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TagStudio vs Hydrus Network: catalog facts
TagStudio	Hydrus Network
Free Free and open source with no paid tier.	Free Free, with source published on GitHub.
Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows, macOS, Linux, Self-hosted
Tag-based organization on top of your existing files Does not lock files into a proprietary format	Tag-based search across very large collections Imports files and tags from disk and websites
Still evolving, so features and library format may change Organizing a large collection with tags takes manual effort	Takes time to learn compared with ordinary photo libraries Interface is dense and built for power users
Downloadable app	Downloadable app, Self-hosted
Open source	Closed source
License: GPL-3.0	License: WTFPL
No account needed	No account needed
Works offline	Works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 1, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 24, 2026

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