Chevereto vs Coppermine
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted photo management options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Chevereto
Self-hosted image hosting and sharing platform
VS
Coppermine
Multi-purpose, full-featured web picture gallery
| Feature | Chevereto | Coppermine |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 82 · Excellent | 57 · Fair |
| Category | Photo Management | Photo Management |
| License | Proprietary | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 995 | ★ 73 |
| First released | 2013 | 2002 |
| Replaces | Imgur, Flickr | Flickr |
What are Chevereto and Coppermine?
Chevereto
Chevereto is a self-hosted image hosting platform for uploading, organizing, and sharing images with the public or privately. It targets users who want their own image-sharing site. It is deployed via Docker or a PHP stack.
- Image upload and sharing
- User accounts and albums
- API for integrations
- Moderation tools
Coppermine
Coppermine is a multi-purpose, fully featured web picture gallery that supports user uploads, ratings, and comments. It is one of the longest-running open-source gallery scripts and runs on a standard PHP and MySQL stack.
- User uploads and ratings
- Comments and moderation
- Theming support
- Batch import
Chevereto vs Coppermine: key differences
Both projects are written in PHP. Licensing differs — Proprietary for Chevereto versus GPL-3.0 for Coppermine. Coppermine is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Chevereto. Coppermine is the more established project (first released 2002), while Chevereto arrived in 2013. Chevereto has the considerably larger community, at 995 GitHub stars versus 73. Chevereto lists first-class Docker deployment; Coppermine does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Chevereto if…
- Good Imgur-style site
- Multi-user
- API available
Watch out for
- Paid for full version
- Not open source
Choose Coppermine if…
- Very mature
- Community moderation tools
Watch out for
- Dated interface
- Aging codebase
Frequently asked questions
Is Chevereto or Coppermine better?
Chevereto is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Coppermine if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Chevereto and Coppermine free and open-source?
Yes. Chevereto is licensed under Proprietary and Coppermine under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Chevereto and Coppermine with Docker?
Chevereto: yes. Coppermine: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Chevereto or Coppermine?
Coppermine has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Chevereto. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.