Immich

For anyone who wants to stop depending on a cloud photo service and is willing to run their own server with Docker.

AGPL-3.0 Reviewed on October 29, 2026

By Jorge Aguilar · Checked against the official documentation · Updated October 29, 2026

View on GitHub (opens in a new tab) Official documentation (opens in a new tab)

What it does.

upload and view your photos and videos from the mobile app or the browser
back up your phone automatically when you open the app
search by metadata, objects, faces and CLIP
recognize and group faces, and build shared albums
host several users on the same server

Systems: Server: 64-bit Linux with Docker and the Compose plugin (amd64 or arm64). It also runs on Windows and macOS with Docker Desktop, but the documentation advises against it. Client: browser and mobile app.

What you need.

RAM, minimum: 6 GB Whole service With only 4 GB it runs only with machine learning turned off. source for this requirement (opens in a new tab)
RAM, recommended: 8 GB Whole service source for this requirement (opens in a new tab)
CPU, minimum: 2 cores Whole service On amd64 the machine-learning container requires x86-64-v2 (most CPUs since ~2012). source for this requirement (opens in a new tab)
CPU, recommended: 4 cores Whole service source for this requirement (opens in a new tab)
Disk, estimated: 3 GB Whole service Just the Postgres database: the docs say "between 1 and 3 GB" (we use 3). Your photos and videos go separately. It must live on a local SSD, never on a network folder. source for this requirement (opens in a new tab)
Thumbnails and transcoded videos usually add 10% to 20% to the size of your library. source for this requirement (opens in a new tab)
Docker with the Compose plugin: the command is "docker compose", not "docker-compose". source for this requirement (opens in a new tab)

Documentation version reviewed: Immich "requirements" documentation (no version number on the page). Reviewed on October 29, 2026.

Check whether your machine can handle it. It adds up its RAM, CPU and disk together with other repos.

How to install.

Create a folder for the configuration files:
```
mkdir ./immich-app && cd ./immich-app
```

Download the official docker-compose.yml:

wget -O docker-compose.yml https://github.com/immich-app/immich/releases/latest/download/docker-compose.yml

Download the variables file as .env:

wget -O .env https://github.com/immich-app/immich/releases/latest/download/example.env

Edit .env: UPLOAD_LOCATION (where your photos are stored), DB_PASSWORD (A-Za-z0-9 only) and TZ.
Start the containers:
```
docker compose up -d
```

Commands taken from the official documentation. Read them before you run them: it is your machine.

Permissions and data.

It stores your whole library in UPLOAD_LOCATION and its database in DB_DATA_LOCATION: this is personal information, so be careful who gets into the server.
The mobile app uploads your photos to the "Server Endpoint URL" you give it.
Change DB_PASSWORD to a value of your own; the documentation says Postgres is not exposed publicly and the password is only for local authentication.

Limits and warnings.

The README warns you to always follow a 3-2-1 backup plan: Immich does not replace a separate copy of your photos.
On Windows, the database does not work on NTFS or exFAT/FAT32, nor on folders mounted under /mnt in WSL; you have to use a Docker volume.
Docker inside LXC containers is not recommended; the documentation prefers a full virtual machine.
On non-Linux systems, the documentation says its ability to help with problems is greatly reduced.

Real cost and cloud.

There is no fee for using the software; the real cost is the always-on server, the disk and your time to keep it updated.
Photos live on your server: object and face search runs in its machine learning container, which is why it asks for the RAM listed.
Backups are yours: the README's 3-2-1 rule means keeping copies on another disk and in another place.

License.

AGPL-3.0 Open source with copyleft

AGPL-3.0: strong copyleft. If you modify Immich and offer it as a service over a network, you must publish your changes under the same license.

This is a summary to orient you, not legal advice. For commercial use, read the original LICENSE file.

Where all of this comes from.

Checked against the official documentation on October 29, 2026; this is not a lab test. Nothing was installed or measured to write this guide. If something has changed, the project's documentation is the authority.

How I review each repo.

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