Comparison

CrowsEye vs Freegate

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

CrowsEye

Monitor your home security cameras with AI-powered object detection. Receive real-time alerts, stream live footage, and review recorded events from your iOS devices. Manage multiple NVR installations and track server health.

Highlights
  • AI-powered object detection
  • Real-time push notifications
  • Live camera streaming
  • Recording playback
  • Multi-server support
  • System monitoring
Features
Read full description

CrowsEye is a native iOS client for Frigate NVR, the popular open-source network video recorder with AI-powered object detection. Monitor your security cameras, review recordings, and stay on top of your home surveillance with real-time push notifications, all from your iPhone or iPad. ** Push Notifications (Beta) Receive instant alerts when Frigate detects events on your cameras. Configure notifications per camera with granular controls, temporarily suspend alerts when you expect activity, and stay informed even when the app is closed. Requires Frigate 0.15 or later. Live Camera Viewing Stream live footage from all your Frigate cameras with smooth MJPEG playback. The adaptive grid layout automatically adjusts for standard and ultra-wide camera formats, giving you the best view of your property at a glance. Real-time activity indicators show motion and object detection as it happens. Picture-in-Picture support lets you keep watching while using other apps. Recording Playback Browse and play back recorded footage with an intuitive calendar interface. Easily navigate through hours of recordings and find exactly what you're looking for. Pinch to zoom for detailed inspection of any moment. Review & Detection Events Stay on top of alerts and detections with the dedicated Review page. Browse AI-detected events including people, vehicles, animals, and more. Frigate's powerful detection capabilities are at your fingertips, helping you quickly find important moments without scrubbing through hours of footage. Multi-Server Support Manage multiple Frigate installations from a single app. Quickly switch between home, office, or client locations with saved credentials and auto-login support. Perfect for users managing multiple properties or security professionals. Smart Network Switching Automatically detects when you are on your home network and uses your internal server URL for faster local access, then seamlessly switches to your external URL when you are away from home. No manual configuration needed. System Monitoring Keep tabs on your Frigate server health with real-time metrics including: - Detector inference speed and performance - CPU and GPU utilization - Storage usage across all drives - Per-camera recording storage breakdown - Process monitoring Key Features - Push notifications for real-time event alerts (Beta) - Native iOS experience optimized for iPhone and iPad - Multi-server management with quick switching and auto-login - Automatic network switching between internal and external URLs - Cloudflare Zero Trust support (browser login and service tokens) - Picture-in-Picture for live camera streams - Live motion and detection activity indicators - PTZ controls: Pan, tilt and zoom now appear as a compact horizontal strip on the live view for any camera that supports it - Secure connection to your self-hosted Frigate server - Support for self-signed SSL certificates - Pan and view support for 360 degree security cameras with dewarping and mount position selection. - Save snapshots and clips directly to your Photos library Requirements - Frigate NVR server (v0.14 or later, v0.15+ for push notifications) - Network access to your Frigate instance CrowsEye is designed for users who run their own Frigate NVR installation and want a dedicated, native mobile experience for monitoring their cameras on the go.

About

Freegate

Access live camera feeds and recent event previews from your self-hosted Frigate NVR. Enjoy features like PTZ controls, two-way audio, and push notifications without complex configuration. Supports various streaming protocols and secure remote access.

Highlights
  • Live camera view
  • Recent event GIF previews
  • Push notifications
  • PTZ controls
  • Two-way audio
  • WebRTC/HLS/MJPEG support
Features
Read full description

Freegate is a viewer client for your self-hosted Frigate NVR™ servers. - Live view all cameras on homepage - Recent events GIF preview - Push notifications (no config required) - PTZ controls - 2-way audio - WebRTC / HLS / MJPEG support Supports LAN and external fallback server URLs. No tracking or analytics, privacy friendly* *For optional notifications to work, this app registers to your instance using 'Web Push' feature. See privacy policy for detailed information

Screenshots

CrowsEye4 screens
Freegate4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Freegate at Free against CrowsEye's $2.99. Freegate also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 82%) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 17.0). CrowsEye's advantage is rating (4.6 vs 4.0) and ratings volume (10 vs 1). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Freegate is free to download; CrowsEye costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

CrowsEye holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: CrowsEye has 10 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 82% of CrowsEye's written reviews are positive against 100% of Freegate's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

CrowsEye ships an update fortnightly, Freegate every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
CrowsEye versus Freegate: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCrowsEyeFreegate
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.6 (10 ratings) — better4.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews81.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings10 — better1
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.014.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size21 MB58 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBao Tuan DoanCagri IT Services OÜ

Customer experience

CrowsEye

All ratings10 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative10.0%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive81.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative18.2%

Freegate

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

CrowsEye

No in-app purchases

None

Freegate

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is CrowsEye free?
CrowsEye costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Freegate free?
Freegate is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, CrowsEye or Freegate?
CrowsEye is rated higher. CrowsEye averages 4.6 out of 5 from 10 ratings, while Freegate averages 4.0 from 1 ratings.
Do CrowsEye or Freegate have ads?
Neither CrowsEye nor Freegate shows ads.
Which is updated more often, CrowsEye or Freegate?
CrowsEye ships an update fortnightly, and Freegate every 2 weeks. Most recently, CrowsEye was updated on October 13, 2026 and Freegate on October 6, 2026.

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