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HomeGallery vs Nextcloud Photos

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?
HO HomeGallery Self-hosted browsable photo and video gallery with similarity search VS NE Nextcloud Photos Photo timeline and album app for Nextcloud
FeatureHomeGalleryNextcloud Photos
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score72 · Good76 · Good
CategoryPhoto ManagementPhoto Management
LicenseMITAGPL-3.0
LanguageJavaScriptJavaScript
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM1,024 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 1,185★ 721
First released20202020
ReplacesGoogle PhotosGoogle Photos, iCloud Photos

What are HomeGallery and Nextcloud Photos?

HomeGallery

HomeGallery is a self-hosted web gallery that indexes photos and videos and offers fast browsing, similarity search, and face detection. It builds an offline-capable database from your existing media folders.

  • Similarity search
  • Face detection
  • Video support
  • Offline-capable database

Read the full HomeGallery guide →

Nextcloud Photos

Nextcloud Photos is the official photo management app for Nextcloud, offering a timeline view, albums, and tagging of images stored in your Nextcloud. It works alongside file sync to provide a self-hosted photo experience.

  • Timeline photo view
  • Albums and tagging
  • Nextcloud integration
  • Mobile auto-upload

HomeGallery vs Nextcloud Photos: key differences

Both projects are written in JavaScript. Licensing differs — MIT for HomeGallery versus AGPL-3.0 for Nextcloud Photos.

Why pick each one

Choose HomeGallery if…

  • Fast browsing
  • Reads existing folders

Watch out for

  • Indexing can be slow
  • No upload from app
HomeGallery details

Choose Nextcloud Photos if…

  • Leverages existing Nextcloud
  • Official app

Watch out for

  • Requires Nextcloud
  • Fewer AI features than Memories
Nextcloud Photos details

Frequently asked questions

Is HomeGallery or Nextcloud Photos better?

Neither is universally better. HomeGallery has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are HomeGallery and Nextcloud Photos free and open-source?

Yes. HomeGallery is licensed under MIT and Nextcloud Photos under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run HomeGallery and Nextcloud Photos with Docker?

HomeGallery: yes. Nextcloud Photos: yes.

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