fgallery vs Hydrus Network
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted photo management options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | fgallery | Hydrus Network |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 9 · At risk | 88 · Excellent |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Photo Management | Photo Management |
| License | MIT | WTFPL |
| Language | JavaScript | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 248 | ★ 3,209 |
| First released | 2013 | 2011 |
| Replaces | Flickr, Google Photos | Google Photos, Eagle |
What are fgallery and Hydrus Network?
fgallery
fgallery is a static photo gallery generator that produces a minimalist, self-contained HTML gallery from a folder of images. The generated gallery is fully static, privacy-respecting, and can be hosted on any web server.
- Minimalist static galleries
- Self-contained output
- Mobile friendly
- No tracking
Hydrus Network
Hydrus Network is a personal media management application that lets you import images and files, tag them, and search a private collection with a powerful tag system. It includes a client-server architecture so the database can be self-hosted and accessed remotely.
- Powerful tag-based search
- Client-server architecture
- Local-first media database
- Duplicate detection
fgallery vs Hydrus Network: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: fgallery's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Hydrus Network is actively maintained. Fgallery is written in JavaScript, while Hydrus Network is built with Python. Licensing differs — MIT for fgallery versus WTFPL for Hydrus Network. Fgallery is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Hydrus Network. Hydrus Network is the more established project (first released 2011), while fgallery arrived in 2013. Hydrus Network has the considerably larger community, at 3,209 GitHub stars versus 248.
Why pick each one
Choose fgallery if…
- Clean simple design
- Privacy respecting
Watch out for
- Command-line only
- Minimal features
Choose Hydrus Network if…
- Extremely powerful tagging
- Handles huge collections
Watch out for
- Steep learning curve
- Complex interface
Frequently asked questions
Is fgallery or Hydrus Network better?
Neither is universally better. Hydrus Network has the larger community, while fgallery is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are fgallery and Hydrus Network free and open-source?
Yes. fgallery is licensed under MIT and Hydrus Network under WTFPL. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run fgallery and Hydrus Network with Docker?
fgallery: check the project docs for container support. Hydrus Network: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, fgallery or Hydrus Network?
fgallery has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Hydrus Network. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.