Alternatives to Synology Photos

A photo library app for Synology NAS devices, with mobile apps that back up phone photos. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.

Replacements

Listings that take over the same core job as Synology Photos.

  • Immich

    A self-hosted photo and video backup platform with mobile apps, aimed at replacing Google Photos.

    FreeOpen sourceSelf-hostedWebAndroidiOS

    Immich is open source and runs on any Docker host instead of requiring a Synology NAS, with mobile backup, face search and shared albums.

  • PhotoPrism

    A self-hosted photo library that tags pictures and recognises faces on your own hardware, not a company's.

    FreemiumOpen sourceSelf-hostedWeb

    PhotoPrism is open source and self-hosted on your own server with local face recognition, but it has no native mobile app for backup.

  • Ente Photos

    End-to-end encrypted photo storage, hosted or self-hosted.

    FreemiumOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinuxAndroidiOSWebSelf-hosted

    Ente Photos is open source with end-to-end encryption, usable as a paid hosted service or self-hosted, with desktop and mobile apps.

  • Google Photos

    Google's hosted photo and video service with automatic backup from Android and iOS and 15 GB of shared free storage.

    FreemiumProprietaryWebAndroidiOS

    Google Photos needs no NAS hardware but moves photos to a proprietary cloud service, with storage beyond 15 GB requiring Google One.

  • LibrePhotos

    A self-hosted photo service with face recognition and automatic event albums, all processed locally.

    FreeOpen sourceSelf-hostedWeb

    LibrePhotos is MIT-licensed and self-hosted with local face recognition and event albums, but it has no mobile backup apps and is in early stages.

  • Proton Drive

    End-to-end encrypted cloud storage from Proton for backing up, syncing and sharing files and photos.

    FreemiumProprietaryAndroidiOSWeb

    Proton Drive provides end-to-end encrypted automatic photo backup from mobile, but it is hosted only general file storage and cannot be self-hosted.

  • QuMagie

    A photo management app for QNAP NAS devices that organizes photos by people, things and places.

    FreeProprietaryWebSelf-hosted

    QuMagie offers a similar private NAS photo library with AI grouping by people, things and places, but it runs only on QNAP hardware.

  • Memories

    A free, open-source photo management app for Nextcloud with a timeline, albums and automatic tagging.

    FreeOpen sourceAndroidWebSelf-hosted

    Memories is open source and needs a Nextcloud server instead of a Synology NAS, with automatic phone upload through Nextcloud apps.

Also worth comparing

These listings name Synology Photos as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.

  • Degoo

    A cloud storage service for automatic photo and video backup from phones, with a free plan.

    FreemiumProprietaryAndroidiOSWeb

    Synology Photos backs up phone photos to a Synology NAS you own, so it requires that hardware and is closed source.

  • Lomorage

    A photo backup system that copies phone photos to your own computer, NAS or Raspberry Pi.

    FreeProprietaryWindowsmacOSLinuxAndroidiOSSelf-hosted

    Synology Photos backs up phones to a Synology NAS with share links and folder permissions, but it requires Synology hardware and is closed source.

  • PhotoSync

    A mobile app that transfers and backs up photos and videos between phones, computers, NAS devices and clouds.

    FreemiumProprietaryWindowsmacOSLinuxAndroidiOS

    Synology Photos backs up phone photos through mobile apps to a Synology NAS, but it requires that NAS and does not target other computers or clouds.

Similar software

Related functionality, not a direct replacement.