Piwigo vs Sigal
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted photo management options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Piwigo
Open-source photo gallery for the web
VS
Sigal
Simple static photo gallery generator written in Python
| Feature | Piwigo | Sigal |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 87 · Excellent | 78 · Good |
| Category | Photo Management | Photo Management |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | PHP | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,862 | ★ 945 |
| First released | 2002 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Flickr, Google Photos | Flickr |
What are Piwigo and Sigal?
Piwigo
Piwigo is a mature open-source photo gallery application for organizing, sharing, and showcasing photo collections. It targets photographers and organizations managing large galleries. It is deployed via Docker or a PHP stack.
- Large gallery management
- Plugin and theme ecosystem
- Granular access control
- Upload from desktop and mobile
Sigal
Sigal is a simple static gallery generator that builds a browsable photo and video website from a folder of images. The output is plain HTML and works with several themes.
- Static gallery generation
- Multiple themes
- Plugin system
- Video thumbnail support
Piwigo vs Sigal: key differences
Piwigo is written in PHP, while Sigal is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for Piwigo versus MIT for Sigal. Sigal is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Piwigo. Piwigo is the more established project (first released 2002), while Sigal arrived in 2012. Piwigo has the considerably larger community, at 3,862 GitHub stars versus 945. Piwigo lists first-class Docker deployment; Sigal does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Piwigo if…
- Very mature and stable
- Extensible
- Good for big collections
Watch out for
- Interface feels classic
- No modern AI search
Choose Sigal if…
- Very lightweight
- Easy to host
Watch out for
- No uploads or editing
- Static output only
Frequently asked questions
Is Piwigo or Sigal better?
Neither is universally better. Piwigo has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Piwigo and Sigal free and open-source?
Yes. Piwigo is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Sigal under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Piwigo and Sigal with Docker?
Piwigo: yes. Sigal: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Piwigo or Sigal?
Sigal has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Piwigo. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.