Immich is a free, open-source iCloud Photos alternative that backs up your phone’s photos and videos in original quality. iCloud includes 5 GB and then needs a monthly plan; self-hosted Immich is limited only by your disk.
| App | Good for | Code | Import from iCloud Photos | Ease of use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Immich | Families and teams with many photos who want them backed up privately | Code Open source | Import from iCloud Photos Yes | Easy |
iCloud Photos keeps the photos and videos from Apple devices in sync and backed up. Every Apple account gets 5 GB free, shared with device backups and other iCloud data; more space comes with an iCloud+ plan.
People look for an alternative when 5 GB fills up and the monthly plan becomes a standing cost, when they want family members with Android phones in the same library, or when they want their photos on a server they own. A self-hosted app such as Immich backs up both iPhones and Android phones, and stores everything on your own server.
Back up your photos and videos, and find any picture fast.
Backs up iPhones and Android phones alike, so a mixed family or team can share one library. It has a timeline, albums, shared albums, face recognition, a map, memories and search, and keeps original quality.
Download your photos from iCloud, with the Photos app on a Mac or from iCloud.com, or request a copy of your data from Apple. Upload them to Immich from the web app or with the immich-go tool, which keeps dates and places. Install the Immich app on your iPhone and turn on backup, and keep iCloud Photos until everything has arrived.
Immich is the free, open-source alternative to iCloud Photos for backing up photos in the catalogue today. Backs up iPhones and Android phones alike, so a mixed family or team can share one library. It has a timeline, albums, shared albums, face recognition, a map, memories and search, and keeps original quality.
Yes. The Immich app for iPhone and Android backs up photos and videos automatically, and you can browse the whole library from it.
Yes. Immich keeps Live Photos and plays the short video.
Yes, the app is free. To run them you need Cloudgate and a server. Use hosted Cloudgate, which can also provide the server, or install Cloudgate on a server of your own for free. Cloudgate's plans and prices are at cloudgate.octabyte.io/pricing. One server can run several apps.
No. Cloudgate installs the app on your server and gives it a secure web address. You use it in your browser.
