Immich vs PhoneCopy

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.

PhoneCopy backs up, stores, restores, and synchronizes personal data between mobile devices and the cloud. It handles contacts, calendars, SMS messages, photos, and videos from mobile devices, and can back up documents from PC and Mac. Users can send data to the cloud, restore it to a device, or synchronize in both directions. PhoneCopy says photos and videos retain their original resolution and quality. The service lists Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, Windows, and web platforms, and says it supports more than 11,000 devices. Basic includes 500 contacts, calendar events, tasks, and notes each, two devices, and a 1 GB media pack. Premium costs €1.99 per month and includes unlimited listed data items and devices, a 2.5 GB media pack, a one-year deleted-data archive, and priority support. Larger media-pack options range from 50 GB for €2.99 per month to 1000 GB for €9.99 per month. The company is based in Prague, Czech Republic.