Lumen for Frigate vs pfAdmin
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Lumen for Frigate
Monitor your security cameras and review intelligent detections from your Frigate NVR. This companion app offers live camera views, AI-powered event browsing, and recording playback with a sleek interface. Unlock advanced features like face recognition and system monitoring with a Pro subscription.
- Live camera streaming
- AI-powered event detection
- Recording playback with timeline
- Face recognition management
- Semantic search for events
- System monitoring metrics
- Automatic Frigate server discovery
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Lumen for Frigate is the beautifully crafted native companion app for Frigate NVR — the leading open-source, AI-powered network video recorder. Monitor your security cameras, review intelligent detections, and play back recordings, all from a stunning dark glassmorphism interface designed for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. LIVE CAMERA VIEWS Stream all your Frigate cameras in real time. Switch between single and multi-camera layouts with smooth, responsive controls. See what matters at a glance from anywhere on your network. AI-POWERED EVENT DETECTION Browse events detected by Frigate's advanced AI models — people, vehicles, animals, packages, and more. View snapshots, thumbnails, and clips for every detection. Filter and search events by camera, label, zone, or time range to find exactly what you need. RECORDING PLAYBACK Scrub through continuous recordings with an intuitive timeline. Jump to any moment, review footage around detected events, and play back multi-camera views in sync for complete situational awareness. FACE RECOGNITION Review and manage recognized faces detected by Frigate. Quickly identify familiar visitors and track appearances across your cameras. SEMANTIC SEARCH Go beyond simple filters — use natural language to search your event history. Describe what you are looking for and let AI find matching detections across all your cameras. SYSTEM MONITORING Keep tabs on your Frigate server's health. View CPU and GPU usage, storage capacity, detector inference speed, and camera performance metrics at a glance. AUTO-DISCOVERY Lumen automatically finds Frigate servers on your local network and supports Tailscale connections, so setup takes just seconds. DESIGNED FOR APPLE Built with SwiftUI from the ground up. Lumen feels right at home on iOS and macOS with smooth animations, native controls, and full support for Dynamic Type, Dark Mode, and multitasking. FREE TO START, PRO TO UNLOCK MORE Get started for free with up to 4 cameras and 25 recent events. Upgrade to Lumen Pro to unlock unlimited cameras, advanced event filtering, recording timeline, system stats, face recognition, macOS support, and everything that comes next. Lumen Pro is available as a monthly or yearly subscription, or as a one-time lifetime purchase. Current prices are shown in your local currency on the App Store. Start with a 7-day free trial of all Pro features. Payment will be charged to your Apple ID account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. You can manage and cancel your subscriptions in your App Store account settings. Terms of Use: https://lumenforfrigate.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://lumenforfrigate.app/privacy Frigate NVR is required. Lumen is an independent third-party client and is not affiliated with the Frigate project.
pfAdmin
Manage your pfSense firewall remotely from your iPhone or iPad. This app connects securely via SSH, requiring no additional software on your firewall. Monitor and control your network security on the go.
- Remote pfSense firewall management
- Secure SSH connection
- No firewall installation required
- Monitor firewall status
- Manage firewall settings
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pfAdmin puts your pfSense firewall in your pocket. Monitor and manage a stock pfSense box from your iPhone or iPad over a secure SSH connection - nothing is installed on the firewall, and nothing goes through a cloud service. Requires a pfSense firewall with SSH enabled. pfAdmin is an independent client and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Netgate or pfSense.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: pfAdmin at 100% against Lumen for Frigate's 20%. pfAdmin also leads on rating (5.0 vs 2.6) and in-app purchases (none vs 3). Lumen for Frigate's advantage is price (Free vs $3.99) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 4 weeks). On ratings volume, ads and iOS requirement 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
Lumen for Frigate is free to download; pfAdmin costs $3.99 up front. Lumen for Frigate sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. pfAdmin asks for nothing beyond the download.
pfAdmin holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 2 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 20% of Lumen for Frigate's written reviews are positive against 100% of pfAdmin's.
Lumen for Frigate ships an update every 5 days, pfAdmin every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Lumen for Frigate | pfAdmin |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $3.99 |
| Rating | 2.6 (5 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 20.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Every 4 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 73 MB | 15 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Christine Martin | D4VINDER LTD |
Customer experience
Lumen for Frigate
pfAdmin
In-app purchases
Lumen for Frigate
- Monthly$2.991 Month
- Annual14 Days trial$19.991 Year
- Lifetime$49.99
pfAdmin
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Lumen for Frigate free?
Is pfAdmin free?
Which has better reviews, Lumen for Frigate or pfAdmin?
Do Lumen for Frigate or pfAdmin have ads?
Which is updated more often, Lumen for Frigate or pfAdmin?
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