gallery-dl vs Magic Wormhole
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
gallery-dl
Command-line tool to download image galleries from websites
VS
Magic Wormhole
Get things from one computer to another, safely
| Feature | gallery-dl | Magic Wormhole |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Photo Management | File Sync & Storage |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 32 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, binary, source | binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 19,143 | ★ 22,792 |
| First released | 2015 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Manual downloads | WeTransfer, AirDrop |
Why pick each one
Choose Magic Wormhole if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Mature project with 22.8k GitHub stars
- Written in Python
Frequently asked questions
Is gallery-dl or Magic Wormhole better?
Neither is universally better. Magic Wormhole has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are gallery-dl and Magic Wormhole free and open-source?
Yes. gallery-dl is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Magic Wormhole under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run gallery-dl and Magic Wormhole with Docker?
gallery-dl: check the project docs for container support. Magic Wormhole: check the project docs for container support.