SelfPhotos vs Immich: A Detailed Comparison
Desktop app vs self-hosted service—complexity trade-offs explained.
Immich and SelfPhotos both promise “your photos, your control,” but they’re completely different animals.
Immich: Self-hosted web service. Requires Docker, a server, and database management. Your photos are upload on you own server, and lose original folder structure, which may means somethings for you.
SelfPhotos: Native desktop application. Runs natively on Windows/MacOS/Linux(coming soon). Your photos stays on your hard disk without any change, SelfPhotos just scan and index thems. Your data right in control as all you wish.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | SelfPhotos | Immich |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment | ✅ Native desktop app, very easily installed | Docker setup and run containers, Server + DB + reverse proxy, technical ability required |
| Storage | ✅ Direct disk + SMB + cloud (coming) | Managed library |
| Folder Control | ✅ Index any folder | Awkward library management |
| Performance | ✅ Native speed(Rust backend) | Browser-dependent |
| Network | ✅ Works offline | Requires server connection |
| Open Source | Core closed source | ✅ Fully open source (MIT) |
| Multi-User | Single user | ✅ Multi-user supported |
Where SelfPhotos Wins
Simplicity
Immich expects you to be comfortable with Docker Compose, environment variables, and reverse proxies. Something breaks? You’re debugging nginx configs.
SelfPhotos just works. Download the installer, point it at your photo folder, and you’re done.
Extensible Data Sources
SelfPhotos supports multiple storage sources beyond local drives:
- SMB/NAS: Browse photos directly from network storage
- Cloud (coming): Google Photos, OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox
Immich doesn’t support any of this. It’s not on their roadmap. SelfPhotos is designed from the ground up to aggregate photos from everywhere—local disks, network shares, cloud services—all in one place.
Folder Control
Immich’s folder management is awkward. External libraries require manual configuration, and it doesn’t respect your existing directory structure well.
SelfPhotos indexes any folder you point it to. No import, no copying—just references your files in place.
Performance
Desktop apps are faster than web apps. Always.
SelfPhotos renders 100,000+ photos instantly. No network requests, no API latency, no browser caching issues. Just raw native performance.
Where Immich Wins
Multi-User Sharing
Family sharing, shared albums, web galleries. Immich is built for households. SelfPhotos is single-user, single-machine.
Remote Access
Access your photos from anywhere. Immich is a web service—designed for remote access by design. SelfPhotos requires your photos to be physically present.
The Real Difference
Immich is a project. You’re the sysadmin. Updates can break things. Docker containers need monitoring. Backups are your responsibility.
SelfPhotos is an application. It installs like any other software. Updates are automatic. It doesn’t ask you to be a server administrator.
If you enjoy tinkering with servers, Immich is fantastic. If you just want your photos organized without a side project, SelfPhotos is the obvious choice.
Bottom Line
Choose Immich if: You want mobile access, multi-user sharing, and don’t mind maintaining a server. You’re comfortable with Docker and have a spare machine to run 24/7.
Choose SelfPhotos if: You want a simple, fast desktop photo manager with flexible storage options. NAS via SMB? Cloud imports? Any folder on your disk? No servers, no Docker, no maintenance. Just your photos, managed beautifully.
Immich recreates Google Photos on your own hardware. SelfPhotos brings back the Picasa experience—native, fast, and gloriously simple.
Different tools for different jobs.