Best Open-Source Photo Organizers 2026: 7 Options Compared

An open-source photo organizer is mostly a decision about where your photos live. Desktop tools such as digiKam manage folders on your own computer, add tags, ratings and metadata editing, and do not need a server. Server tools such as Immich, PhotoPrism, LibrePhotos, Photoview, Lychee and Piwigo run on a machine you control and give you a web gallery and mobile access, which is the closest you can get to replacing Google Photos. Immich is the one with a phone app focus and automatic backup. PhotoPrism and LibrePhotos add AI features such as face recognition and search, with LibrePhotos recommending at least 8 GB of RAM for them. Photoview is deliberately simple: your folder structure becomes your albums. Lychee is a lightweight gallery, and Piwigo is the veteran for large public or family galleries. To choose, decide whether you want backup from phones, in which case Immich, or just a gallery over files you already organize, in which case Photoview or digiKam. The trade-off with any server is maintenance: you handle updates, storage and backups yourself, so a photo server without a backup plan is a risk, not a solution.

digiKam

Free and open source desktop photo manager for Linux, Windows and macOS. No server needed; its site does not name the license.

Price: Free (Free and open source; the site has a Donate link and no paid tier) (digiKam pricing, checked 2026-10-23).

Platforms and license: Linux, Windows, macOS. Open source (license not named on digikam.org) (open source) (license source).

Best for: A desktop library with metadata tools.

Worth knowing: Photo library manager with tagging and rating. The site does not list supported operating systems; the platform list is from general knowledge and should be checked.

Immich

AGPL-3.0 self-hosted server with web and mobile apps, free; you supply the server and storage. The closest self-hosted match to a phone backup service.

Price: Free (Free self-hosted; you supply the server and storage) (Immich pricing, checked 2026-10-23).

Platforms and license: Self-hosted server, Web, Mobile app. AGPL-3.0 (open source) (license source).

Project activity: 117.4k GitHub stars · latest release v3.3.5 (Oct 21, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026

Best for: Phone backup and a Google Photos replacement.

PhotoPrism

AGPL-3.0 community edition run via Docker, free; paid memberships add features such as interactive world maps.

Price: Free (Free community edition run via Docker; paid memberships add extra features such as interactive world maps) (PhotoPrism pricing, checked 2026-10-23).

Platforms and license: Self-hosted (Docker on Mac, Linux, Windows), Web (PWA). AGPL-3.0 (open source) (license source).

Project activity: 40.4k GitHub stars · latest release 261007-65faaae5d (Oct 7, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026

Best for: AI-assisted browsing of a large library.

LibrePhotos

MIT-licensed self-hosted service with face recognition, object detection and semantic search. The README recommends at least 8 GB of RAM for the machine-learning features.

Price: Free (Free self-hosted; README recommends at least 8 GB of RAM for the machine-learning features) (LibrePhotos pricing, checked 2026-10-23).

Platforms and license: Self-hosted (Docker), Web. MIT (open source) (license source).

Project activity: 8.1k GitHub stars · latest release 1.4.0 (Oct 17, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026

Best for: Search-heavy libraries on a capable server.

Worth knowing: README offers Docker, Kubernetes, Unraid and a Windows standalone build.

Photoview

AGPL-3.0 gallery for self-hosted servers that turns your directory structure into albums and rescans automatically. Simple by design.

Price: Free (Completely free per its site; syncs albums from the file system) (Photoview pricing, checked 2026-10-23).

Platforms and license: Self-hosted. AGPL-3.0 (open source) (license source).

Project activity: 6.6k GitHub stars · latest release v2.4.0 (Jun 23, 2024) · last commit Oct 24, 2026

Best for: Folder-based photo collections.

Worth knowing: License taken from LICENSE.txt in the GitHub repository.

Lychee

MIT-licensed self-hosted gallery with a docker-compose file. A paid Supporter Edition exists; its price was not shown.

Price: Free (Free self-hosted photo-management tool; the site also links a paid Supporter Edition without showing a price) (Lychee pricing, checked 2026-10-23).

Platforms and license: Self-hosted (Docker), Web. MIT (open source) (license source).

Project activity: 4.3k GitHub stars · latest release v7.12.0 (Oct 22, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026

Best for: A clean personal or portfolio gallery.

Worth knowing: Site calls it completely open source; MIT from the repository LICENSE.

Piwigo

GPL-2.0 photo library software you can self-host, with iOS and Android apps. The hosted Piwigo Cloud has a 30-day free trial; prices were not shown.

Price: Free (Open-source software you can self-host; the hosted Piwigo Cloud has a 30-day free trial) (Piwigo pricing, checked 2026-10-23).

Platforms and license: Self-hosted, Web, iOS, Android. GPL-2.0 (open source) (license source).

Project activity: 3.9k GitHub stars · latest release 16.4.0 (May 3, 2026) · last commit Oct 23, 2026

Best for: Large family or public galleries.

Worth knowing: GPL-2.0 from LICENSE.txt in the repository.

Which one to pick

• You want automatic phone backup: Immich
• You want a desktop-only organizer: digiKam
• You keep photos in folders and want a simple web view: Photoview
• You want face and object search: LibrePhotos