Chevereto vs Lychee
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
Lychee
Self-hosted photo management made easy
| Feature | Chevereto | Lychee |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 82 · Excellent | 89 · Excellent |
| Category | Photo Management | Photo Management |
| License | Proprietary | MIT |
| Language | PHP | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 995 | ★ 4,303 |
| First released | 2013 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Imgur, Flickr | Google Photos, Flickr |
What are Chevereto and Lychee?
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
Lychee
Lychee is a self-hosted photo management tool focused on simple, attractive galleries with quick uploads and sharing. It targets users who want a straightforward photo gallery. It is deployed via Docker or a PHP stack.
- Clean photo galleries
- Quick upload and sharing
- Albums and tags
- EXIF metadata display
Chevereto vs Lychee: key differences
Both projects are written in PHP. Licensing differs — Proprietary for Chevereto versus MIT for Lychee. Lychee has the considerably larger community, at 4,303 GitHub stars versus 995.
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 Lychee if…
- Simple and attractive
- Easy to host
- Lightweight
Watch out for
- No AI features
- Basic search
Frequently asked questions
Is Chevereto or Lychee better?
Neither is universally better. Lychee has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Chevereto and Lychee free and open-source?
Yes. Chevereto is licensed under Proprietary and Lychee under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Chevereto and Lychee with Docker?
Chevereto: yes. Lychee: yes.