Google Photos gives you 15GB free. Then it scans every face, every location, and every object in your pictures to build a profile of your life. Your kid's birthday party? Tagged. Your home address from GPS data? Logged.
You can keep the automatic phone backup and the slick timeline — without the surveillance. Here are four apps that do it on hardware you own.
1. Immich — the one that feels like Google Photos
Immich is the closest thing to Google Photos you can run yourself. Install the app on your phone, point it at your server, and every new photo uploads automatically over WiFi.
It does face grouping, map views, and search that actually works — all processed locally. Nothing leaves your house. Start here if you want the full experience with zero compromise.
Try it: Run it with Docker. The mobile app is on both app stores and connects in under a minute.
2. PhotoPrism — best for huge, messy libraries
Got 80,000 photos dumped across ten folders? PhotoPrism eats chaos for breakfast. It uses AI tagging that runs on your own machine, so you can search "beach" or "dog" without a single image touching a cloud server.
It's read-friendly too — it won't move or rename your original files unless you tell it to. That makes it safe to point at a folder you're afraid to break.
Try it: Great choice if you're organizing years of existing photos rather than doing daily backups.
3. Ente — encrypted backup for the paranoid
Ente encrypts your photos before they leave your phone. Even the server can't see them. You can self-host the whole thing, so your pictures live on your box, locked with a key only you hold.
This is the pick if you share the server with roommates or expose it beyond your home network. Encryption means a breach reveals scrambled noise, not your vacation.
Try it: The self-hosted server is open source. Point the official app at it and you get end-to-end encryption for free.
4. LibrePhotos — lightweight and nosy in a good way
LibrePhotos builds automatic albums by event and location, generates "on this day" memories, and runs on modest hardware. If your server is an old laptop or a Raspberry Pi 4, this one won't choke.
It's less polished than Immich but far lighter. Perfect for a first project that won't overheat cheap hardware.
Try it: Ideal when your "server" is whatever spare machine you had lying around.
The one thing to do tonight
Pick Immich. Install it with Docker, add the phone app, and turn on auto-backup for just one album — your recent photos. Watch it upload. Once you trust it, switch off Google Photos backup.
One album tonight beats a perfect plan you never start.