Lychee vs PhotoPrism
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
PhotoPrism
AI-powered photo app for the decentralized web
| Feature | Lychee | PhotoPrism |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Photo Management | Photo Management |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,255 | ★ 40,046 |
| First released | 2012 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Google Photos, Flickr | Google Photos |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Lychee or PhotoPrism better?
Neither is universally better. PhotoPrism has the larger community, while Lychee is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Lychee and PhotoPrism free and open-source?
Yes. Lychee is licensed under MIT and PhotoPrism under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Lychee and PhotoPrism with Docker?
Lychee: yes. PhotoPrism: yes.