ExifCleaner 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?
ExifCleaner
Cross-platform tool to remove metadata from images
VS
Lychee
Self-hosted photo management made easy
| Feature | ExifCleaner | Lychee |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Photo Management | Photo Management |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Perl | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,552 | ★ 4,255 |
| First released | 2019 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Online metadata removers | Google Photos, Flickr |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is ExifCleaner or Lychee better?
Neither is universally better. Lychee has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are ExifCleaner and Lychee free and open-source?
Yes. ExifCleaner is licensed under MIT and Lychee under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run ExifCleaner and Lychee with Docker?
ExifCleaner: check the project docs for container support. Lychee: yes.