Ente Photos vs OwnPhotos
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
OwnPhotos
Self-hosted Google Photos clone with face recognition
| Feature | Ente Photos | OwnPhotos |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Photo Management | Photo Management |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Dart | Jupyter Notebook |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 28,201 | ★ 2,760 |
| First released | 2022 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Google Photos, iCloud Photos | Google Photos |
Why pick each one
Choose OwnPhotos if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in Jupyter Notebook
Frequently asked questions
Is Ente Photos or OwnPhotos better?
Neither is universally better. Ente Photos has the larger community, while OwnPhotos is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Ente Photos and OwnPhotos free and open-source?
Yes. Ente Photos is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and OwnPhotos under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Ente Photos and OwnPhotos with Docker?
Ente Photos: yes. OwnPhotos: yes.