Coppermine vs Damselfly Web
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted photo management options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Coppermine | Damselfly Web |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Photo Management | Photo Management |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 73 | ★ 700 |
| First released | 2002 | 2011 |
| Replaces | Flickr | Flickr, YouTube |
What are Coppermine and Damselfly Web?
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
Damselfly Web
MediaGoblin is a free software media publishing platform for hosting photos, video, audio, and more on your own server. It is decentralized, federated, and designed as an alternative to centralized media silos.
- Multi-media publishing
- Decentralized and federated
- Photo, video, and audio support
- Plugin system
Coppermine vs Damselfly Web: key differences
Coppermine is written in PHP, while Damselfly Web is built with Python. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Coppermine versus AGPL-3.0 for Damselfly Web. Coppermine is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Damselfly Web. Coppermine is the more established project (first released 2002), while Damselfly Web arrived in 2011. Damselfly Web has the considerably larger community, at 700 GitHub stars versus 73. Damselfly Web lists first-class Docker deployment; Coppermine does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Coppermine if…
- Very mature
- Community moderation tools
Watch out for
- Dated interface
- Aging codebase
Choose Damselfly Web if…
- Handles many media types
- Privacy respecting
Watch out for
- Complex setup
- Slower development
Frequently asked questions
Is Coppermine or Damselfly Web better?
Neither is universally better. Damselfly Web has the larger community, while Coppermine is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Coppermine and Damselfly Web free and open-source?
Yes. Coppermine is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Damselfly Web under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Coppermine and Damselfly Web with Docker?
Coppermine: check the project docs for container support. Damselfly Web: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Coppermine or Damselfly Web?
Coppermine has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Damselfly Web. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.