Immich is a self-hosted photo and video management platform backed by FUTO that provides automatic mobile backup, facial recognition, smart search, and a polished timeline view. Both Android and iOS apps connect to a server you run, keeping media entirely on your own infrastructure.
Reviewed by Marco Wollank
Immich
immich.app 5.0 (11)
Rate Immich: No account needed
Threat level
Hardened
A hardened pick. Worth the effort once you have chosen to shrink your footprint on purpose. Enough for most people. Threat levels
Our take
Immich has become the default recommendation for self-hosted photo management, and for good reason: the interface is close enough to Google Photos that migration feels natural, and FUTO backing gives it financial stability uncommon in open-source media projects. The privacy model is straightforward: your server, your data, no third party involved. One important honest point: Immich is not end-to-end encrypted. Files sit on your server in a readable form, so the security of your photos depends on how well you secure the host machine and network access. For anyone willing to run a home server or a VPS, that is a reasonable trade for regaining control over a photo library.
GitHub at a glance
immich-app/immich
Stars
107,714
+ 3,548 this week
Last commit
12d ago
healthy
License
AGPL-3.0
Latest release
v2.7.5
3mo ago
Stars, last 35d
Website at a glance
immich.app
C score 50
Basic website security headers
Graded by Mozilla HTTP Observatory, tested 3d 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.
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Immich 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.