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Immich vs Apple Photos: catalog facts
Immich	Apple Photos
Free Free to use with every feature; the project states nothing will be put behind a paywall…	Free Included with Apple devices; extra iCloud storage is a separate purchase.
Self-hosted, Web, Android, iOS	macOS, iOS
Automatic background backup from Android and iOS with selective album backup, album sync and Free Up Space to… Search by metadata, objects, faces and CLIP; facial recognition and clustering; reverse geocoding and a global map	Built into every Mac, iPhone and iPad Search by people, places, objects and events
Server needs Docker with at least 6 GB RAM and 2 CPU cores (8 GB and 4 cores… The Postgres database must not sit on NTFS, exFAT or a network share and should use local SSD	Only available on Apple platforms Cross-device sync depends on iCloud
Self-hosted, Web application, Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Closed source
License: AGPL-3.0	License not stated
Account needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Works offline	Works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 20, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 2, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.