Best Self-Hosted Alternatives to Google Photos in 2026
Google Photos keeps getting worse. The free unlimited storage is long gone, the AI features now require a Google One subscription, and every year they find new ways to nudge you toward paying more. If you’ve been thinking about taking your photo library back into your own hands, 2026 is the year to do it. I’ve tested every major self-hosted photo management tool over the past two years — running them on everything from a Raspberry Pi 4 to a dedicated Proxmox server. Here’s the honest breakdown of what works, what doesn’t, and what you should actually install. ...