Ente Photos vs Lychee
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted photo management options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Ente Photos
End-to-end encrypted photo storage and backup
VS
Lychee
Self-hosted photo management made easy
| Feature | Ente Photos | Lychee |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 98 · Excellent | 89 · Excellent |
| Category | Photo Management | Photo Management |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Dart | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 29,050 | ★ 4,303 |
| First released | 2022 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Google Photos, iCloud Photos | Google Photos, Flickr |
What are Ente Photos and Lychee?
Ente Photos
Ente is an end-to-end encrypted photo storage and backup service with apps across platforms and a self-hostable server. It targets privacy-focused users wanting encrypted photo backup. It is deployed via Docker.
- End-to-end encryption
- Apps for all platforms
- Self-hostable server
- Family sharing
Lychee
Lychee is a self-hosted photo management tool focused on simple, attractive galleries with quick uploads and sharing. It targets users who want a straightforward photo gallery. It is deployed via Docker or a PHP stack.
- Clean photo galleries
- Quick upload and sharing
- Albums and tags
- EXIF metadata display
Ente Photos vs Lychee: key differences
Ente Photos is written in Dart, while Lychee is built with PHP. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Ente Photos versus MIT for Lychee. Lychee is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Ente Photos. Lychee is the more established project (first released 2012), while Ente Photos arrived in 2022. Ente Photos has the considerably larger community, at 29,050 GitHub stars versus 4,303.
Why pick each one
Choose Ente Photos if…
- Strong encryption
- Polished apps
- Privacy-first
Watch out for
- Self-hosting is advanced
- Server setup nontrivial
Choose Lychee if…
- Simple and attractive
- Easy to host
- Lightweight
Watch out for
- No AI features
- Basic search
Frequently asked questions
Is Ente Photos or Lychee better?
Neither is universally better. Ente Photos has the larger community, while Lychee is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Ente Photos and Lychee free and open-source?
Yes. Ente Photos is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Lychee under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Ente Photos and Lychee with Docker?
Ente Photos: yes. Lychee: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Ente Photos or Lychee?
Lychee has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Ente Photos. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.