Damselfly Web vs fgallery
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted photo management options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Damselfly Web | fgallery |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Status | Actively maintained | Archived |
| Category | Photo Management | Photo Management |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Python | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 700 | ★ 248 |
| First released | 2011 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Flickr, YouTube | Flickr, Google Photos |
What are Damselfly Web and fgallery?
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
fgallery
fgallery is a static photo gallery generator that produces a minimalist, self-contained HTML gallery from a folder of images. The generated gallery is fully static, privacy-respecting, and can be hosted on any web server.
- Minimalist static galleries
- Self-contained output
- Mobile friendly
- No tracking
Damselfly Web vs fgallery: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: fgallery's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Damselfly Web is actively maintained. Damselfly Web is written in Python, while fgallery is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Damselfly Web versus MIT for fgallery. Fgallery is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Damselfly Web. Damselfly Web is the more established project (first released 2011), while fgallery arrived in 2013. Damselfly Web has the considerably larger community, at 700 GitHub stars versus 248. Damselfly Web lists first-class Docker deployment; fgallery does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Damselfly Web if…
- Handles many media types
- Privacy respecting
Watch out for
- Complex setup
- Slower development
Choose fgallery if…
- Clean simple design
- Privacy respecting
Watch out for
- Command-line only
- Minimal features
Frequently asked questions
Is Damselfly Web or fgallery better?
Neither is universally better. Damselfly Web has the larger community, while fgallery is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Damselfly Web and fgallery free and open-source?
Yes. Damselfly Web is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and fgallery under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Damselfly Web and fgallery with Docker?
Damselfly Web: yes. fgallery: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Damselfly Web or fgallery?
fgallery has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Damselfly Web. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.