Immich is the closest self-hosted experience to Google Photos, with a polished timeline, automatic phone backup, face grouping and smart search. It is fully open source under AGPL-3.0 and financially backed by FUTO and it reached its v2.0 stable release in October 2025 after years of heavy development. Because it runs entirely on a server you control, your media never touches a third party, FUTO, though US-incorporated, never holds your data. The important caveat is that Immich is not end-to-end encrypted: files sit readable on your server so your privacy depends on how well you secure that machine and there is no hosted option.
Immich
Self-hosted Google Photos alternative with automatic mobile backup.
immich.appFreeOpen SourceWindowsmacOSLinuxAndroidiOSWebUnited States
PricingFree and open source; you supply the server and storage so capacity is limited only by your own hardware.
Strengths
- Polished, Google Photos-like experience
- Automatic backup, face grouping and smart search
- Fully open source and FUTO-backed
- Photos stay on hardware you control
Considerations
- Not end-to-end encrypted, files are readable on the server
- Requires you to run and secure a server
- No hosted turnkey option
Listed inPhoto Storage
Immich alternatives
Internxt PhotosZero-knowledge encrypted photo storage from an open-source, EU-based provider.
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CrypteeEncrypted documents and a private photo vault in one.
PhotoPrismSelf-hosted photo library with AI tagging and search, no monthly cloud bill.