Your photos are encrypted and hosted in datacenters in The Netherlands and France (Source). Migration options available: Local HDD, Google, Apple and Amazon Photos. Free trial of 1 GB for 365 days available. Use coupon code “PRIVACYTOOLS” to get 10% off in the first year.
Reviewed by Gabriel Bachmann
ente
ente.io 4.8 (6)
Photo Storage Open SourceE2E encryptedSelf-hostedBitcoinWindowsmacOSLinuxAndroidiOSWebFreemium India
Rate ente: No account needed
Threat level
Covered
A covered pick. Anyone can use it as a private drop-in, with no setup or know-how. Enough for most people. Threat levels
Our take
Ente is the photo-storage recommendation that does not ask you to compromise: end-to-end encrypted, open source, and a real cross-platform app on both Android and iOS, which is rare in this space. You trust its servers to hold the encrypted blobs, but the keys stay yours, and there is a self-host path if you would rather not trust anyone. For most people who want a private Google Photos replacement that actually works day to day, this is the one to pick.
GitHub at a glance
ente/ente
Stars
27,612
+ 580 this week
Last commit
8d ago
healthy
License
AGPL-3.0
Latest release
photos-v1.3.57
12d ago
Stars, last 31d
Website at a glance
ente.io
B score 75
Solid website security headers
Graded by Mozilla HTTP Observatory, tested 14d ago
Inspect this site yourself
Measures the security configuration of the tool's own website, not the privacy of the product itself. A strong tool can still score low here.
ente alternatives
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Immich Self-hosted photo and video backup with mobile apps, AI search, and a Google Photos-like interface.
PhotoPrism No hosted solution available yet, but coming soon. Tag and find pictures automatically. Try the demo .
Piwigo Cloud-hosted and self-hosted versions available. Comes with user management. Demo .
ente license, in plain English
AGPL-3.0 Strong copyleft · network
Free to use, even commercially. Changes must be published under the same license, and running a modified version as a network service counts as distributing it.
Permits
- Commercial use
- Modification
- Distribution
- Patent use
- Private use
Requires
- Disclose source
- Network use is distribution
- Same license
- State changes
- License and copyright notice
Does not provide
- Liability cover
- Warranty
Why it matters: The network clause is the point. Anyone who runs a modified version as a hosted service has to publish those changes, so the code handling your data stays inspectable. This is why privacy-first projects reach for AGPL.
Plain-language summary of the project's license, not legal advice. Read the full text for the exact terms.