Lychee: Manage and Share Photos on Your Own Server

Overview

Lychee is a web-based photo-management system that you run on your own server or web space. It provides a place to upload, manage, and share photos without relying on a hosted photo service, giving you control over where your library is stored.

It is aimed at people who want a self-hosted gallery with a straightforward web interface. Docker is the recommended deployment option in the project documentation, while releases and source installation are also available.

Key Features

• Upload and manage photos in a web application.
• Share photos from a gallery hosted on your own server.
• Deploy with Docker Compose, including a separate worker in the minimal setup.
• Use MariaDB or MySQL as the database in the documented Docker configuration.
• Install from pre-built releases or from source.
• Consult project documentation, GitHub issues, and Discord for setup help and support.

Use Cases

• Individuals who want to keep their photo library on infrastructure they control.
• Families or groups that need a self-hosted place to organize and share photos.
• Server administrators who prefer deploying a photo gallery with Docker Compose.
• Developers comfortable with PHP who want to install or modify a photo-management application from source.

Getting Started

For a quick Docker trial, download the minimal Compose file and start the services:

curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/LycheeOrg/Lychee/master/docker-compose.minimal.yaml
docker compose -f docker-compose.minimal.yaml up -d

Then open http://localhost:8000. See the README and documentation for full installation and configuration details.

Alternatives

• afilmory: Afilmory presents synced photos with EXIF, maps, and a WebGL viewer, while Lychee focuses on managing, organizing, and sharing an uploaded photo library.

Considerations

• Lychee needs a server or web space to run, so it is not a hosted service that removes infrastructure management.
• The README lists PHP 8.4+ as a requirement for installing from source, along with Composer and npm.
• The project flags significant Docker image changes in version 7.0. Consult the upgrade guide before upgrading from an earlier version.
• The README describes additional functionality in a Supporter Edition; check its details if you need features beyond the free edition.