Color Thief vs Immich

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted photo management options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureColor ThiefImmich
CategoryPhoto ManagementPhoto Management
LicenseMITAGPL-3.0
LanguageTypeScriptTypeScript
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM64 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, sourcedocker
GitHub stars★ 13,616★ 109,945
First released20112022
ReplacesCommercial color analysis APIsGoogle Photos, iCloud Photos

Why pick each one

Choose Color Thief if…

  • Simple and reliable
  • Widely used
Color Thief details

Choose Immich if…

  • Excellent mobile apps
  • Fast and feature-rich
  • Very active development
Immich details

Frequently asked questions

Is Color Thief or Immich better?

Neither is universally better. Immich has the larger community, while Color Thief is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Color Thief and Immich free and open-source?

Yes. Color Thief is licensed under MIT and Immich under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Color Thief and Immich with Docker?

Color Thief: check the project docs for container support. Immich: yes.

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