HomeGallery vs Photonix
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted photo management options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | HomeGallery | Photonix |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 72 · Good | 63 · Good |
| Category | Photo Management | Photo Management |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,185 | ★ 1,956 |
| First released | 2020 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Google Photos | Google Photos |
What are HomeGallery and Photonix?
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
Photonix
Photonix is a self-hosted photo manager that organizes and tags your collection automatically. It uses AI to recognize objects, faces, and locations and offers powerful filtered search.
- AI object and face recognition
- Location-based browsing
- Powerful filtered search
- Multi-user support
HomeGallery vs Photonix: key differences
HomeGallery is written in JavaScript, while Photonix is built with Python. Licensing differs — MIT for HomeGallery versus AGPL-3.0 for Photonix. HomeGallery is the lighter option, starting around 1,024 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Photonix.
Why pick each one
Choose HomeGallery if…
- Fast browsing
- Reads existing folders
Watch out for
- Indexing can be slow
- No upload from app
Choose Photonix if…
- Strong AI tagging
- Good search experience
Watch out for
- Resource intensive
- Development can be slow
Frequently asked questions
Is HomeGallery or Photonix better?
Neither is universally better. Photonix has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are HomeGallery and Photonix free and open-source?
Yes. HomeGallery is licensed under MIT and Photonix under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run HomeGallery and Photonix with Docker?
HomeGallery: yes. Photonix: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, HomeGallery or Photonix?
HomeGallery has the smaller minimum footprint at 1,024 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Photonix. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.