Immich

What is Immich?

Immich is a high-performance, self-hosted photo and video backup solution designed as a comprehensive alternative to Google Photos, offering automatic mobile backup, facial recognition, location-based browsing, intelligent search, and a beautiful modern interface—all while keeping your precious memories stored securely on your own server rather than entrusting them to cloud corporations. In an era where Google Photos has eliminated free unlimited storage, Apple iCloud charges monthly fees for meaningful capacity, and privacy concerns about tech giants accessing personal photos have intensified, Immich provides the complete solution for anyone wanting to own their photo library without compromises: the same seamless experience of commercial cloud services but running on hardware you control with unlimited storage limited only by your hard drive capacity.

Immich excels through its remarkably polished implementation rivaling services backed by billion-dollar companies—the mobile apps for iOS and Android provide background upload that just works, automatically backing up new photos and videos as you take them without manual intervention; the web interface presents your memories in a beautiful timeline you can scroll through spanning years of photos; machine learning powers facial recognition grouping photos by person, object detection enabling searches like “photos of dogs” or “beach sunset”, and smart albums automatically organizing content; map view shows exactly where every photo was taken on an interactive globe; and sharing features let you create albums for family events accessible to invited guests. This sophistication from an open-source project maintained by a dedicated team and community demonstrates that self-hosting doesn’t mean sacrificing user experience for technical idealism.

Beyond privacy-conscious individuals, Immich serves families wanting centralized photo storage accessible to all members without per-user subscription costs, professional photographers needing reliable backup without cloud storage fees eating into margins, businesses requiring photo documentation with data sovereignty compliance, travelers backing up memories without depending on hotel WiFi reliability for cloud uploads, and anyone who has experienced the frustration of losing photos when a cloud service changes terms, increases prices, or suffers data breaches. The project maintains rapid development velocity with weekly releases adding features, fixing bugs, and improving performance—currently exceeding 50,000 GitHub stars and growing as the definitive open-source answer to the question: “How do I replace Google Photos without losing what makes it great?”

Key Features

• Automatic Mobile Backup: iOS and Android apps upload photos and videos in background automatically—set it once and forget it while memories sync continuously.
• Facial Recognition: Machine learning identifies faces and groups photos by person—find all photos of family members instantly without manual tagging.
• Smart Search: Natural language search powered by CLIP model—find “red car”, “birthday party”, “sunset at beach” without any prior tagging.
• Timeline View: Beautiful scrollable timeline spanning your entire photo history with smooth performance even with hundreds of thousands of photos.
• Map View: Interactive world map showing where every geotagged photo was taken—relive trips by location.
• Albums & Sharing: Create albums for events, share with family and friends via links, collaborative albums where multiple users can contribute.
• Live Photos: Full support for iOS Live Photos and Android motion photos with playback in web and mobile apps.
• RAW Support: View and manage RAW files from professional cameras alongside processed JPEGs.
• Video Support: Upload, transcode, stream, and organize videos with the same ease as photos including 4K content.
• Multi-User: Create accounts for family members each with their own library, or share everything in shared albums.
• External Libraries: Import existing photo collections from folders—bring decades of photos into Immich without re-uploading.
• OAuth/OIDC: Login with Google, Microsoft, Authentik, Authelia, or any OpenID Connect provider for enterprise SSO.
• Duplicate Detection: Identify and manage duplicate photos wasting storage space.
• Memories: “On this day” feature showing photos from previous years on the same date.
• Partner Sharing: Share entire library with partner while maintaining separate accounts.

What’s New in Immich 2024/2025

• Hardware Transcoding: GPU-accelerated video transcoding using NVIDIA NVENC, Intel Quick Sync, and AMD AMF for dramatically faster processing.
• Improved ML Models: Updated facial recognition and CLIP models with better accuracy and performance.
• Folder View: Browse photos by folder structure in addition to timeline, useful for organized photographers.
• Trash Bin: Deleted photos go to trash first with configurable retention before permanent deletion.
• Tags: Manual tagging system complementing automatic ML-based organization.
• Improved Mobile Apps: Enhanced background upload reliability, better offline support, and smoother scrolling.
• People Merge: Combine duplicate person detections and manually correct face recognition errors.
• Stack Support: Group related photos (HDR brackets, bursts) into stacks showing one representative image.
• XMP Sidecar: Read and write XMP sidecar files for compatibility with photo editing workflows.
• Performance: Significant optimizations for libraries with 500K+ assets and improved database efficiency.

System Requirements

Server Requirements

• Docker and Docker Compose (required)
• Minimum 4GB RAM (8GB+ recommended for machine learning features)
• Any x86_64 or ARM64 Linux system (Ubuntu, Debian, etc.)
• SSD strongly recommended for database and thumbnails
• Storage: depends on library size—plan 1TB+ for serious photo collections
• Optional: NVIDIA GPU for hardware transcoding and faster ML inference

Mobile Apps

• iOS 14.0 or later (iPhone, iPad)
• Android 8.0 or later
• Background app refresh enabled for automatic backup

Network

• Local network access for home use
• Reverse proxy (nginx, Caddy, Traefik) for remote access
• SSL certificate recommended for security (Let’s Encrypt free)

How to Get Started with Immich

1. Prepare Server: Set up Linux server or NAS with Docker installed—Raspberry Pi 4 works but dedicated server recommended for best performance.
2. Download Compose File: Get docker-compose.yml and .env files from Immich documentation or GitHub repository.
3. Configure Environment: Edit .env file setting upload location, database passwords, and timezone.
4. Start Containers: Run “docker compose up -d” to download images and start all services (server, microservices, machine learning, database, redis).
5. Access Web Interface: Open http://server-ip:2283 in browser to reach Immich web application.
6. Create Admin Account: First user becomes administrator—set strong password for security.
7. Install Mobile App: Download Immich from App Store (iOS) or Play Store (Android).
8. Configure App: Enter server URL, login with admin account, enable background backup in settings.
9. Import Existing Photos: Use External Libraries feature to import photos from folders, or upload via web interface.
10. Enable Machine Learning: Facial recognition and smart search run automatically—initial processing of existing library takes time depending on size.
11. Create Family Accounts: Add user accounts for family members, configure sharing permissions.
12. Set Up Remote Access: Configure reverse proxy with SSL for secure access outside home network (optional but recommended).
13. Configure Backups: Implement backup strategy for Immich database and upload directory—your photos are only as safe as your backups.

Immich vs Google Photos vs iCloud

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Complete Data Ownership: Photos stored on your hardware with no third-party access—true privacy.
• No Subscription Fees: One-time hardware cost replaces never-ending monthly cloud payments.
• Unlimited Storage: Constrained only by hard drive capacity—add drives as needed without plan upgrades.
• Feature Parity: Facial recognition, smart search, and timeline rival commercial services.
• Excellent Mobile Apps: Background backup works reliably on both iOS and Android.
• Active Development: Weekly releases, responsive developers, and growing feature set.
• Multi-User Support: Perfect for families with individual accounts and shared albums.
• No Photo Compression: Store original quality files without cloud service compression.
• External Libraries: Import existing collections without re-uploading everything.
• Open Source: Transparent development, community contributions, no vendor lock-in.

Cons

• Self-Hosting Required: Need to maintain server—hardware, updates, backups, security.
• Technical Setup: Docker knowledge helpful; not as simple as app store download.
• Hardware Costs: Need server/NAS and storage—upfront investment vs monthly payments.
• Remote Access Complexity: Setting up secure external access requires networking knowledge.
• Backup Responsibility: Your photos are only safe if you implement proper backup strategy.
• Power Consumption: Server running 24/7 adds to electricity costs.
• ML Processing Time: Initial facial recognition of large libraries can take days.
• No Offline Editing: Mobile apps are primarily for viewing and backup, not editing.

Who Should Use Immich?

Immich is ideal for:

• Privacy Advocates: Anyone uncomfortable with Google or Apple having access to personal photos.
• Large Photo Libraries: Users with 100K+ photos finding cloud storage costs prohibitive.
• Families: Households wanting shared photo storage without multiple subscription costs.
• Home Lab Enthusiasts: Those already running home servers looking for excellent self-hosted software.
• Professional Photographers: Backing up shoots without cloud fees consuming profit margins.
• Data Sovereignty: Businesses or individuals in jurisdictions with data residency requirements.
• Google Photos Refugees: Users upset about eliminated free storage seeking better alternative.
• Tech-Savvy Families: Parents wanting to teach children about self-hosting and digital ownership.
• NAS Owners: Synology, QNAP, or TrueNAS users looking to maximize their hardware investment.
• Control Seekers: Anyone wanting to own their data rather than renting access from corporations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Immich stable enough for my only copy of photos?

Immich has matured significantly and many users trust it with their primary photo libraries. However, the developers themselves recommend treating Immich as NOT your only backup until reaching version 1.0. The practical approach: use Immich as your primary photo management system but maintain separate backup of your upload directory to external drive, another server, or even a cloud backup service. This way you get Immich’s excellent interface for daily use while protecting against worst-case scenarios. The photo files themselves are stored as standard files on disk, not in proprietary database, so even if Immich somehow failed catastrophically your actual photos would still be accessible.

Can my phone’s camera roll stay synced with Immich automatically?

Yes, this is Immich’s primary use case and it works excellently. Install the mobile app, enter your server URL, login, and enable background backup. New photos and videos upload automatically whenever you’re on WiFi (or cellular if you enable it). The app handles interruptions gracefully—if upload is interrupted, it resumes later. You can choose to backup all photos or only new ones going forward, exclude screenshots or specific albums, and see upload progress in the app. Many users report Immich’s background upload is MORE reliable than Google Photos was, particularly on iOS where Google had notorious reliability issues.

How much does it actually cost to run Immich compared to Google Photos?

Total cost depends on your hardware choices. Minimum viable setup: Raspberry Pi 4 8GB ($75) + 4TB external drive ($80) = ~$155 upfront, $10-15/year electricity. This replaces Google One 2TB at $100/year—pays for itself in under 2 years with more storage. Recommended setup: used mini PC or NAS ($200-400) + larger storage ($150-300) provides better performance and expansion options. Enterprise comparison: 10TB on Google One costs $250/year; 10TB of hard drives costs ~$200 once. The breakeven point comes quickly, and you own the hardware afterward. Only scenario where cloud wins: if you have small library (<200GB) and value zero maintenance over ownership, the $30/year Google One plan remains compelling.

Does facial recognition work as well as Google Photos?

Immich’s facial recognition has improved dramatically and now provides comparable experience for most users. It accurately identifies faces, groups photos by person, and lets you name people to find them easily. Some differences: initial processing is slower (runs on your hardware, not Google’s data centers), extremely large libraries take days to process, and accuracy on edge cases (partial faces, unusual angles, old photos) may be slightly lower. However, the privacy benefit is immense—facial recognition runs entirely locally without your family’s faces being processed by Google’s servers. Most users find it works well enough that the difference from Google is barely noticeable in daily use.

Final Verdict

Immich stands as the most compelling answer to the question that has plagued privacy-conscious photo enthusiasts for years: how do I get Google Photos’ convenience without Google Photos’ privacy trade-offs? Through excellent mobile apps that reliably backup photos in the background, machine learning features that enable facial recognition and smart search running entirely on your own hardware, a beautiful web interface rivaling commercial services, and active development that adds meaningful features weekly, Immich proves that self-hosted software can match the user experience of billion-dollar corporations while providing what they cannot: true ownership of your most personal data.

The investment in setup and hardware pays dividends in eliminated subscription fees, unlimited storage expansion, complete privacy, and the satisfaction of digital independence. For families tired of paying multiple cloud subscriptions, photographers backing up countless shoots, privacy advocates unwilling to let corporations train AI on their personal photos, and anyone who believes that memories of your life should belong to you and not be held hostage for monthly payments, Immich delivers exactly what the modern world needs: a competent, beautiful, and fully-featured photo solution that respects your ownership of your own data. Download from immich.app, spend an afternoon on setup, and join the growing community of users who have discovered that the best photo backup is the one you actually control.