Ask HN: What are some self-hosted photo organizing/sharing programs?

#1

Post by eeemmmooo » Wed, Aug 16, 2023, 5:58 PM UTC

I’m looking for a good privacy focused photo hopefully self hosted programs to backup and share photos. With the way everyone is training AI on everything now, I don’t really trust google, apple, etc with my photos and videos. So what are some good options that I can put on my home server and self host to share and organize my families photos.

My wife would also be using it and she isn’t the most tech savvy. So something that is easy to use after initial setup would be ideal.

TIA

Re: Ask HN: What are some self-hosted photo organizing/sharing programs?

#2

Post by aborsy » Wed, Aug 16, 2023, 6:03 PM UTC

Photoprism, Immich perhaps also nextcloud.

Re: Ask HN: What are some self-hosted photo organizing/sharing programs?

#3

Post by noja » Wed, Aug 16, 2023, 6:05 PM UTC

Static or not? I like https://github.com/rtts/photog (static)

Re: Ask HN: What are some self-hosted photo organizing/sharing programs?

#4

Post by shmoogy » Wed, Aug 16, 2023, 6:09 PM UTC

Immich is quite good but in its infancy - I paused my containers, filed a bug report on the discord, and set a reminder for September because the iOS app kept crashing while uploading.

If they keep focused on it - should definitely be a top contender

I did not like Nextcloud but have not tried the rewrite in Go

Re: Ask HN: What are some self-hosted photo organizing/sharing programs?

#5

Post by shakir12 » Wed, Aug 16, 2023, 6:13 PM UTC

[flagged]

Re: Ask HN: What are some self-hosted photo organizing/sharing programs?

#6

Post by ryandrake » Wed, Aug 16, 2023, 6:14 PM UTC

I keep it simple: Directory on a Linux-based NAS for storage, NFS for sharing (SMB if your wife uses Windows). Free, easy to set up and use, comes with the distribution, will run forever with no maintenance once set up.

Re: Ask HN: What are some self-hosted photo organizing/sharing programs?

#7

Post by kareemm » Wed, Aug 16, 2023, 6:15 PM UTC

I use Synology Photos to back up to my Synology NAS in the basement:

https://www.synology.com/en-global/DSM70/SynologyPhotos

It has mobile apps that back up photos automatically. My wife and I each have the iOS apps running and photos just upload magically to the NAS. Viewing photos is a good experience too. I also use another Synology app to back up my photos from my NAS to AWS Glacier.

Super happy I moved them from Shutterfly.

Re: Ask HN: What are some self-hosted photo organizing/sharing programs?

#8

Post by jack_arleth » Wed, Aug 16, 2023, 6:16 PM UTC

I had a similar issue and wanted a "Google Photos" like product. So a web-interface with a time-based list and an phone-application that automatically back-ups.

I'm currently using Synology Moments/Photos which comes for free with a Synology NAS.

I've recently been on a trip with random strangers sailing on a boat and I could easily request the others' photos, import them in an album and share it with the rest of the group.

I'm struggling to find a better alternative that is workable and is almost set-and-forget.

Re: Ask HN: What are some self-hosted photo organizing/sharing programs?

#9

Post by gidorah » Wed, Aug 16, 2023, 6:21 PM UTC

I use Photoprism. First I import to Digikam, process, then have Photoprism read all the files.

Re: Ask HN: What are some self-hosted photo organizing/sharing programs?

#10

Post by ghgr » Wed, Aug 16, 2023, 6:22 PM UTC

If you want something easy to deploy, zero maintenance (almost) and with a tiny footprint I can't recommend PiGallery [1] enough. Also good mobile support.

I tried some of the fancy alternatives here suggested, but they insist in doing it their way. PiGallery just displays your folder structure as Albums, simple as that, whereas others like Photoprism keep ruminating in the background doing their AI, which I personally don't need.

Pair that with a good backup strategy with e.g. restic and you're ready to fly.

[1] https://bpatrik.github.io/pigallery2/