Photoview vs Spacedrive

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeaturePhotoviewSpacedrive
CategoryPhoto ManagementFile Sync & Storage
LicenseAGPL-3.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageGoRust
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM512 MB512 MB
Deploymentdockerbinary
GitHub stars★ 6,496★ 38,732
First released20192022
ReplacesGoogle PhotosGoogle Drive, Dropbox

Why pick each one

Choose Photoview if…

  • Uses your folder structure
  • Lightweight
  • Easy setup
Photoview details

Choose Spacedrive if…

  • Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
  • Mature project with 38.7k GitHub stars
  • Written in Rust
  • Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Spacedrive details

Frequently asked questions

Is Photoview or Spacedrive better?

Neither is universally better. Spacedrive has the larger community, while Photoview is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Photoview and Spacedrive free and open-source?

Yes. Photoview is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Spacedrive under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Photoview and Spacedrive with Docker?

Photoview: yes. Spacedrive: check the project docs for container support.

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