Lychee 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 | Lychee | Photonix |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 89 · Excellent | 63 · Good |
| Category | Photo Management | Photo Management |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,303 | ★ 1,956 |
| First released | 2012 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Google Photos, Flickr | Google Photos |
What are Lychee and Photonix?
Lychee
Lychee is a self-hosted photo management tool focused on simple, attractive galleries with quick uploads and sharing. It targets users who want a straightforward photo gallery. It is deployed via Docker or a PHP stack.
- Clean photo galleries
- Quick upload and sharing
- Albums and tags
- EXIF metadata display
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
Lychee vs Photonix: key differences
Lychee is written in PHP, while Photonix is built with Python. Licensing differs — MIT for Lychee versus AGPL-3.0 for Photonix. Lychee is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Photonix. Lychee is the more established project (first released 2012), while Photonix arrived in 2019. Lychee has the considerably larger community, at 4,303 GitHub stars versus 1,956.
Why pick each one
Choose Lychee if…
- Simple and attractive
- Easy to host
- Lightweight
Watch out for
- No AI features
- Basic search
Choose Photonix if…
- Strong AI tagging
- Good search experience
Watch out for
- Resource intensive
- Development can be slow
Frequently asked questions
Is Lychee or Photonix better?
Lychee is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Photonix if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Lychee and Photonix free and open-source?
Yes. Lychee is licensed under MIT and Photonix under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Lychee and Photonix with Docker?
Lychee: yes. Photonix: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Lychee or Photonix?
Lychee has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Photonix. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.