How to take back control of your photos without sacrificing convenience

Hi everyone! Today I want to talk about something that’s been bothering me. Remember when Google Photos was completely free and unlimited? Those days are gone. Now we either pay a monthly subscription, juggle multiple accounts, or watch with anxiety as free iCloud space runs out.

We entrust the most valuable moments of our lives — our memories in the form of photos and videos — to corporations. They, in turn, can change the terms, raise prices, or, worse, lock your account and you lose everything.

What if you could get all the same features — a convenient mobile app, automatic uploads, smart search by faces and objects — but be fully in control? On your own server.

Meet — Immich.

🎨 What Immich is

Put simply, Immich is a self-hosted open-source alternative to Google Photos.

It’s software you install on your own server (this can be an old computer at home, a Raspberry Pi, or a rented VDS/VPS). It consists of two main parts:

1. Server: The brain of the operation. It stores your files, analyzes them, indexes them, and manages everything.
2. Clients: Apps for Android and iOS, as well as a web interface for browser access.

You install the app on your phone, point it to your server address — and that’s it. Your photos and videos start automatically copying to your personal, protected storage.

🎯 Why you’d want this

At first glance, this might seem complicated. Why bother with servers if you can just pay Apple or Google $3 a month?
The reasons lie in a philosophy that’s becoming increasingly relevant.

1. Privacy

When you use Immich, only you have access to your photos. No corporation scans your pictures to train their AIs or to show you targeted ads. Your family photos remain yours.

2. Control and ownership

This is your data. You decide where it’s stored, how it’s backed up, and who sees it. Tomorrow Google can’t declare that 1 TB now costs $50 a month or that your photo violates some vague rule.
You are in control.

3. Long-term cost

Yes, you need some hardware. But a 4 TB hard drive costs roughly as much as one and a half to two years of cloud subscription. And it will last much longer. You pay once for equipment, not rent storage forever.

🧩 Immich and the self-hosted philosophy

Immich is, perhaps, one of the brightest examples of the self-hosted concept.

“Self-hosted” is the idea of running software and services (email, cloud storage, password managers) on your own hardware instead of relying on third-party companies.

In an era when “the cloud” has become synonymous with dependency, self-hosted returns sovereignty over data to people.

Immich fits this philosophy perfectly:

• It replaces a critical SaaS (Software as a Service): Photo storage is something almost everyone needs. Immich takes this function from the “cloud giants” and returns it to the user.
• It gives independence: You don’t depend on an internet connection to “the big brother” (only to your own server). You don’t depend on a company’s policies.
• It builds “your own internet”: Instead of just being a consumer of services, you become their operator. This is your personal, sovereign corner of the digital world.

Previously, launching your own “Google Photos” was incredibly difficult. Immich has made this process surprisingly accessible.

📦 Simple setup — and you’re ready

For those who want to try — setup is extremely simple. All you need is Docker and a bit of patience:

git clone https://github.com/immich-app/immich.git
cd immich
docker compose up -d

In a couple of minutes the server will be ready. All that’s left is to install the Immich mobile app and point it to your server address.

👍 Is it actually convenient? Or only for geeks?

This brings us to the main point. Many think “self-hosted” is synonymous with “complicated, inconvenient, and a nightmare.”

Immich breaks that stereotype.

Yes, the initial server setup (usually via Docker) will take you an hour and the ability to follow instructions.
But once it’s running, Immich offers a level of convenience that not only matches, but in some ways surpasses commercial alternatives:

• Automatic uploads: Install the app on your phone and forget it. It uploads new photos in the background as soon as you’re on Wi-Fi.

• Blazing-fast interface: Both the web version and mobile apps are incredibly fast and responsive. Scrolling through thousands of photos is a pleasure.

• Onboard AI features:

  • Face recognition: Immich automatically groups people and you can name them.
  • Object search: Just type “dog”, “beach”, “car”, or “sunset” — and it will find the right photos.
  • Geodata: There’s an interactive map where you can see the places in the world where you took photos.

• Family sharing: You can create accounts for family members. They can automatically back up their photos to your server, and you can create shared albums.

• No compromises: You don’t have to choose between compressing photos to “high quality” and paying. You store the originals — in full resolution, including RAW and Live Photos.

🧠 Conclusion

Immich is not just “another” open-source project. It’s a statement.
It’s proof that you can get the best of both worlds: the convenience and powerful features of cloud services, and the privacy and control of self-hosted solutions.

Imagine — no more deleting photos to free up space. Your pictures live on your server, under your control.

This is your personal, permanent photo archive that belongs only to you.
If you value your memories and digital independence, take a look at Immich.

And don’t forget about backups