fgallery vs Memories
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted photo management options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Memories
Photo management app for Nextcloud with timeline and AI
| Feature | fgallery | Memories |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 9 · At risk | 88 · Excellent |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Photo Management | Photo Management |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 248 | ★ 3,843 |
| First released | 2013 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Flickr, Google Photos | Google Photos, iCloud Photos |
What are fgallery and Memories?
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
Memories
Memories is a photo and video management application that runs as a Nextcloud app, offering a fast timeline view of your media. It supports face recognition, maps, albums, and metadata-aware search.
- Fast timeline view
- Face recognition and maps
- Albums and tagging
- Nextcloud integration
fgallery vs Memories: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: fgallery's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Memories is actively maintained. Fgallery is written in JavaScript, while Memories is built with PHP. Licensing differs — MIT for fgallery versus AGPL-3.0 for Memories. Fgallery is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Memories. Fgallery is the more established project (first released 2013), while Memories arrived in 2022. Memories has the considerably larger community, at 3,843 GitHub stars versus 248. Memories 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 Memories if…
- Leverages existing Nextcloud
- Polished mobile experience
Watch out for
- Requires Nextcloud
- AI features need extra setup
Frequently asked questions
Is fgallery or Memories better?
Neither is universally better. Memories 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 Memories free and open-source?
Yes. fgallery is licensed under MIT and Memories under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run fgallery and Memories with Docker?
fgallery: check the project docs for container support. Memories: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, fgallery or Memories?
fgallery has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Memories. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.