Immich vs Recallio

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.

Recallio is a self-hosted photo and video backup for phones, available on Android, Linux, web, and self-hosted deployments. After setup, its Android app backs up the phone’s library automatically. Media is stored on hardware the user controls, including a local disk, NAS, or USB drive. The server installer targets an Ubuntu home server and installs FFmpeg and Tailscale; encrypted device access uses Tailscale’s WireGuard mesh. The web library supports search, favorites, albums, grid browsing, lightbox previews, and full-resolution originals. Existing folders on internal or external drives can be added, with subfolders becoming albums. Deleted photos move to a configurable Bin, set to 10 days by default. The maker says there is no telemetry, advertising SDK, or content scanning, and media travels directly between devices. A 2 GB RAM server is stated as sufficient, with storage sized to the library. Nightly release checks and automatic updates run during a chosen window.