Ente Photos

End-to-end encrypted, open-source photo backup positioned as a private Google Photos.

Free plan + paidOpen sourceSelf-hostablePhoto storage and management apps

Verified facts: 4 of 4
Alternatives ranked: 5
Approved reviews: 0
Visits sent from here: 0

About Ente Photos

Ente Photos is a photo and video backup service that encrypts everything on your device before upload, so the company cannot see your library. Despite that, it offers features people expect from Google Photos: on-device face recognition and natural-language search, shared albums and collaborative links, a map view, and family plans that split one subscription between several people. Each file is replicated to three data centres, one of them an underground fallout shelter. The apps, server and cryptography are open source and have been audited, and the server can be self-hosted. There is a free tier, then paid storage plans billed monthly or yearly. Apps run on iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux and the web. Because processing happens on devices, indexing a big library can take time, and editing tools are basic compared with Google's.

Best for: Privacy-minded families wanting a Google Photos-style app with encryption.

What works

End-to-end encrypted with on-device face and text search
Open source, audited and self-hostable
Three-location replication of every file

Why people leave

On-device indexing of large libraries is slow
Editing tools are basic
Smaller company than the big-tech options

Top Ente Photos alternatives

See all 5

1
Google Photos
More powerful search and editing if encryption is not a priority.
66.5
2
Immich
Free self-hosted alternative with a very similar feature set.
62.6
3
iCloud Photos
Native Apple option, with optional end-to-end encryption.
59.6
4
PhotoPrism
Self-hosted library with AI tagging, run on your own server.
55.3
5
Proton Drive
Encrypted photo backup alongside general file storage.
48.9

Why people left Ente Photos

In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.

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Ente Photos: common questions

Is Ente Photos free?

Ente Photos has a free plan and paid plans. Free plan: 10 GB, free forever (checked on Ente Photos's own site).

Is Ente Photos open source?

Yes. The source code is on GitHub at ente-io/ente. You can also run it on your own server.

What platforms does Ente Photos run on?

Ente Photos is available for Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android and Self-hosted.

What are the best alternatives to Ente Photos?

The highest-ranked Ente Photos alternatives right now are Google Photos, Immich and iCloud Photos. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.

See all 5 Ente Photos alternatives

Ente Photos facts

4 of 4 verified

Free plan: 10 GB, free forever; Checked Oct 25, 2026ente.io(opens source in a new tab); “10GB free forever”
Replication: Stored in 3 locations; Checked Oct 25, 2026ente.io(opens source in a new tab); “End-to-end encrypted backups Stored in 3 locations”
Open source: Yes, audited and self-hostable; Checked Oct 25, 2026ente.io(opens source in a new tab); “open source audited self-hostable”
Founded: 2020; Checked Oct 25, 2026ente.io(opens source in a new tab); “So we started building an open source company in 2020 - one that could outlive its people.”