My “Google Photos” Problem
For the better part of a decade, I had a digital secret I wasn’t proud of. As a Linux user and a vocal advocate for open-source and privacy, I was running a clean, secure setup. My browser was hardened, my OS was transparent… and every photo I took on my phone was automatically uploaded to Google Photos.
I had over 200GB of my life—my family, my vacations, my private moments—sitting on Google’s servers. I justified it, just like everyone else: “The search is just too good!” “It’s so convenient!” “How else will I share albums with my family?”
Every alternative I tried felt like a massive compromise. I set up Nextcloud, but the photo app was slow, clunky, and the mobile uploader was unreliable. I looked at Synology Photos, but that meant being locked into their hardware. I tried basic rsync scripts to my NAS, but that just created a massive, unsearchable “dump” of files.
I had convenience, but no privacy. Or I had privacy, but zero convenience. I couldn’t have both.
Then, about a year ago, I stumbled upon a project called Immich. Today, my Google Photos account is empty. I’ve deleted everything. Immich now runs my entire photo library, and I haven’t looked back. This is the story of what is Immich and why I truly believe it’s the most important self-hosted application of the last five years.
What is Immich, and Why Is It So Different?
Immich is an open-source, high-performance, self-hosted photo and video backup solution. But that’s a boring description.
Here’s a better one: Immich is Google Photos, without Google.
It’s not just a gallery. It’s an entire platform designed from the ground up to replicate and replace the full Google Photos experience. It runs on your own Linux server, your Raspberry Pi 5, or your NAS (via Docker). You own your data, end-to-end.
The project is built by a team that clearly looked at Google Photos and said, “We can build all of that, but make it open and private.” And they are succeeding at a terrifying pace.
The “Moment of Magic”: Why I Actually Fell in Love
This is the part that’s hard to describe until you see it. This is why I “love” it.
1. The AI Search is Not a Gimmick
This was my biggest fear. I thought, “Sure, it can host photos, but can it find them?” The first time I typed “sunset” into my own server’s search bar and it instantly returned every sunset photo from the last 15 years, I was speechless.
It uses machine learning to “see” your photos. I can search for:
- “dog on beach”
- “hiking in mountains”
- “receipts” (yes, it even finds text)
It just works. That “Google magic” was now running on my own hardware, in my own home.
2. It Found My Family (Facial Recognition)
Within an hour of indexing my library, Immich had automatically grouped all the faces. I went to the “People” tab and saw my wife, my parents, and my friends, perfectly clustered. I spent 10 minutes labeling them, and now I can just click a face and see every photo I have of that person. It’s fast, it’s accurate, and it’s 100% private. No data was sent to a third party.
3. The Mobile App Finally Works
This was the deal-breaker for me with Nextcloud. The uploader was buggy. Immich’s mobile app (for both iOS and Android) is a masterpiece. It’s fast, beautiful, and its only job is photos.
I installed it, pointed it at my server’s address, and logged in. That’s it. It has been silently and reliably backing up every photo I take, seconds after I take it. It feels exactly like the Google Photos experience.
4. Partner Sharing That Saved My Sanity
My wife and I used to have a shared Google Photos album where we’d manually dump photos of our kids. We’d always forget. With Immich, I just set up “Partner Sharing.” Now, the instant Immich (running on our server) recognizes our daughter’s face in a photo—from either my phone or my wife’s phone—it automatically shares it with the other person. No more “Hey, can you send me that picture?” It’s just… there.
How It Compares to the “Old” Solutions
My journey was littered with failed attempts. Here’s why Immich won.
- Immich vs. Nextcloud Photos: I love Nextcloud for files, but for photos, it’s a non-starter. It’s a file sync tool with a gallery “plugin.” Immich is a photo management database that’s built for speed.
- Immich vs. PhotoPrism: This was a tough one. PhotoPrism is an amazing project and was the king for a long time. But for me, Immich’s blazing-fast mobile app, modern UI, and incredible “Partner Sharing” feature just pulled it into the lead. The development pace is also staggering.
How I Got It Running (The Linux Way)
Okay, you’re convinced. You want it. How do you get it?
The Prerequisite: You need a Linux machine that’s on (or mostly on). This could be a dedicated homelab server, an old PC running Fedora, or even a Raspberry Pi 5.
The Method: Docker. This is the only way. Don’t fight it. Immich is a complex stack of microservices (a server, a machine-learning container, a database, etc.). Docker Compose makes installing it a 5-minute job.
- Install Docker & Docker Compose: If you don’t have them, get them. (If you need help, we have a GUIDE TO INSTALLING DOCKER ON LINUX).
- Grab the Official Files: The Immich team provides everything. Go to their OFFICIAL WEBSITE and get the
docker-compose.ymland.envfiles. - Edit Your
.envFile: This is the only real configuration. Open the.envfile and find theUPLOAD_LOCATIONvariable.Bash
# This is the line in the .env file UPLOAD_LOCATION=./libraryI changed this to a dedicated hard drive on my server:
UPLOAD_LOCATION=/mnt/my-photo-drive/immich - Launch It: In the terminal, in that same folder, I just ran:
Bash
sudo docker compose up -d - After a few minutes, I opened my browser to
http://MY-SERVER-IP:2283, created my admin account, and was in. The magic started there.
A Quick, Honest Warning (The “Catch”)
I have to be transparent about one thing. Immich is technically still pre-1.0, or “beta.” Does it feel like it? Absolutely not. It’s more stable than many 1.0 products I’ve used.
But this brings me to a CRITICAL point: Immich is NOT a backup!
This confused me at first. Immich is an interface to your photos. It organizes them, makes them searchable, and displays them beautifully. The UPLOAD_LOCATION folder you defined? That is your library. You must back up that folder yourself.
This is actually a feature. I have a simple restic script that backs up my entire UPLOAD_LOCATION folder to Backblaze every night. My photos are safe, and Immich is the amazing tool I use to access them.
My Final Verdict: I’m Never Going Back
Switching to Immich was about more than just privacy. It was about empowerment. I reclaimed 200GB of my life from a tech giant, but I didn’t have to give up a single feature. In fact, with its rapid development, I feel like I’m on a platform that’s improving faster than Google’s.
It’s fast, it’s reliable, and it’s mine.
If you’re a Linux user with even a passing interest in self-hosting or privacy, you owe it to yourself to try it. Stop trading your memories for a search bar. Host your own.
Have I convinced you? What’s holding you back from ditching Google Photos? If you’re already an Immich user, share your favorite “magic” feature in the comments below!