Best mini PC for Frigate
Detection is the load, not recording. Ranked by cameras handled.
Frigate runs object detection on every camera's low-res substream, and that detection - not the recording - is what needs hardware. A Google Coral or Hailo does it on about 2 watts; an Intel iGPU via OpenVINO works too but shares the chip with everything else.
So the best Frigate box is usually a low-power mini-PC plus a dedicated detector. The ranking below reflects that: boxes are scored on the cameras they can realistically detect on, pairing a detector where the built-in iGPU is not the better call.
What to look for
- Coral or Hailo
- The dependable detectors - tiny power draw, rock-solid in Frigate. A spare USB or M.2 slot is all they need.
- Intel iGPU (OpenVINO)
- A fine no-add-on option for a handful of cameras, but it competes with recording and any transcoding on the same chip.
- Avoid AMD for detection
- There is no solid Frigate detector path on Vega/Radeon iGPUs today. Plan on a Coral/Hailo with those boxes.
- Recording is cheap
- Storage throughput and CPU for writing streams is trivial next to detection - size for the detector, not the disks.
The picks right now
| # | Pick | Fit | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Beelink SER5
+ Hailo Hailo-10H (M.2)
Top pick Pair with a Hailo Hailo-10H (M.2) (m2-ae) - ~48 cameras.
|
48 cameras |
€409 Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
Minisforum MS-A1
+ Hailo Hailo-10H (M.2)
Pair with a Hailo Hailo-10H (M.2) (m2-ae) - ~48 cameras.
|
48 cameras |
~$379 Check price on Amazon |
| 3 |
Beelink EQR6
+ Hailo Hailo-10H (M.2)
Pair with a Hailo Hailo-10H (M.2) (m2-ae) - ~48 cameras.
|
48 cameras |
~$399 Check price on Amazon |
Ranked from curated specs, same logic as the interactive recommender and the calculator. Approximate - verify against your exact setup. Prices move; check the retailer.