HomeGallery vs Photoview
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted photo management options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | HomeGallery | Photoview |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 72 · Good | 72 · Good |
| Category | Photo Management | Photo Management |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,185 | ★ 6,535 |
| First released | 2020 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Google Photos | Google Photos |
What are HomeGallery and Photoview?
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
Photoview
Photoview is a simple, user-friendly photo gallery designed to work with photos stored directly on the filesystem. It targets users wanting a lightweight gallery over an existing folder structure. It is deployed via Docker.
- Works on existing photo folders
- Face recognition
- Timeline and albums
- RAW and video support
HomeGallery vs Photoview: key differences
HomeGallery is written in JavaScript, while Photoview is built with Go. Licensing differs — MIT for HomeGallery versus AGPL-3.0 for Photoview. Photoview is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for HomeGallery. Photoview has the considerably larger community, at 6,535 GitHub stars versus 1,185.
Why pick each one
Choose HomeGallery if…
- Fast browsing
- Reads existing folders
Watch out for
- Indexing can be slow
- No upload from app
Choose Photoview if…
- Uses your folder structure
- Lightweight
- Easy setup
Watch out for
- Fewer features than Immich
- Slower development
Frequently asked questions
Is HomeGallery or Photoview better?
Photoview is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider HomeGallery if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are HomeGallery and Photoview free and open-source?
Yes. HomeGallery is licensed under MIT and Photoview under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run HomeGallery and Photoview with Docker?
HomeGallery: yes. Photoview: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, HomeGallery or Photoview?
Photoview has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for HomeGallery. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.