Local First
Runs entirely on your machine. No data leaves your laptop unless you opt in.
No Install · No Cloud · No Account
Turn your old laptop into a smart home security camera.
Reuse the hardware you already own. A browser tab watches for motion, sends a Telegram alert, and keeps a private event log — no install, no monthly fee, no cloud lock-in.
Everything you need. Nothing you don't.
Six principles that keep the project honest and your data private.
No subscription
Free, no monthly fees, no account. Pay nothing forever — there is no PRO plan.
No cloud required
Detection runs locally. Telegram is the only optional outbound integration, and only if you set it up.
No account
No sign-up, no login, no email. Open the page and use it — that's it.
Zero install
Nothing to download, nothing to sign up for. Open the page, allow the camera, and you are monitoring in under five minutes.
Reuse old hardware
Give that dusty laptop a second life. If it has a webcam, it can be a security camera.
How it works
Three steps from box to first alert.
Open the Runner in your browser
Test the motion engine against your webcam in seconds — no install, no permission beyond camera access.
Configure Telegram
Paste your bot token and chat id in the Alerts panel. Nothing to install, nothing to sign up for.
Leave it watching
Every detection sends you a photo with the timestamp and the intensity. The tab is the whole system.
Frequently asked questions
The honest answers, no marketing fluff.
Do I need an internet connection?
Detection is fully local — frames and audio never leave your machine. You only need internet for the alerts themselves, because the browser tab sends them to the Telegram API. Without internet, detection still runs and still shows on screen.
Which operating systems are supported?
Any machine with a modern browser: Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari, on Windows, macOS or Linux. There is nothing to install. Phones work too, though keeping capture alive with the screen off is what the next milestone is about. The optional local agent runs anywhere Node.js does; a packaged Windows installer is planned but has no date.
Do I need to create an account?
No. MySentryHome is account-free. Open the page, allow the camera, done.
Does the site track me?
Only with your consent, and only the website. If you accept the cookie banner, Google Analytics measures ordinary page usage. Nothing from the camera, the microphone, your detection events, or your Telegram token ever enters it — that data never leaves your device. See the Privacy page for the details, or decline and nothing is stored.
Is it really free? What is the catch?
There is no catch and no PRO tier. It is kept by one person in their spare time, so there is no revenue behind it either — if it saved you a subscription, a coffee at buymeacoffee.com/mysentryhome is the whole business model.
Is it safe to leave a laptop running 24/7?
Yes, as long as the hardware is healthy. Detection is deliberately cheap — frames are compared at 160x120, so an old laptop barely notices. Consider cleaning the vents and setting the power plan to never sleep, and keep the tab open: the tab is the whole system.
Can I use multiple cameras?
Not yet. You pick one camera per tab today; multi-camera is on the roadmap. As a workaround, one browser tab per webcam works, each with its own settings — and an old phone can be one of them.
How is the video processed?
Frames are compared locally at low resolution (160x120) and thrown away immediately. Nothing is recorded: a photo is only encoded when a detection fires and you have configured an alert channel to send it to.
Roadmap
What we are building, in order.
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V0 Done
Browser-only detection
Motion and sound detection running entirely in the browser. No install, no backend, no account — open the page and it works.
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V0.5 Done
Telegram alerts, zero install
Detections reach your phone. The tab talks straight to your own Telegram bot and sends a photo with the timestamp and the intensity. An optional local agent adds on-disk history.
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V1 In progress
Two-way Telegram
Talk back to the camera: /snap returns a live photo, /short records a few seconds of video, and /arm and /disarm put the monitoring under your thumb from anywhere. Opt-in, and only your own chat is ever obeyed.
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V2 Planned
Old phones as cameras
The drawer has more dead phones than dead laptops, and each one is a camera with a battery. Screen-off capture, background throttling, wake lock and a layout built for a phone propped against a shelf.
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V3 Planned
Recording and smarter detection
Record a clip on every detection, draw the zones that matter, run more than one camera, and recognize people on-device.
Our mission
Give a second life to the computer collecting dust in your drawer. MySentryHome exists because hardware already on hand should be enough to monitor your home — no new device, no subscription, no compromise on privacy.
There is no company behind it, no PRO plan, and no features held hostage — which also means there is no revenue behind it. A coffee ☕ is what keeps it moving.
Like the project?
MySentryHome is free forever. If it saved you a subscription or made your old laptop useful again, consider supporting its development.