Instead of Google Photos
Photo backup, search and sharing across devices.
Immich is the rare case where the self-hosted option is better than the thing it replaces. Face search, maps, albums, mobile backup, all of it.
You lose: The machine-learned search on twenty years of photos, unless you let Immich index them, which it does well.
Start here
Immich
Mature now, and the best of these. Keep the database backed up as carefully as the photos.
github.com/immich-app/immichimmich.app
A compose file, a domain and a reverse proxy.
Also worth a look
- PhotoPrism
Great browsing and search. Phone upload is the weakest part.
- Ente
End-to-end encrypted, which is the point, and a smaller ecosystem.
Head to head
What the desk has written
Facts checked 8 November 2026. Licences, activity and archive status come from each project's own repository; the verdict and the cost lines are the desk's.