digiKam vs Immich
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted photo management options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
digiKam
Professional photo management with advanced metadata tools
VS
Immich
High-performance self-hosted photo and video backup
| Feature | digiKam | Immich |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | ≈5-minute setup |
| Category | Photo Management | Photo Management |
| License | GPL-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | C++ | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, binary | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,200 | ★ 114,920 |
| First released | 2002 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Adobe Lightroom, Google Photos | Google Photos, iCloud Photos |
What are digiKam and Immich?
digiKam
digiKam is a professional-grade photo management application that handles huge collections with face recognition, geotagging, and powerful metadata editing. Its database and albums can be hosted on a shared server for multi-machine access.
- Face recognition
- Geotagging support
- Advanced metadata editing
- Handles huge libraries
Immich
Immich is a high-performance, self-hosted photo and video backup solution with mobile apps, AI search, and face recognition. It targets users wanting a private Google Photos alternative. It is deployed via Docker Compose.
- Automatic phone backup
- AI-powered search and face recognition
- Timeline and album views
- Multi-user with sharing
digiKam vs Immich: key differences
DigiKam is written in C++, while Immich is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for digiKam versus AGPL-3.0 for Immich. DigiKam is the lighter option, starting around 1,024 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Immich. DigiKam is the more established project (first released 2002), while Immich arrived in 2022. Immich has the considerably larger community, at 114,920 GitHub stars versus 1,200. Immich lists first-class Docker deployment; digiKam does not.
Why pick each one
Choose digiKam if…
- Very feature rich
- Scales to large collections
Watch out for
- Steep learning curve
- Desktop application only
Choose Immich if…
- Excellent mobile apps
- Fast and feature-rich
- Very active development
Watch out for
- Resource intensive
- Breaking changes still occur
Frequently asked questions
Is digiKam or Immich better?
Neither is universally better. Immich has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are digiKam and Immich free and open-source?
Yes. digiKam is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Immich under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run digiKam and Immich with Docker?
digiKam: check the project docs for container support. Immich: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, digiKam or Immich?
digiKam has the smaller minimum footprint at 1,024 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Immich. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.