LibrePhotos
Self-hosted photos and video with faces, objects, semantic search, albums, and public links; deployment is a small server, not a button.
Technical Profile & Specs
verified 2026-08-11
- Cost
- $0 / forever (Open Source)
- License
- MIT
- Hosting Model
- Self-host (your server)
- Platforms
- mobilewebself-hostedself-host, real ops
- Installation
- Clone the monorepo, copy and edit deploy/compose/.env, then start the Docker Compose stack
- Operational Setup
- Docker Compose, an absolute scan-directory mapping, about 4 GB RAM minimum (8 GB recommended for ML), and roughly 10 GB extra disk beyond the photo library
- Where Your Data Lives
- It scans a user-selected photo directory in place; PostgreSQL stores users, indexes, albums, and ML metadata, while thumbnails, protected media, and downloaded models live in configured application volumes
- The Catch / Trade-off
- It provides private search and sharing, not Flickr's public community, groups, following, discovery, comments and licensing-oriented exposure.
Replaces 1 paid app
up to $11/mo ($132/yr) in subscriptions
LibrePhotos FAQ
Common questions
Is LibrePhotos free and open source?+
LibrePhotos is an open-source tool licensed under MIT that runs on self-host. Self-hosted photos and video with faces, objects, semantic search, albums, and public links; deployment is a small server, not a button.
What paid software does LibrePhotos replace?+
LibrePhotos serves as a free replacement for 1 paid SaaS application: Flickr Pro, saving up to $11/month ($132/year) in subscription bills.
How do you install and set up LibrePhotos?+
Installation: Clone the monorepo, copy and edit deploy/compose/.env, then start the Docker Compose stack. Setup notes: Docker Compose, an absolute scan-directory mapping, about 4 GB RAM minimum (8 GB recommended for ML), and roughly 10 GB extra disk beyond the photo library
What is the catch or trade-off with LibrePhotos?+
It provides private search and sharing, not Flickr's public community, groups, following, discovery, comments and licensing-oriented exposure.