gallery-dl vs Hydrus Network

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted photo management options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
Featuregallery-dlHydrus Network
CategoryPhoto ManagementPhoto Management
LicenseGPL-2.0WTFPL
LanguagePythonPython
Setup difficultyEasyHard
Min. RAM128 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, binary, sourcebare-metal, binary, source
GitHub stars★ 19,143★ 3,148
First released20152011
ReplacesManual downloadsGoogle Photos, Eagle

Why pick each one

Choose gallery-dl if…

  • Supports hundreds of sites
  • Very actively maintained
gallery-dl details

Choose Hydrus Network if…

  • Extremely powerful tagging
  • Handles huge collections
Hydrus Network details

Frequently asked questions

Is gallery-dl or Hydrus Network better?

gallery-dl is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Hydrus Network if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are gallery-dl and Hydrus Network free and open-source?

Yes. gallery-dl is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Hydrus Network under WTFPL. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run gallery-dl and Hydrus Network with Docker?

gallery-dl: check the project docs for container support. Hydrus Network: check the project docs for container support.

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