Saving money on Google Photos with Immich: Your own personal photo storage

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Self-hosted photo platform Immich is being weighed against Google Photos, Apple Photos and Synology as a way to gain more privacy and control over personal photo libraries. Commenters praise Immich’s automatic mobile backup, strong search and face recognition, and flexible sharing, but note that setup, ongoing maintenance, and proper offsite backups require real technical effort and often negate any supposed cost savings. Many conclude that Immich and similar tools are most compelling for people who value data ownership and already run a homelab, while mainstream users may still be better served by low-friction commercial cloud services.

Mobile backup & basic functionality

  • Several commenters confirm Immich’s mobile apps can auto-back up photos and videos, with Wi‑Fi-only upload by default and optional LAN hostname/IP switching.
  • Some were disappointed the article didn’t clearly explain automatic, multi-user, cached mobile sync; others report it works “seamlessly” in practice.

Self‑hosting complexity & adoption barrier

  • Many like the project but see “easier than ever” and “saving money” as overstated given Docker, Postgres, Redis, reverse proxies, backups, etc.
  • Non‑technical users and even some technical ones find self‑hosting to be the biggest barrier; tools promising 1‑click Immich installs are mentioned as partial remedies.
  • Some view homelab work as a hobby/learning opportunity; others stress the ongoing time/maintenance “tax” and opportunity cost.

Comparisons with Google Photos / iCloud / others

  • Broad praise for Immich as a viable or superior replacement to Google Photos/Apple Photos for many, especially around privacy, control, and avoiding training of proprietary AI on personal photos.
  • Counterpoint: Google Photos pricing is seen as very reasonable; once you fully price hardware, electricity, and offsite backups, self-hosting rarely “saves money.”
  • Some use Immich primarily as a secondary backup/mirror to hedge against account bans or policy changes, not as a full replacement.
  • Others prefer simpler tools (folders, Shotwell, Synology Photos) or paid hosted alternatives like Ente.

Sharing, access, and UX

  • Sharing is a weak spot: public links typically require exposing the instance, VPN, or a separate “public proxy”/fork that improves sharing; lack of 2FA/passkeys is criticized.
  • Some find Immich’s UI and search excellent; others prefer Apple Photos editing tools, metadata displays, and overall polish.
  • Immich’s semantic search is reported to outperform proprietary services in some brand/IP-related cases.

Storage layout, scale, and backups

  • Debate over Immich’s storage structure: some dislike “sharded” directories; others note configurable storage templates and “external libraries” that preserve folder layouts.
  • Large libraries (e.g., >1 TB, many RAWs) can require substantial RAM, CPU, and disk for thumbnails/ML vectors; tuning ImageMagick/VIPS, log limits, and ZFS/NAS setups is common.
  • Multiple backup strategies discussed (3‑2‑1, NAS + Glacier, Borg/Borgbase, rsync.net, M‑Disc), with consensus that any solution — including Immich — still needs robust offsite backup.