fgallery vs Lychee
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted photo management options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | fgallery | Lychee |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 9 · At risk | 89 · Excellent |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Photo Management | Photo Management |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | JavaScript | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 248 | ★ 4,303 |
| First released | 2013 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Flickr, Google Photos | Google Photos, Flickr |
What are fgallery and Lychee?
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
Lychee
Lychee is a self-hosted photo management tool focused on simple, attractive galleries with quick uploads and sharing. It targets users who want a straightforward photo gallery. It is deployed via Docker or a PHP stack.
- Clean photo galleries
- Quick upload and sharing
- Albums and tags
- EXIF metadata display
fgallery vs Lychee: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: fgallery's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Lychee is actively maintained. Fgallery is written in JavaScript, while Lychee is built with PHP. Fgallery is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Lychee. Lychee has the considerably larger community, at 4,303 GitHub stars versus 248. Lychee 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 Lychee if…
- Simple and attractive
- Easy to host
- Lightweight
Watch out for
- No AI features
- Basic search
Frequently asked questions
Is fgallery 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 fgallery and Lychee free and open-source?
Yes. fgallery is licensed under MIT and Lychee under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run fgallery and Lychee with Docker?
fgallery: check the project docs for container support. Lychee: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, fgallery or Lychee?
fgallery has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Lychee. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.