Back up your phone's photos without paying for iCloud or Google One
How to back up your phone's photos automatically without an iCloud or Google One subscription, using open-source Immich. Steps, setup gotchas, and limits.
Every phone photo you take can back itself up automatically to a private library on hardware you own, using Immich — an open-source app built specifically to do what iCloud Photos or Google Photos does, minus the subscription and minus anyone else's servers.
This isn't a new idea — Immich has existed for a few years and is stable enough that it's the module we usually suggest starting with. The setup is the same whether you do it yourself or have someone do it for you; only the labor differs.
How it works
STEP 1 — Install Immich on your box
One container, running on the NAS or mini PC you already have — see the hardware guide if you need one.
STEP 2 — Install the app on each phone
iOS and Android both have a real Immich app, not a workaround. It runs in the background like the stock Photos app.
STEP 3 — Turn on background backup
Same one-time toggle as setting up iCloud Photos. From then on it is automatic — no manual exports, no cables.
STEP 4 — Share albums with your household
One shared library works across every phone in the house, regardless of whether it is an iPhone or an Android.
What we actually configure
A dedicated Postgres database with vector search enabled, not just a folder of image files — that is what actually makes face grouping and "search for a beach photo" work.
The machine-learning service (face detection, object tagging, smart search) tuned to your box's CPU, or handed off to a GPU if you have one — skip this and search quietly stops working well.
Remote access wired through a reverse proxy with a real certificate, if you want it — not a raw port forwarded straight to the internet.
Backups of the database itself, not just the photo files — lose the database and the files are an unsearchable pile, not a library.
Honest limitations
Automatic backup needs your box reachable — home wifi by default, or remote access if you set that up (and you should understand exactly what that means before you do).
It is not a drop-in Apple Photos replacement for iOS-specific features (Memories, Shared with You) — it does photo storage, search, and sharing very well, not every OS integration.
You are responsible for the drive redundancy underneath it — mirrored drives, not a single disk. See the hardware guide.
What this replaces: Replaces iCloud+ or Google One at the 2TB tier — roughly $10/mo (how we checked is on the subscription calculator).