Damselfly Web vs Zenphoto
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 | Zenphoto |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Photo Management | Photo Management |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 700 | ★ 318 |
| First released | 2011 | 2006 |
| Replaces | Flickr, YouTube | SmugMug, Flickr |
What are Damselfly Web and Zenphoto?
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
Zenphoto
Zenphoto is an open-source gallery and content management system focused on multimedia. It supports albums, theming, and plugins, making it suitable for personal photo websites and portfolios.
- Photo gallery CMS
- Theming and plugins
- Albums and tagging
- Multimedia support
Damselfly Web vs Zenphoto: key differences
Damselfly Web is written in Python, while Zenphoto is built with PHP. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Damselfly Web versus GPL-3.0 for Zenphoto. Zenphoto is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Damselfly Web. Zenphoto is the more established project (first released 2006), while Damselfly Web arrived in 2011. Damselfly Web has the considerably larger community, at 700 GitHub stars versus 318.
Why pick each one
Choose Damselfly Web if…
- Handles many media types
- Privacy respecting
Watch out for
- Complex setup
- Slower development
Choose Zenphoto if…
- Mature project
- Good for portfolios
Watch out for
- Dated in places
- Requires LAMP stack
Frequently asked questions
Is Damselfly Web or Zenphoto better?
Neither is universally better. Damselfly Web has the larger community, while Zenphoto is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Damselfly Web and Zenphoto free and open-source?
Yes. Damselfly Web is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Zenphoto under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Damselfly Web and Zenphoto with Docker?
Damselfly Web: yes. Zenphoto: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Damselfly Web or Zenphoto?
Zenphoto has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Damselfly Web. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.