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.
Not the right match-up?
Ente Photos
End-to-end encrypted photo storage and backup
VS
Lychee
Self-hosted photo management made easy
| Feature | Ente Photos | Lychee |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | ★ 28,201 | ★ 4,255 |
| First released | 2022 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Google Photos, iCloud Photos | Google Photos, Flickr |
Why pick each one
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.