Immich¶
x86-64 arm64 · 🐳 Docker · Documentation · http://<your.IP>:8077
Immich is a self-hosted photo and video backup solution, designed for individuals and families who want:
- An alternative to cloud-based services like Google Photos or iCloud
- A private, secure place to store, browse, and share memories
- Powerful features like automatic mobile uploads, facial recognition, and search
- A modern, responsive web and mobile interface for easy access
Thanks to Immich being built with modern technologies like NestJS, TypeScript, and machine learning integrations, users enjoy a smooth, intelligent media experience. Whether you’re a casual user backing up phone photos or a tech-savvy person managing media across multiple devices, Immich provides the flexibility and control of a cloud solution—on your own server.
Summary
- Immich is ideal if you want full privacy, open-source flexibility, and control over your data.
- Google Photos is convenient and polished but comes with trade-offs in privacy and cost at scale.
- Synology Photos fits well in homes or small offices already using Synology NAS systems, offering good performance with integrated features.
Install from armbian-config → Software → Media → Immich
| CLI install | |
|---|---|
- Email: (set during initial setup)
- Password: (set during initial setup)
- Uploads:
/armbian/immich/photos/upload/ - Thumbnails:
/armbian/immich/photos/thumbs/ - Profile images:
/armbian/immich/photos/profile/ - Library:
/armbian/immich/photos/library/ - Encoded videos:
/armbian/immich/photos/encoded-video/ - Backups:
/armbian/immich/photos/backups/
| Bash | |
|---|---|
| Feature / Aspect | Immich | Google Photos | Synology Photos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hosting | Self-hosted | Cloud (Google infrastructure) | Self-hosted (on Synology NAS) |
| Privacy & Control | Full control, private data storage | Data stored and analyzed by Google | Full control within your NAS environment |
| Automatic Uploads | Yes (via mobile app) | Yes (via mobile app) | Yes (via mobile app or Synology Drive) |
| Facial Recognition | Yes (on-device) | Yes (cloud-based) | Yes (on-device) |
| Object & Scene Detection | Yes (limited but improving) | Yes (advanced AI) | Yes (basic) |
| Web Interface | Yes (modern and responsive) | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Apps | Yes (iOS & Android) | Yes (iOS & Android) | Yes (iOS & Android) |
| Albums & Sharing | Yes (with public and private sharing) | Yes (advanced sharing options) | Yes |
| Multi-user Support | Yes | Limited (mostly single user) | Yes (multi-user, tied to NAS users) |
| Backup Original Quality | Yes (no compression) | Only with paid storage | Yes (NAS dependent) |
| Offline Access | Limited (depends on app setup) | Yes (with sync) | Yes |
| Open Source | Yes | No | No |
| Hardware Requirement | Any Docker-capable server or NAS | N/A (runs on Google’s cloud) | Synology NAS required |
| Price | Free (self-hosted, you pay for hardware) | Free (with limitations) / Paid for storage | Included with NAS, hardware cost required |
All armbian-config commands
| Action | Command |
|---|---|
| Install | armbian-config --api module_immich install |
| Immich remove | armbian-config --api module_immich remove |
| Immich purge with data folder | armbian-config --api module_immich purge |
| Status | armbian-config --api module_immich status |
| Help | armbian-config --api module_immich help |
Part of Armbian’s Media servers, organizers and editors software.