Two different jobs
Noodle Gallery and PhotoPrismare both open source and both self-hosted. They were built for different problems.
Noodle Gallery is built around automatic backup. Your phone uploads in the background, the photos land in a shared family timeline, and the whole thing sits close to how Google Photos behaves. Gallery is a fork ofImmich, with Shared Spaces, Global People and native mobile apps added on top.
PhotoPrism is built around browsing a collection you already have: AI labels, a search interface, a library view. It ships no first-party native mobile app for automatic backup.
Neither one is better in general. They are tuned for different workflows.
Side-by-side comparison
| Dimension | Noodle Gallery | PhotoPrism |
|---|---|---|
| Primary goal | Private Google-Photos replacement: auto-backup + timeline | Library browser & AI organizer for an existing collection |
| Native mobile apps | iOS + Android with automatic background backup | Progressive web app; no first-party native backup app |
| Shared libraries & users | Multiple accounts, Shared Spaces, member roles | Multi-user, with fewer sharing controls |
| AI / search | CLIP smart search, face & object recognition | TensorFlow labels, faces, and search |
| Storage backends | Local disk or any S3-compatible provider | Local disk (object storage via external mounts) |
| License & cost | AGPL-3.0, free to self-host | AGPL-3.0; some features behind Membership |
| Upstream | Built on Immich, rebased onto every release | Independent project |
When to choose Noodle Gallery
Pick Gallery if you want:
- Automatic phone backup that runs in the background
- A native iOS or Android app from the App Store or Google Play
- A shared family timeline where several people's photos live together
- A timeline and Memories, the way Google Photos does it
- S3-compatible storage (AWS S3, Cloudflare R2, MinIO, Backblaze B2)
When to choose PhotoPrism
Pick PhotoPrism if you want:
- A browser for a photo collection you have already organized
- TensorFlow subject labels and AI classification, without the backup machinery
- A single-user setup with no mobile backup
- A project with a longer independent track record
Switching from PhotoPrism to Gallery
PhotoPrism and Gallery use different storage layouts and database schemas, so switching is not a swap of one image name for another. Both apps read and write a plain directory of files, and neither one modifies your originals. A fresh import into Gallery is safe.
The usual path: point Gallery at the same directory your PhotoPrism library uses, or at a copy of it, and let Gallery index it. PhotoPrism-specific metadata with no equivalent in Gallery's schema (tags, labels, albums) does not come across. Your photos and videos do.
Frequently asked questions
Can I migrate my PhotoPrism library to Noodle Gallery?
Not as a drop-in swap. The two use different database schemas and storage layouts, so there is no two-line migration. What you do instead: point Gallery at your photo and video files and let it index them. There is no import wizard. Neither app deletes or modifies your originals, so the fresh import is safe.
Which should I pick, Noodle Gallery or PhotoPrism?
Depends what you are doing with it. Gallery is built for automatic phone backup, native iOS and Android apps, and shared family timelines. If you already have a large organized collection and want a browser and an AI classifier without the backup side of things, PhotoPrism suits that better. Both are open source under AGPL-3.0.
Does Noodle Gallery have a mobile app?
Yes, on the App Store (iPhone) and Google Play (Android). The apps do background camera backup, on-device CLIP search, the map view and Shared Spaces. Background backup is one of Gallery's core features.
Is PhotoPrism free?
PhotoPrism is open source under AGPL-3.0, and the community edition is free to self-host. Some advanced features go to members who support the project. Gallery is AGPL-3.0 too, free to self-host, with every feature included.