Why Immich Instead of Google Photos?
Google Photos is convenient – but your photos train Google's AI, storage is limited (15 GB), and you depend on a US corporation.
Immich offers 95% of Google Photos features: Auto-upload, face recognition, map view, memories – but your photos stay on YOUR server.
Hardware Requirements
Immich is more resource-hungry than many self-hosted apps – the AI features need decent power.
The Machine Learning features (face recognition, object detection) run during import. For large libraries, this initially takes several hours!
| Usage | RAM | CPU | Storage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5,000 photos | 4 GB | 2 cores | 100 GB |
| 20,000 photos | 8 GB | 4 cores | 300 GB |
| 50,000+ photos | 16 GB | 4+ cores | 500+ GB |
Our Recommendation
For beginners with up to 20,000 photos, we recommend a VPS with 8 GB RAM and around 300 GB SSD, e.g. at Netcup.
For larger libraries, plan for 16 GB RAM and 400 GB SSD or more, e.g. at Contabo. Which plans currently offer this at the lowest price is shown in the live table on this page (prices incl. VAT, updated twice daily).