Immich vs PhotoPrism in 2026

At-a-glance comparison

The fundamental difference

Immich is built for phones. The mobile app is the primary client — it auto-uploads new photos in the background, syncs them to your server, and the web UI is essentially a remote view of your library. Sharing, memories, and "show me photos from this trip" workflows mirror Google Photos closely.

PhotoPrism is built for libraries. The primary model is "you have a folder structure on disk; PhotoPrism indexes and presents it." Mobile uploading is possible but secondary. RAW files, EXIF, geolocation, and tagging are first-class. Think Lightroom-as-a-web-app vibe.

Mobile auto-upload

Immich's mobile apps are the strongest in the self-hosted photo space. They handle background sync correctly, deal with iOS's restrictive background execution, handle large queues after a long sync gap, and survive Wi-Fi network changes. This sounds simple but is technically hard — most competitors fail here.

PhotoPrism's official mobile presence is much smaller; the recommended workflow is WebDAV sync from third-party apps or shared folders synced via Syncthing. Workable but more fiddly.

AI search and machine learning

Immich uses CLIP embeddings to enable semantic search ("photos of dogs at the beach"). Combined with face recognition and OCR, the search experience is the closest open-source equivalent to Google Photos. The ML container can run on CPU but benefits hugely from a GPU.

PhotoPrism focuses more on classification and tagging than open-ended semantic search. You get categories and labels you can filter by; less of "search for this concept in natural language."

RAW and metadata

For photographers shooting RAW and caring about EXIF, IPTC, geolocation, and lens metadata, PhotoPrism is more mature. It treats every metadata field as a first-class search and organization primitive. RAW preview handling is well-tested.

Immich handles RAW files but the focus is on showing photos in a timeline rather than letting you slice the library by aperture, focal length, or lens. Improving over time but not the focus.

Album / sharing model

Immich has "shared albums" (everyone with the link can add photos), "partner sharing" (long-term sharing with a specific person), and "memories" (this week last year). Mirrors Google Photos closely.

PhotoPrism has albums, labels (auto-applied), folders, and "stacks" (group of similar/duplicate photos). More library-organizer than social sharing.

External library mode

PhotoPrism's default model is "point me at a folder; I'll index it." Adding photos via filesystem (rsync, Syncthing) is the primary workflow.

Immich's preferred model is "I'll manage the directory; just upload via the app." It supports read-only external library mode but the ergonomics favor app uploads.

Resource use

Immich is heavier — Postgres + Redis + ML container + main app. A modern mini PC handles it; a Raspberry Pi struggles especially with ML.

PhotoPrism is lighter — runs comfortably on modest hardware. ML still benefits from a GPU but the base resource footprint is smaller.

Which to pick

Can you run both?

Yes, on the same library if PhotoPrism is in read-only mode. Some users use Immich as the daily-driver mobile + browse UI and PhotoPrism as the archival / metadata tool. Adds operational overhead — most people pick one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Immich stable enough for primary use?

The maintainers explicitly say "not yet stable" — recommend keeping original copies during the breaking-change window. In practice many users run it as primary. The cautious approach: use Immich as daily UI and keep originals on a NAS until you trust it fully.

Can I migrate from PhotoPrism to Immich?

Yes. Both can index the same folder. Point Immich at your library, let it index, validate, then optionally turn off PhotoPrism. Albums and metadata don't migrate automatically — those are app-specific.

Which is better for a family?

Immich. The sharing model (shared albums, partner sharing) maps naturally to family use, and the mobile app means non-tech-savvy family members can use it without learning anything new.

Do they support iOS Live Photos?

Both store the still + motion components. Immich displays them as motion previews in the app similar to Apple's native viewer. PhotoPrism stores them but presentation is less polished.

What hardware do I need?

For Immich with ML: at least a 4-core CPU, 16GB RAM, and ideally an iGPU for hardware video transcoding. PhotoPrism is happy with 4-8GB RAM. Both scale up significantly with a GPU for ML work.

Can I keep using Google Photos in parallel?

Yes — many users do during the transition. Phone photos go to both. Once you trust Immich/PhotoPrism with your backups, you can stop the Google sync.