Photo Galleries

Self-hosted photo gallery and image management software

Photo Galleries

A gallery is software that helps you publish, share, and manage photos, pictures, videos or other digital media.

Related categories: Static Site Generators, Media Streaming - Video, Content Management Systems (CMS)

Featured Photo Gallery Software

Immich

High-performance photo and video backup solution

PhotoPrism

AI-powered photo management with face recognition

Piwigo

Feature-rich photo gallery for the web

Lychee

Beautiful photo management system

All Photo Gallery Applications

Modern Full-Featured Galleries

Immich - Photo and video backup solution directly from your mobile phone.

• Demo | Source Code
• License: AGPL-3.0
• Platform: Docker

PhotoPrism - Personal photo management powered by Go and Google TensorFlow. Browse, organize, and share with automatic tagging.

• Demo | Source Code
• License: AGPL-3.0
• Platform: Go/Docker

Ente - End-to-end encrypted photo-sharing platform (alternative to Google Photos, Apple Photos).

• Source Code
• License: AGPL-3.0
• Platform: Docker/Nodejs/Go

LibrePhotos - Photo management service with cool graphs (alternative to Google Photos).

• Source Code
• License: MIT
• Platform: Python/Docker

Piwigo - Photo gallery software for the web, built by an active community.

• Source Code
• License: GPL-2.0
• Platform: PHP

Lightweight & Fast Galleries

Chevereto - Ultimate image sharing software. Create your own image hosting website.

• Source Code
• License: AGPL-3.0
• Platform: PHP/Docker

Lychee - Grid and album based photo-management-system.

• Source Code
• License: MIT
• Platform: PHP/Docker

Photofield - Experimental fast photo viewer.

• Source Code
• License: MIT
• Platform: Docker/Go

Photoview - Simple and user-friendly photo gallery optimized for large collections with thousands of high-resolution photos.

• Demo | Source Code
• License: GPL-3.0
• Platform: Go/Docker

PiGallery 2 - Directory-first photo gallery with rich UI, optimized for low resource servers.

• Source Code
• License: MIT
• Platform: Docker/Nodejs

SPIS - Simple, lightweight and fast media server with decent mobile support.

• Source Code
• License: GPL-3.0
• Platform: Docker/Rust

AI-Powered & Advanced Features

Damselfly - Fast server-based photo management for large collections. Includes face detection, object recognition, and EXIF keyword tagging.

• Source Code
• License: GPL-3.0
• Platform: Docker/C#/.NET

HomeGallery - Browse personal photos and videos with tagging, mobile-friendly, and AI-powered image discovery.

• Demo | Source Code
• License: MIT
• Platform: Nodejs/Docker

Specialized & Unique Galleries

ChronoFrame - Personal gallery with online photo management, supporting Live/Motion Photos and explore map.

• Demo | Source Code
• License: MIT
• Platform: Nodejs/Docker

Immich Kiosk - Lightweight slideshow for kiosk devices using Immich as data source.

• Source Code
• License: GPL-3.0
• Platform: Docker/Go

This week in past - Aggregates images taken this week from previous years for slideshow.

• Source Code
• License: MIT
• Platform: Docker/Rust

WeddingShare - Event photo sharing platform with slideshow and QR code access.

• Demo | Source Code
• License: GPL-3.0
• Platform: C#/Docker

Cloud Integration & Nextcloud

Nextcloud Memories - Fast, modern photo management suite running as a Nextcloud app.

• Demo | Source Code
• License: AGPL-3.0
• Platform: PHP

Static & Simple Galleries

Mejiro - Easy-to-use instant photo publishing.

• Source Code
• License: GPL-3.0
• Platform: PHP

sigal - Yet another simple static gallery generator.

• Source Code
• License: MIT
• Platform: Python

Zenphoto - Open-source gallery and CMS project.

• Source Code
• License: GPL-2.0
• Platform: PHP

Media Management Tools

Mediagoblin - Media publishing platform (alternative to Flickr, YouTube, SoundCloud).

• Source Code
• License: AGPL-3.0
• Platform: Python

Thumbor - Smart imaging service for on-demand cropping, resizing, and optimizing images.

• Source Code
• License: MIT
• Platform: Python/Docker

Choosing the Right Gallery

Google Photos Alternative

Best Options: Immich, PhotoPrism, Ente, LibrePhotos

Features:

• Automatic organization
• Face recognition
• Mobile apps
• AI-powered search
• Timeline view

Recommendation: Immich for the most Google Photos-like experience

Simple Photo Sharing

Best Options: Lychee, Piwigo, Chevereto

Features:

• Easy album management
• Share links
• Simple upload
• Clean interface

Recommendation: Lychee for beautiful UI with minimal setup

Large Collections

Best Options: PhotoPrism, Photoview, Damselfly

Features:

• Handle thousands of photos
• Fast browsing
• Metadata management
• Duplicate detection

Recommendation: PhotoPrism for best performance and features

Privacy Focused

Best Options: Ente, LibrePhotos, Immich

Features:

• End-to-end encryption (Ente)
• No cloud dependency
• Self-hosted completely
• No tracking

Recommendation: Ente for maximum privacy with encryption

Feature Comparison

Feature	Immich	PhotoPrism	Lychee	Piwigo	Ente
Mobile Apps	✓	✓	✗	✓	✓
Face Recognition	✓	✓	✗	Plugin	✗
AI Search	✓	✓	✗	✗	✗
RAW Support	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Video Support	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
End-to-End Encryption	✗	✗	✗	✗	✓
Timeline View	✓	✓	✗	✗	✓
Map/Location	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Multi-user	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Resource Usage	Medium	High	Low	Low	Medium

Setup Recommendations

1. Choose Storage Location

   Decide where to store photos:

   • Local storage (fast access)
   • NAS (centralized)
   • External drives (backup)

   Recommended: Local SSD + NAS backup

2. Organize Before Import

   Structure your photos before importing:

   /photos/
     /2024/
       /01-January/
       /02-February/
     /2023/
   

   Or let the gallery organize automatically.

3. Configure Hardware Acceleration

   For video thumbnails and processing:

   • Enable GPU support in Docker
   • Configure transcoding (PhotoPrism, Immich)
   • Improves performance significantly
4. Set Up Mobile Apps

   Install companion apps:

   • Immich: iOS/Android apps for automatic backup
   • PhotoPrism: Progressive web app
   • Ente: Native iOS/Android apps
5. Configure Backups

   Essential for photo preservation:

   • 3-2-1 rule: 3 copies, 2 different media, 1 offsite
   • Automated backup scripts
   • Test restore procedures

Performance Tips

Hardware Requirements

Minimum:

• 2 GB RAM (4 GB for AI features)
• Dual-core CPU
• 10 GB for application + photo storage

Recommended for Large Collections:

• 8 GB RAM (16 GB for PhotoPrism with AI)
• Quad-core CPU or better
• SSD for database and cache
• GPU for video transcoding

Optimization

• Enable thumbnail generation during off-peak hours
• Use lossy thumbnails to save space
• Configure appropriate cache sizes
• Disable features you don’t need (face recognition, etc.)
• Use reverse proxy caching (Nginx, Caddy)

Database Tuning

For large collections (100K+ photos):

• Use PostgreSQL instead of SQLite
• Increase connection pool sizes
• Regular database maintenance
• Monitor query performance

Mobile Backup Configuration

Automatic Phone Backup

For automatic photo backup from your phone:

1. Immich: Best option with dedicated mobile apps

   • Background upload
   • Wi-Fi only option
   • Battery optimization

2. PhotoPrism: Use WebDAV or third-party sync apps

   • PhotoSync (iOS/Android)
   • FolderSync (Android)

3. Ente: Native apps with E2E encryption

   • Automatic backup
   • Album organization

Privacy Considerations

When hosting photo galleries:

• Be careful with face recognition data
• Consider data retention policies
• Use encryption for sensitive photos (Ente)
• Implement strong access controls
• Regular security updates