I (lastly) ditched Google Photographs for self-hosted; this is the way it went

I really like Google Photographs; its ease of use and have set are unmatched in my view. Nonetheless, I’m a fair larger fan of self-hosting — I take advantage of my DIY NAS to interchange a substantial vary of overpriced subscription providers. Nonetheless, to this point, I haven’t been capable of change Google Photographs utterly, however I might need lastly discovered a method to actually reduce the wire.

See, I’m loath to fork out for Google One when I’ve 10TB of laborious drive area on my NAS. Nonetheless, I take advantage of Google Photographs to make the occasional fast edit, to assist share snaps with family and friends shortly, and even duplicate a couple of of my most cherished reminiscences as a part of the beneficial 3-2-1 backup rule. For storing most of my older snaps, I’ve been utilizing PhotoPrism, however nearly as good as it’s as a photograph library, it lacks the wealthy function set of Photographs, particularly for managing a number of customers in my house.

As a alternative that’ll come a lot nearer to Google’s function set and setup, I’ve had my eye on Immich for a very long time. This self-hosted photograph library and group device definitely evokes a well-recognized appear and feel, and has undoubtedly been impressed by most of the cloud platform’s traditional options.

The service reached its first steady construct in the direction of the top of 2025, and I’ve lastly had the time to spin it up and see if it should change Photographs for me. Right here’s how I obtained it working and whether or not it’s best to hassle spinning it up, too.

The primary query to contemplate when fascinated with transferring away from a well-liked service like Google Photographs is: The place and the way will I run my different?

In the event you have your personal NAS or a little bit DIY mini-PC different, you may definitely host it your self. The choice, which is especially helpful if you’d like web entry to your pictures, is to host on a digital non-public server (VPS). Nonetheless, the prices of a VPS plus important on-line storage may very well be larger than paying for Google One, so the one motive to go down this route can be the privateness possibility.

Immich has guides for fast setup on standard NAS providers and self-hosting choices, together with one-click installs for Synology, TruNAS, Unraid, DigitalOcean, Vultr, and extra. I opted for the beneficial Docker Compose route on my DIY NAS as a result of I really like container; nonetheless, the purpose is that you ought to be well-equipped to get began on no matter platform you like.

The opposite half of the equation is methods to switch pictures out of your telephone to your library. Immich supplies an internet UI for desktop environments, which is a pleasant begin. Fortunately, there are additionally devoted apps for each Android and iOS that may deal with backups and library looking. The app is free too (although you may help the mission), which is one thing that may’t be mentioned for some different self-hosting setups.

The ultimate and utterly non-compulsory piece of the puzzle is deciding whether or not you wish to entry Immich outdoors of your own home. It is a useful possibility for those who journey so much and is an important step if you wish to share albums with family and friends through URL hyperlinks. Nonetheless, exposing any service to the online is all the time a danger, so I’ll go away you to conduct your personal analysis to make sure you absolutely perceive what you’re doing. I’ve left mine offline for now, because the app shops a cache and may replace once you’re again on your own home Wi-Fi, which is greater than adequate for me.

Now, Immich just isn’t a direct Google Photographs different — self-hosting clearly isn’t for everyone, in spite of everything. Nonetheless, it does goal to emulate its look and a few of its extra quintessential options, however it does this with extra superior admin options to assist retailer and handle all your loved ones’s pictures with out merging every part collectively. And that’s the massive distinction right here: Immich is as a lot about managing customers as it’s about organizing your pictures.

Establishing accounts is so simple as specifying an electronic mail tackle and a password; every person immediately receives their very own non-public photograph library, full with the choice of a password-protected locked folder. You possibly can immediately share albums between different Immich customers in your occasion, which is a major boon for my family. Plus, you may share your complete library with a associate account. So whereas every account is non-public and distinctive, identical to Google, you may simply share snaps and reminiscences throughout accounts in your system.

Talking of administration, Immich is filled with metrics that can assist you shortly visualize the scale of your library, the breakdown of pictures to video, and your general storage or remaining quota. It’s not overly advanced, however there’s simply sufficient element right here that can assist you plan as your storage progressively fills up.

There are much more superior options, however these require further setup, equivalent to OAuth logins, electronic mail notifications, and time-limited public/exterior picture sharing. Talking of sharing, different accounts can contribute to shared albums, and you may even settle for public uploads for shared hyperlinks. I haven’t obtained round to setting these up but, however it simply goes to point out how top-tier you can also make your Immich setup if you wish to go deeper than a “fundamental” self-hosted library.

Fortunately, the cellular app makes backing up your telephone’s pictures as seamless as ever, aping the acquainted backup folder configuration and information or Wi-Fi toggles. So, if you’d like a system that could be very easy for your loved ones to make use of, Immich nonetheless suits the invoice, regardless of the big selection of deeper configuration choices that you just would possibly wish to discover because the system administrator.

For Google Photographs followers, Immich boasts a number of acquainted and helpful options. There’s a geotagged map to view pictures across the globe, movement photograph help, machine-learning-based Reminiscences to relive moments, and Locked Folders to maintain pictures out of the attain of prying eyes. Talking of machine studying, Immich’s search perform additionally works with recognized folks, locations, objects, and different broad search phrases, equivalent to seashores, automobiles, and meals. It’s not fairly as sturdy as Google’s highly effective cloud service, however it’s fairly highly effective for a self-hosted platform.

I received’t record all of Immich’s person options right here (you may examine them on the roadmap), however metadata modifying, 360-degree pictures, a local HDR video participant, and extra are all included. Having performed round with most of what Immich has to supply, I feel it undoubtedly supplies one of the crucial sturdy units of library instruments that’ll go well with even probably the most demanding archivers.

Most of those options are shared between the cellular and internet apps, however there are a couple of minor variations. For example, Immich doesn’t boast a lot in the best way of photograph modifying capabilities right here. The cellular app helps fundamental cropping, rotating, and some filters, however the internet app has nothing. Extra fundamental editor instruments are deliberate for a future launch, however for those who love Magic Editor, follow Google’s suite.

Nonetheless, for managing cellular backups and a number of customers, I genuinely assume it’s each the best to make use of and strongest Google Photographs different on the market.

I do, I actually like Immich. It manages to do one thing that my current setup can’t; it makes it as easy to handle a number of customers as it’s to again up my pictures. Due to a compelling function set, Immich can in all probability do 90% of what I like about Google Photographs; it’s simply lacking the modifying capabilities that I can nonetheless use on my telephone anyway.

I’ll say that the sheer vary of configuration choices and deep settings menus will be complicated, particularly for those who’re attempting to unlock {hardware} acceleration for video transcoding or machine studying. This degree of depth would possibly put some customers off, however it’s fortunately totally non-compulsory. Importing a brand new library can also be very gradual on my N100 machine, taking many hours to generate thumbnails and accumulate face information, which is to be anticipated in an energy-efficient NAS setup. Desktop-class PCs will likely be a lot sooner.

If I’ve one larger grievance with Immich, it’s the file administration construction. Ideally, I’d just like the system to seamlessly combine and undertake my current file construction, scanning the library for up to date information no matter how they’re added. I’m accustomed to this method from Photoprism and different media managers like Plex and Jellyfin.

That’s not how Immich works; possible owing to person administration necessities. As a substitute, it creates its personal folder construction for person uploads, thumbnails, video transcodes, and extra. Now, in equity, you may import information from exterior libraries immediately into your timeline (which I used for my current albums), set the library folder construction template to your most well-liked fashion, and even configure the varied storage places for those who’re comfy with a extra superior Docker setup.

Nonetheless, none of these fairly fits my wants, as I cut up my taking pictures between my smartphone and mirrorless digital camera. I typically edit my current footage, and I’m accustomed to often dropping new information immediately into my networked pictures folder from my PC. Nonetheless, with Immich, you shouldn’t make modifications to the library folder immediately; all file administration needs to be executed by the app’s interface. I may definitely study so as to add in that additional step, however it’s additionally simply annoying to have a number of file buildings for previous and new information.

That isn’t sufficient of a gripe to paint my notion of my time with Immich. If you’d like a set-and-forget, self-hosted photograph library supervisor, then Immich does that completely. The person, metadata, and library dealing with choices are phenomenal, taking a really acquainted design language however permitting you to customise the setup to fit your household’s wants, with the added privateness of internet hosting it in your personal house.

Immich is good, I solely want it had been a bit extra file-directory agnostic. Nonetheless, I definitely plan to dedicate a little bit extra time to refining my setup, with the purpose of utterly changing Google Photographs within the subsequent few months. It’s simply that good.