Immich
Immich is a high-performance, self-hosted photo and video management solution that serves as a direct alternative to Google Photos. Built with TypeScript (NestJS backend, SvelteKit web, Flutter mobile), it offers powerful features including facial recognition, CLIP-based semantic search, and real-time HLS video transcoding. With over 105,000 GitHub stars and active backing from FUTO, it is one of the fastest-growing open-source projects in the self-hosted space.
Key Features
- Automatic backup — Mobile apps (Android and iOS) back up photos and videos in the background as soon as you open the app
- Facial recognition — ML-powered face clustering identifies and groups people across your library automatically
- CLIP semantic search — Search your photos using natural language descriptions, not just tags or filenames
- Mobile non-destructive editing — Crop, rotate, and adjust photos on mobile without altering the original files
- Workflows automation — Drag-and-drop automation builder with triggers, filters, and actions for organising incoming media
- Real-time HLS transcoding — Video playback with on-the-fly transcoding for smooth streaming on any device
- Shared albums — Create albums and share them with other users or via public links with granular permissions
- OCR text recognition — Extract text from images on mobile, making screenshots and documents searchable
Why Use Immich?
Immich replaces Google Photos entirely on your own hardware — no subscription, no data mining, no third-party cloud dependency. Its combination of polished mobile apps, ML-powered search, and active development makes it the most complete self-hosted photo solution available today. The v3.0 release brought major improvements including non-destructive editing, automated workflows, and integrity checks that detect corrupted or missing files.
Use Cases
- Replacing Google Photos with a privacy-respecting self-hosted alternative
- Centralising family photo and video libraries with shared albums and partner sharing
- Automating photo organisation with ML-powered tagging, facial recognition, and custom workflows
- Backing up mobile device media automatically to a home server
Platform
Linux (Docker) · Web · Android · iOS · Kubernetes
Licence
GNU AGPL-3.0