Lychee vs Zenphoto
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted photo management options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Lychee | Zenphoto |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 89 · Excellent | 66 · Good |
| Category | Photo Management | Photo Management |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,303 | ★ 318 |
| First released | 2012 | 2006 |
| Replaces | Google Photos, Flickr | SmugMug, Flickr |
What are Lychee and Zenphoto?
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
Zenphoto
Zenphoto is an open-source gallery and content management system focused on multimedia. It supports albums, theming, and plugins, making it suitable for personal photo websites and portfolios.
- Photo gallery CMS
- Theming and plugins
- Albums and tagging
- Multimedia support
Lychee vs Zenphoto: key differences
Both projects are written in PHP. Licensing differs — MIT for Lychee versus GPL-3.0 for Zenphoto. Zenphoto is the more established project (first released 2006), while Lychee arrived in 2012. Lychee has the considerably larger community, at 4,303 GitHub stars versus 318.
Why pick each one
Choose Lychee if…
- Simple and attractive
- Easy to host
- Lightweight
Watch out for
- No AI features
- Basic search
Choose Zenphoto if…
- Mature project
- Good for portfolios
Watch out for
- Dated in places
- Requires LAMP stack
Frequently asked questions
Is Lychee or Zenphoto better?
Lychee is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Zenphoto if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Lychee and Zenphoto free and open-source?
Yes. Lychee is licensed under MIT and Zenphoto under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Lychee and Zenphoto with Docker?
Lychee: yes. Zenphoto: yes.