**. The [fulfillment policy](https://docs.scrypted.app/scrypted-nvr/policies/fulfillment.html) confirms an annual subscription that renews automatically and is non-refundable. Pricing is published at the top of [billing.scrypted.app](https://billing.scrypted.app/): the base annual subscription is **$40/year** and **includes 4 camera licenses**. Additional licenses are **$10/year each**. For an 8-camera household, that's $40 base + 4 additional licenses × $10 = **$80/year, in perpetuity**. For context, Fregata covers any number of cameras for $10 once, with 12 months of updates included. You can run Scrypted's core without the NVR plugin, but local recording won't work. The workaround is **HomeKit Secure Video** — Scrypted bridges your camera to HKSV, then HKSV records to iCloud (an *Apple* subscription, not Scrypted's). That works very well; it just isn't local recording. ### Where Scrypted is genuinely strong - **[HomeKit Secure Video bridging](https://docs.scrypted.app/homekit.html).** This is the headline feature. Scrypted can take an RTSP-only camera and present it as an HKSV camera to Apple Home, and send your recordings to iCloud. Fregata does not do this — recordings stay on your Mac, accessed via Frigate's web UI. - **Plugin ecosystem for camera authentication and discovery.** Scrypted has first-party plugins for Ring, Google Nest, UniFi Protect, and other vendor ecosystems that handle the authentication / device-discovery / two-way-audio glue end-to-end. Fregata also reaches most of these vendors — Ring, Nest, Wyze, Tapo, Tuya, HomeKit cameras, UniFi Protect, and so on — via the bundled [go2rtc](https://github.com/AlexxIT/go2rtc), but the configuration is closer to raw protocol setup than a polished UI flow. If you want a "click to add my Ring doorbell" UX, Scrypted is faster; if you're comfortable pasting credentials into `go2rtc.yml`, both work. - **Multi-platform.** Runs natively on macOS (via Homebrew or [the desktop app](https://docs.scrypted.app/desktop-application.html)), Linux (Docker), and Windows. - **CoreML detection on Apple Silicon.** Scrypted's CoreML plugin uses the Apple Neural Engine on Mac — same hardware path Fregata uses. The difference is depth: Fregata ships a custom Rust-based CoreML detector with explicit **ANE-vs-GPU backend selection** as a config knob (see [Detection tuning](/guides/detection-tuning/)), supports Frigate+ custom trained models, defaults tuned per chip, and the warmup-tier diagnostic in the menu-bar tray. Scrypted's plugin is a more general-purpose model loader. ### Where Fregata wins for a Mac user - **Recording is included in the price.** Fregata is a one-time **$10** that buys 12 months of updates and unlimited cameras. Scrypted's core is free, but to actually record locally (the whole point of a NVR) it has a per-camera annual subscription — see the math above. - **Built on Frigate's mature NVR engine.** Frigate has been the reference open-source NVR for 5+ years and has a deep community library of camera configs, MQTT integrations, Home Assistant guides, and Frigate+ custom-model workflows. Fregata inherits all of it. Scrypted NVR is a younger, bespoke engine. - **No detection sub-streams required.** Fregata runs detection on the **full-resolution** camera stream because the ANE is fast enough. Scrypted (and most NVRs) need a separate low-resolution sub-stream to keep detection affordable. - **Frigate+ custom-trained models work natively.** If you subscribe to Frigate+, your custom model loads in Fregata via the same `plus://...` identifier you'd use on Linux Frigate. ### Where Scrypted wins - **HomeKit Secure Video.** If your goal is "see my cameras in Apple Home with 10-day iCloud-encrypted clips," Scrypted + HKSV is the right tool. Fregata isn't an HKSV bridge — though cameras CAN be surfaced to Apple Home for **live view** via the embedded go2rtc HAP server (see [Frigate's HomeKit integration docs](https://docs.frigate.video/integrations/homekit/)). HKSV-grade recording specifically requires Scrypted (or Homebridge) as a bridge layer — and running Scrypted alongside Fregata for that purpose is a documented pattern. - **Polished UX for vendor-cloud cameras.** Both platforms can ingest Ring, Nest, Wyze, Tapo, Tuya, and similar cloud-API cameras — Fregata via the bundled go2rtc, Scrypted via its per-vendor plugins. Scrypted's plugins are typically a click-through UI; Fregata's path is editing `go2rtc.yml`. The one notable gap on Fregata's side is **Eufy battery models in cloud-only mode**, which still need a third-party bridge ([EufyP2PStream](https://github.com/oischinger/eufyp2pstream)) in front of go2rtc. - **Free core for non-recording use.** If you only need camera bridging (e.g., bringing one camera into HomeKit), Scrypted's free core is enough — you never need the paid NVR plugin. ## Fregata vs Blue Iris [**Blue Iris**](https://blueirissoftware.com/) is a Windows NVR from a single developer — **Ken Pletzer / Perspective Software LLC**. It has been the de-facto Windows NVR for ~15 years. ### Pricing in 2025-2026 Two perpetual personal-use editions, listed on the [Blue Iris purchase page](https://blueirissoftware.com/#purchase): - **LE License** — **$39.95**, **1 camera only**. - **Full License** — **$99.95**, up to **128 cameras**. The first **12 months of updates** are included with either license. After that, continued access to new updates requires the **Blue Iris Extended Support & Maintenance** plan, with three tiers: - **Basic** — **$44.95/year auto-renewing** or **$49.95 for a single, non-auto-renewing year**. Covers version updates and major-upgrade protection, plus email support. - **Priority** — **$199.95/year auto-renewing** or **$249.95/single year**. Adds prioritized email support, phone support (by appointment), and remote-desktop support. - **Commercial License** — **$39.95/month**, the only tier that permits commercial use. You can keep using your last-covered version forever — but if you install any update released after your maintenance lapses, the software flips into evaluation mode and stamps an **"Blue Iris Evaluation Version"** watermark on every camera feed until you renew or roll back. A **15-day free, fully functional (but with a watermark on all video) evaluation** is available before purchase. ### Where Blue Iris is genuinely strong - **Mature feature set.** Years of accumulated knobs — sub-stream switching, motion zones, hot-spot detection, perimeter intelligence, time-lapse generation, DDNS. - **First-party MQTT publishing.** Built into the Digital IO & IoT tab. The community [Home Assistant integration](https://github.com/elad-bar/ha-blueiris) (currently maintained by `kramttocs`, last release Nov 2025) exposes per-camera entities, binary sensors, and arming switches. - **Desktop-style Windows UI.** Multi-monitor, drag-and-drop layout, conventions Windows users already know. ### Where Fregata wins for a Mac user - **It runs on macOS.** Blue Iris is Windows-only. There's no native Mac build, no Boot Camp on Apple Silicon, and the developer/community discourage running it in Parallels or VMware Fusion (requires performance-killing x86_64-to-arm64 emulation and hardware acceleration is unavailable inside a VM). The only Mac story is the **web UI / iOS app as a remote client** pointed at a Windows host. If "Mac-native" matters at all, Blue Iris is the wrong answer. - **Apple-Silicon-accelerated detection without a separate GPU box.** Blue Iris has no built-in object detection — it relies on [CodeProject.AI Server](https://www.codeproject.com/articles/Using-CodeProject-AI-Server-with-Blue-Iris) (an officially-recommended add-on) or the older DeepStack. Both run on Windows or Linux, **not on macOS**, and an NVIDIA GPU is strongly recommended for usable latency. A [Mac mini](https://www.amazon.com/Apple-2024-Desktop-Computer-10%E2%80%91core/dp/B0DLBTPDCS) running Fregata replaces that whole tower-PC-plus-GPU stack. - **One-time pricing actually means one-time.** Fregata's $10 buys 12 months of updates; if you don't renew, you keep running the latest version you had access to *with no watermark, no nag screen, no functional changes*. Blue Iris watermarks every camera feed if you skip the $44.95/year maintenance renewal and then install a newer build. - **Built on Frigate** — open-source NVR core with a deep ecosystem. Blue Iris is closed source, single-developer. - **Email support is included, no maintenance contract.** Fregata is a paid commercial product from a single vendor (3rd Bit Labs) with email support included for every paid customer — reply to your license email and you get a human. Blue Iris's email support is gated on an active maintenance plan ($44.95/year for Basic, $199.95/year for Priority); if your maintenance lapses, so does access to email support. ### Where Blue Iris wins - **You're already a Windows shop.** If your home server is a Windows PC and you're not changing platforms, Blue Iris on the existing hardware is a coherent answer. - **Decades of Win32-desktop polish.** The UI is shaped for Windows users who prefer a native-feeling app to a web UI. ## Fregata vs Synology Surveillance Station [**Synology Surveillance Station**](https://www.synology.com/en-global/surveillance) ships free with every Synology NAS — but the licensing model on top of "free" is where the actual cost lives. ### License costs and bundled counts Per Synology's [Device License Pack page](https://www.synology.com/en-us/products/Device_License_Pack): | Hardware | Free camera licenses | | --- | --- | | Standard DiskStation / RackStation NAS | **2** | | DVA1622 (compact NVR appliance) | 4 | | DVA3221 (4-bay deep-learning NVR) | 8 | Additional licenses are sold as [**Camera License Packs**](https://www.synology.com/en-us/products/Device_License_Pack) (CLP1, CLP4, CLP8 — 1, 4, or 8 licenses respectively). Synology **doesn't publish MSRP**; reseller listings put **street pricing around $50–60 USD per camera** with mild bulk discounting (e.g. [CLP1 on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Synology-Camera-License-Pack-CLP1/dp/B001MJ0JAO)). Licenses are perpetual once activated. For an 8-camera household on a standard NAS that's: 2 free + 6 purchased ≈ **$300–360 in license costs**, in addition to the NAS itself. The price floor stays high because the NAS is typically a 2-bay+ device starting in the $300s. ### Deep Video Analytics (DVA) is hardware-bound Synology's deep-learning analytics — people/vehicle detection, license plate recognition, face recognition, intrusion zones — is **DVA**. Two important properties: 1. **DVA is not a separate license.** It comes with the DVA appliances themselves. 2. **DVA only runs on DVA-branded hardware** — currently the **DVA1622** (Intel Celeron J4125 + iGPU, capped at ~2 concurrent analytics tasks) and the **[DVA3221](https://www.synology.com/en-global/products/DVA)** (4-bay with NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti, up to 12 tasks below 4K). Standard DiskStations cannot run DVA regardless of licenses purchased. ### Recent reputation (worth knowing) Two issues from 2025-2026 that come up in recent reviews: - **May 2026 licensing walkback.** Synology's [new BC510 / TC510 / BC800Z cameras now require a paid Surveillance Station license](https://dongknows.com/new-synology-bc510-and-tc510-require-camera-license/), reversing the precedent set by the BC500 / TC500 / CC400W generation (which were license-free). Widely criticized as a walk-back. - **2025 HDD lock-in.** Synology's [third-party HDD restriction](https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/nas/synology-walks-back-controversial-compatibility-policy-for-2025-nas-units-third-party-hdd-and-ssd-support-returns-with-diskstation-manager-7-3-update) was partially reversed for Plus-class NAS in DSM 7.3 (October 2025), but **still applies** to rackmount and DVA / NVR appliance units — including the surveillance appliances. ### HomeKit and Home Assistant - **No first-party HomeKit Secure Video support** and **no official Home Assistant integration**. Both are community- driven, and the community path most people land on is bridging Surveillance Station cameras through **Scrypted** back to HomeKit Secure Video or Home Assistant — at which point you may be paying Scrypted's per-camera subscription on top of Synology's per-camera license. ### Where Fregata wins for a Mac user - **Per-camera cost is zero.** Fregata's $10 covers every camera you connect — 2 or 32, same price. Synology adds ~$50–60 per camera beyond the bundled count. - **Apple Silicon detection vs. an iGPU or GTX 1050 Ti.** The DVA appliances are competent at their fixed task lists, but a [Mac mini's](https://www.amazon.com/Apple-2024-Desktop-Computer-10%E2%80%91core/dp/B0DLBTPDCS) Neural Engine is faster per inference than the DVA1622's iGPU and the DVA3221's older GTX 1050 Ti — at a fraction of the power draw and without locking you to a specific NAS line. - **Open Frigate ecosystem.** Native MQTT, native Home Assistant integration (HACS Frigate plugin works without modification), Frigate+ custom model support. Synology Surveillance Station is its own walled garden. - **Not coupled to a NAS brand.** Replace the Mac, point Fregata at the same recordings folder, you're back up. Replace a failing Synology NAS and you re-buy hardware that meets DVA's specific requirements or lose the DVA features. ### Where Synology wins - **You already own a Synology NAS.** The capital cost is sunk and the first 2 (or 4, or 8) cameras are free. - **Tightest hardware integration with NAS storage.** Recordings land on the same RAID/BTRFS volume as your other files; snapshots and offsite replication use the same DSM tooling. - **Published camera-compatibility database.** Synology's searchable [Surveillance Station compatibility list](https://www.synology.com/en-us/compatibility/camera) catalogues per-model feature support (PTZ, two-way audio, IO triggers, event handling) for the cameras they've tested. Fregata reaches the same RTSP/ONVIF universe — and via the bundled go2rtc, several cloud-API vendors Synology doesn't support — but doesn't maintain its own per-model feature database. If you want to look up "does my obscure ONVIF camera support backchannel audio?" before you buy, Synology's list is genuinely useful as a reference (even if you end up running Fregata). ## At-a-glance comparison | | **Fregata** | Scrypted | Blue Iris | Synology SS | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | **OS** | macOS (Apple Silicon) | macOS / Linux / Win | Windows | Synology DSM | | **License model** | **$10 one-time + 12 mo. updates** | Free core + $40/yr NVR plugin subscription (4 cameras included, $10/yr for each additional camera) | $39.95–99.95 + $44.95/yr maintenance for updates | NAS hardware + ~$50–60/camera (after 2–8 free) | | **Object detection on Apple Silicon ANE** | **Yes (built-in)** | Yes (via CoreML plugin) | No (no macOS support) | No | | **VideoToolbox hardware decode/encode** | **Yes (default)** | Partial | n/a | n/a | | **No detection sub-stream required** | **Yes** | No | No | No | | **Apple Home (live view)** | **Yes (via embedded go2rtc HAP)** | Yes | No | No (community via Scrypted) | | **HomeKit Secure Video (iCloud recording)** | No (use Scrypted layer) | **Yes (best-in-class)** | No | No (community via Scrypted) | | **Home Assistant integration** | **Yes (native Frigate HACS)** | Yes (plugin) | Yes (community MQTT integration) | No first-party (community via Scrypted) | | **Local-first recordings** | **Yes** | Yes (with paid plugin subscription) | Yes | Yes | | **Open-source core** | **Yes (built on Frigate)** | Yes (mixed per-module licensing) | No | No | | **Per-camera license cost** | **$0** | $10/yr per additional camera beyond the 4 included in the base subscription | $0 within 128-camera cap | ~$50–60 per camera over 2 free | ## When Fregata is the right answer Stack the points above and Fregata's specific niche is: 1. You have, or want to buy, an [Apple Silicon Mac](https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/A29243E5-37F0-4858-ADDB-40E17FD781B7). 2. You want recording included in the price, not as a separate per-camera annual subscription. 3. You want a single one-time $10 with no maintenance-renewal watermark mechanic. 4. You want to plug into the Frigate ecosystem (MQTT, Home Assistant integration, Frigate+ custom models, 5+ years of community camera configs) instead of a vendor walled garden. Mac users for whom none of those four apply are usually a better fit for one of the other tools listed here — and that's a fine outcome. Fregata is deliberately narrow. For the full Fregata-vs-Frigate breakdown — what we add, what we remove, what stays identical to upstream — read [Fregata vs Frigate](/reference/fregata-vs-frigate/).