Lychee
Lychee is a free, self-hosted photo-management tool for uploading, organizing, and sharing photos through web, Linux, API, and self-hosted deployments.
What Lychee is
Lychee is a free, self-hosted photo-management tool for uploading, organizing, and sharing photos through web, Linux, API, and self-hosted deployments. You can create unlimited nested albums and adjust covers, headers, layouts, sorting, and aspect ratios. Albums may be shared with selected users, published publicly, or protected with passwords. Lychee displays EXIF and IPTC metadata and imports images from a computer, server, URL, or Dropbox. The maker says storage is unlimited and photos are not compressed or lost. The Free plan costs nothing and includes unlimited users, albums, tags, uploads, and facial recognition. A Supporter Edition costs €5 a month and adds statistics, groups, quotas, anonymous uploads, secured links, watermarking, and extended customization. Docker Compose is recommended, with manual PHP, web-server, and database installation also documented. An API supports personal Bearer tokens, which grant full account access. The gallery ships without analytics or tracking.
Good
- Unlimited nested albums and uploads
- Imports from computers, servers, URLs, or Dropbox
- EXIF and IPTC metadata support
- Private, public, and password-protected sharing
- No analytics or tracking mechanisms
Watch out
- No free trial or refunds
- Bearer tokens grant full account access
- Manual deployment requires PHP, web server, and database
- Supporter Edition costs €5 a month
Who it suits
Lychee suits personal users wanting self-hosted photo organization and sharing. Professional photographers and businesses selling pictures may prefer the Supporter Edition.
Verdict
Lychee provides broad self-hosted photo organization with unlimited albums and uploads at no software cost. Its paid add-on adds business-oriented controls, while deployment and token security require attention.
Plans and prices
From Lychee's own pricing page, checked 15 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Unlimited users · Unlimited albums · Unlimited tags · Unlimited photo upload · Facial recognition |
| Supporter Edition | €5 a month | Free Edition features · Library statistics · User groups and upload quotas · Anonymous uploads · Secured image links · Watermarking · Extended customizations · Per Month |
The facts
Each one read from Lychee's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Albums
- Albums can be unlimited, nested, customized with covers, headers, layouts, sorting and aspect ratios, and embedded in other websites.checked 15 Oct 2026
- API
- Lychee documents API v2 routes and requires JSON Accept headers; API documentation is available inside each instance at /docs/api.checked 15 Oct 2026
- API authentication
- Scripted API calls can use personal bearer tokens, while browser session requests use Laravel CSRF protection.checked 15 Oct 2026
- API security limit
- An API token grants full account access and is shown only once, so the documentation says to treat it like a password.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Audience
- The maker describes the free edition as an optimal choice for personal use and the Pro add-on as aimed at professional photographers and businesses selling pictures.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Imports
- The homepage lists importing photos from a local computer, a server, a URL, or Dropbox.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Independent feature assessment
- Android Authority observed albums, sharing, EXIF viewing, timeline, frame view, multi-user support and On This Day memories.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Independent setup result
- Android Authority reports completing a Lychee server setup on a Pixel in about 45 minutes, while noting command-line and PHP-extension work.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Installation
- The recommended quick start uses Docker Compose and starts a gallery with MariaDB and persistent photo/database storage.checked 15 Oct 2026
- License
- The Lychee and Supporter Edition code is open source under the MIT license.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: AI features
- Android Authority says Lychee lacks Google Photos or Immich-style facial recognition, location search and other machine-learning enhancements.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: multi-user support
- G2's review summary identifies lack of multi-user support as a recurring limitation, although current documentation describes user and sharing controls.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: server administration
- Android Authority notes that running Lychee on a phone requires managing permissions, PHP upload limits, thumbnail extensions and battery or process-sleep settings.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: technical installation
- G2 reviewers say installation requires technical knowledge and that configuration terminology can be tedious for less technical users.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Manual installation
- A non-Docker deployment requires PHP, a web server and a database.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Metadata
- Lychee supports and displays EXIF and IPTC metadata.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Notable news
- The official release documentation lists Lychee version 7.10.0 among the current version-7 releases.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Photo downloads
- Albums can be downloaded as ZIP archives containing original-resolution photos.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Photo organization
- Users can create unlimited nested albums and customize album covers, headers, layouts, sorting, and aspect ratios.checked 9 Oct 2026
- Praise: ease of use
- G2 reviewers repeatedly describe the interface and photo uploading or management workflow as intuitive and easy to use.checked 15 Oct 2026
Where it runs
- iOS companion app
- LycheeSync is a free iPhone and iPad app that uploads selected albums to a self-hosted Lychee server using stored server credentials.checked 15 Oct 2026
The company
- Maker identity
- The project identifies LycheeOrg as its maintainer and Tobias Reich as the creator.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Maker start year
- LycheeOrg states that the project started in 2018.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Maker team size
- The About page lists five developers and reviewers.checked 15 Oct 2026
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