fgallery vs LibrePhotos
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted photo management options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
LibrePhotos
Self-hosted smart photo management
| Feature | fgallery | LibrePhotos |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 9 · At risk | 92 · Excellent |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Photo Management | Photo Management |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | JavaScript | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 248 | ★ 8,080 |
| First released | 2013 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Flickr, Google Photos | Google Photos |
What are fgallery and LibrePhotos?
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
LibrePhotos
LibrePhotos is a self-hosted photo management service with face recognition, object detection, and automatic albums. It targets users wanting an open Google Photos alternative. It is deployed via Docker.
- Face and object recognition
- Automatic event albums
- Map of photo locations
- Multi-user support
fgallery vs LibrePhotos: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: fgallery's repository is archived and no longer developed, while LibrePhotos is actively maintained. Fgallery is written in JavaScript, while LibrePhotos is built with Python. Fgallery is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for LibrePhotos. Fgallery is the more established project (first released 2013), while LibrePhotos arrived in 2020. LibrePhotos has the considerably larger community, at 8,080 GitHub stars versus 248. LibrePhotos lists first-class Docker deployment; fgallery does not.
Why pick each one
Choose fgallery if…
- Clean simple design
- Privacy respecting
Watch out for
- Command-line only
- Minimal features
Choose LibrePhotos if…
- Smart organization features
- Permissive license
- Privacy-friendly
Watch out for
- Heavy on resources
- Setup can be fiddly
Frequently asked questions
Is fgallery or LibrePhotos better?
Neither is universally better. LibrePhotos 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 LibrePhotos free and open-source?
Yes. fgallery is licensed under MIT and LibrePhotos under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run fgallery and LibrePhotos with Docker?
fgallery: check the project docs for container support. LibrePhotos: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, fgallery or LibrePhotos?
fgallery has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for LibrePhotos. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.