Immich vs Pho

Immich is a free, open-source app for backing up photos and videos from Android and iOS devices to a server users manage themselves. Uploads can come through the mobile app, browser, or command-line interface; external libraries can be added as read-only folders. The web app opens in a browser at the server address on port 2283. Albums, hierarchical tags, maps, memories, favorites, and a folder view help organize media. Smart Search accepts natural-language phrases, and facial recognition detects and groups faces. Users can share libraries with friends and family, create public links for collections, or share with partners. Immich supports OAuth identity providers, API keys, and Prometheus monitoring. Deployment documentation covers Docker Compose and Kubernetes, with community NAS guides also available. The documentation recommends a 64-bit Linux or Unix-like system, requires Docker Compose, and gives minimum server resources of 6 GB RAM and 2 CPU cores. Automatic database backups contain metadata only, so uploaded photos and videos need separate backups. The listed plan is free, with a self-hosted server required.

Pho is a photo backup and gallery app that syncs mobile camera-roll images to storage chosen by the user. It uploads original-quality photos in the background and displays local and remote images together in a timeline with pinch-to-zoom and full-screen viewing. Listed storage includes SMB, WebDAV, NFS, Google Drive, Baidu Netdisk, and S3-compatible services such as AWS S3, Backblaze B2, Cloudflare R2, and MinIO. The sync engine is built into the app, so Pho says no separate Docker container, database, or reverse proxy is needed. Photos go directly to user-controlled storage rather than through Pho’s servers; the maker also says it has no central database, analytics pipeline, or ads. Files use a date-based directory structure that can be browsed with a file manager. The free tier provides a local gallery and basic cloud sync for personal use. Pro adds AES-256 encryption, custom sync filters, multi-threaded sync, multiple directory structures, theme colors, a Release Space tool, and priority support. The annual Pro plan is $19.99 a year.