Lychee vs Photofield
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?
Lychee
Self-hosted photo management made easy
VS
Photofield
Fast experimental photo viewer for huge libraries
| Feature | Lychee | Photofield |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Photo Management | Photo Management |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | PHP | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,255 | ★ 598 |
| First released | 2012 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Google Photos, Flickr | Google Photos |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Lychee or Photofield better?
Neither is universally better. Lychee has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Lychee and Photofield free and open-source?
Yes. Lychee is licensed under MIT and Photofield under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Lychee and Photofield with Docker?
Lychee: yes. Photofield: yes.