Immich vs Lychee
| Tagline | High-performance self-hosted photo and video backup, a Google Photos alternative | Grid and album-based self-hosted photo management system |
| Category | Photo Management | Photo Management |
| Replaces | Google Photos, iCloud Photos | Google Photos, iCloud Photos |
| GitHub stars | 104k | 4.2k |
| Language | Docker | PHP |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Self-host difficulty | 3/5 Moderate | 3/5 Moderate |
| Deploy options | Docker Docker Compose | Docker Docker Compose Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | today | yesterday |
| View repo | View repo |
Where each falls short
The honest trade-offs — what you give up with each, versus the proprietary tools they replace.
Immich
- Requires multi-container Docker Compose setup with GPU/CPU for ML; more resource-intensive than cloud alternatives
- Project is still pre-1.0 and explicitly warns against using as the sole backup solution
- No built-in CDN or geo-redundant storage; relies on local disk or manually configured object storage
- Collaborative shared albums lack the polish and third-party integrations of Google Photos
Lychee
- No automatic mobile backup; photos must be uploaded manually via the web interface
- No AI-based tagging, face recognition, or semantic search
- Some advanced features (smart albums, U2F login) require the paid Supporter Edition
- No video transcoding; video support is limited to direct playback of uploaded files
Bottom line
Both are a similar lift to self-host; choose Immich for the larger community and ecosystem. Immich has seen more recent development. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.
Immich
High-performance self-hosted photo and video backup, a Google Photos alternative