fgallery vs Zenphoto
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted photo management options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | fgallery | Zenphoto |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 9 · At risk | 66 · Good |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Photo Management | Photo Management |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 248 | ★ 318 |
| First released | 2013 | 2006 |
| Replaces | Flickr, Google Photos | SmugMug, Flickr |
What are fgallery and Zenphoto?
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
Zenphoto
Zenphoto is an open-source gallery and content management system focused on multimedia. It supports albums, theming, and plugins, making it suitable for personal photo websites and portfolios.
- Photo gallery CMS
- Theming and plugins
- Albums and tagging
- Multimedia support
fgallery vs Zenphoto: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: fgallery's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Zenphoto is actively maintained. Fgallery is written in JavaScript, while Zenphoto is built with PHP. Licensing differs — MIT for fgallery versus GPL-3.0 for Zenphoto. Fgallery is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Zenphoto. Zenphoto is the more established project (first released 2006), while fgallery arrived in 2013. Zenphoto 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 Zenphoto if…
- Mature project
- Good for portfolios
Watch out for
- Dated in places
- Requires LAMP stack
Frequently asked questions
Is fgallery or Zenphoto better?
Neither is universally better. Zenphoto 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 Zenphoto free and open-source?
Yes. fgallery is licensed under MIT and Zenphoto under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run fgallery and Zenphoto with Docker?
fgallery: check the project docs for container support. Zenphoto: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, fgallery or Zenphoto?
fgallery has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Zenphoto. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.