Google Photos
Privacy passport
- No tracking
- Minimal
- Open source
- Yes
- Only you can read it
- Encrypted
- No account
- Needed
- Free
- Free plan
3 of 5 checks
- Android
- iPhone
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Web
Private photo apps
14 apps, each with a privacy passport
Photo libraries reveal faces, places and routines, so the key question is who can look inside the backup. Encrypted services like Ente keep the provider out, self-hosted servers like Immich keep everything on hardware you own, and on-device galleries never upload at all.
Leaving one of these?
If you only try two
Google Photos feel, but only you can see the photos
Privacy passport
- No tracking
- Yes
- Open source
- Yes
- Only you can read it
- Your server
- No account
- Needed
- Free
- Yes
4 of 5 checks- Android
- iPhone
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Web
Closest Google Photos match on your own hardware
All 14 photo apps
Passes
Works on
14 of 14 apps
Ente PhotosPick
Service29.6k
Photo and video backup with end-to-end encryption, so Ente cannot see your library. Apps for every platform, plus family sharing.
- Minimal tracking
- Open source
- End-to-end encrypted
- Account needed
- Free plan
- Android
- iPhone
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Web
ImmichPick
Self-hosted117.2k
Self-hosted photo backup with automatic phone upload, timeline, albums and face search that all runs on your own server.
- No tracking
- Open source
- On your server
- Account needed
- Free
- Android
- iPhone
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Web
Cryptee
Service533
Estonian service for encrypted documents and a private photo vault, all running in your browser.
- Tracking not stated
- Partly open
- End-to-end encrypted
- Account needed
- Free plan
- Web
PhotoPrism
Self-hosted40.4k
Self-hosted photo library that tags and sorts your pictures with on-server AI, browsable from any web browser.
- Tracking not stated
- Partly open
- On your server
- Account needed
- Free plan
- Web
Stingle Photos
Service
Encrypted photo backup for Android and iPhone; photos are encrypted on the phone before upload.
- No tracking
- Open source
- End-to-end encrypted
- Account needed
- Free plan
- Android
- iPhone
Fossify Gallery
App3.9k
Offline gallery for Android with editing, hidden folders and no network access, from the community fork of Simple Gallery.
- No tracking
- Open source
- Stays on device
- No account
- Free
- Android
Aves
App5.5k
Android gallery that browses photos by date, place and tag on your phone, with a private map view and metadata viewer.
- No tracking
- Open source
- Stays on device
- No account
- Free
- Android
digiKam
App
Desktop photo manager from KDE for large libraries: tagging, face recognition and editing, all offline on your computer.
- No tracking
- Open source
- Stays on device
- No account
- Free
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
LibrePhotos
Self-hosted8.1k
Self-hosted photo server with face recognition, maps and event albums computed on your own machine.
- No tracking
- Open source
- On your server
- Account needed
- Free
- Web
Photoview
Self-hosted6.6k
Simple self-hosted gallery that reads your existing photo folders and shares albums by link.
- No tracking
- Open source
- On your server
- Account needed
- Free
- iPhone
- Web
PiGallery 2
Self-hosted2.3k
Lightweight self-hosted web gallery that serves photo folders as they are, with no database to manage.
- No tracking
- Open source
- On your server
- Account optional
- Free
- Web
Memories
Self-hosted3.9k
Photo timeline app for Nextcloud with face and place browsing, plus an Android app for backup.
- No tracking
- Open source
- On your server
- Account needed
- Free
- Android
- Web
Photok
App993
Encrypted photo vault for Android that hides private pictures behind a password, stored only on the phone.
- No tracking
- Open source
- Stays on device
- No account
- Free
- Android
Photok
App993
Android photo safe that keeps chosen pictures encrypted on the device behind a password.
- No tracking
- Open source
- Stays on device
- No account
- Free
- Android
What to check in photo apps
- 1 Whether backups are end-to-end encrypted or readable by the provider
- 2 Whether face and object search runs on your device or on their servers
- 3 How easy it is to export the full library with original files and dates
