fgallery vs PhotoPrism
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted photo management options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
PhotoPrism
AI-powered photo app for the decentralized web
| Feature | fgallery | PhotoPrism |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 9 · At risk | 99 · Excellent |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Photo Management | Photo Management |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 248 | ★ 40,233 |
| First released | 2013 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Flickr, Google Photos | Google Photos |
What are fgallery and PhotoPrism?
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
PhotoPrism
PhotoPrism is an AI-powered application for browsing, organizing, and sharing a personal photo collection with automatic tagging. It targets photographers and families wanting a private photo library. It is deployed via Docker.
- Automatic AI tagging and search
- Maps and faces
- RAW image support
- Works without an internet connection
fgallery vs PhotoPrism: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: fgallery's repository is archived and no longer developed, while PhotoPrism is actively maintained. Fgallery is written in JavaScript, while PhotoPrism is built with Go. Licensing differs — MIT for fgallery versus AGPL-3.0 for PhotoPrism. Fgallery is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for PhotoPrism. Fgallery is the more established project (first released 2013), while PhotoPrism arrived in 2018. PhotoPrism has the considerably larger community, at 40,233 GitHub stars versus 248. PhotoPrism 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 PhotoPrism if…
- Strong local AI features
- Great RAW support
- Polished UI
Watch out for
- Indexing is resource heavy
- Mobile experience via PWA
Frequently asked questions
Is fgallery or PhotoPrism better?
Neither is universally better. PhotoPrism 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 PhotoPrism free and open-source?
Yes. fgallery is licensed under MIT and PhotoPrism under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run fgallery and PhotoPrism with Docker?
fgallery: check the project docs for container support. PhotoPrism: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, fgallery or PhotoPrism?
fgallery has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for PhotoPrism. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.