Self-hosted alternatives to Imgur
Want image hosting without handing your data to Imgur? These 23 open-source apps run on your own server. Cheapest estimated hosting starts at about $3.5/month.
| App | Health | Stars | License | Docker | RAM (est.) | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thumbor | Actively maintained | 10.5k | MIT | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Zipline | Actively maintained | 3.5k | MIT | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| PicoShare | Actively maintained | 3.1k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 512 MB | $3.5/mo |
| Gokapi | Actively maintained | 3k | GPL-3.0 | ✓ | 512 MB | $3.5/mo |
| Chibisafe | Actively maintained | 2.8k | MIT | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| ProjectSend | Actively maintained | 2k | GPL-2.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Plik | Actively maintained | 1.8k | MIT | ✓ | 512 MB | $3.5/mo |
| Slink | Actively maintained | 1.6k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| HomeGallery | Actively maintained | 1.2k | MIT | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| XBackBone | Actively maintained | 1.2k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Chevereto | Actively maintained | 1k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Safebucket | Actively maintained | 995 | Apache-2.0 | ✓ | 512 MB | $3.5/mo |
| PictShare | Actively maintained | 951 | Apache-2.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| 015 | Actively maintained | 424 | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Damselfly | Maintained | 1.8k | GPL-3.0 | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| This week in past | Actively maintained | 103 | MIT | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| snowshare | Actively maintained | 91 | CC0-1.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Flare | Maintained | 138 | MIT | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Jirafeau | Maintained | 37 | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| elixire | Maintained | 29 | AGPL-3.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| GoSƐ | Health unknown | – | Apache-2.0 | ✓ | 512 MB | $3.5/mo |
| pacebin | Health unknown | – | AGPL-3.0 | – | 512 MB | $3.5/mo |
| Reservo | Health unknown | – | ⊘ Proprietary | – | 2 GB | $10/mo |
The options in detail
1. Thumbor
Smart imaging service and enables on-demand cropping, resizing, applying filters and optimizing images.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-11-03. Latest release 7.8.0 (2026-05-30). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
2. Zipline
Lightweight, fast and reliable file sharing server that is commonly used with ShareX, offering a react-based Web UI and fast API.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-10-27. Latest release v4.8.2 (2026-10-25). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
4. Gokapi
Lightweight server to share files, which expire after a set amount of downloads or days. Similar to the discontinued Firefox Send, with the difference that only the admin is allowed to upload files.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-10-26. Latest release v2.2.4 (2026-03-10). Needs roughly 512 MB RAM. How to run it →
5. Chibisafe
File uploader service that aims to to be easy to use and set up. It accepts files, photos, documents, anything you imagine and gives you back a shareable link for you to send to others.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-10-22. Latest release v6.7.0 (2026-10-22). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
6. ProjectSend
Upload files and assign them to specific clients you create. Give access to those files to your clients.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-10-29. Latest release v2.8.0 (2026-10-29). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
7. Plik
Scalable and friendly temporary file upload system.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-11-02. Latest release 1.4.3 (2026-10-21). Needs roughly 512 MB RAM. How to run it →
8. Slink
Image sharing platform designed to give users complete control over their media sharing experience.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-11-02. Latest release v1.14.5 (2026-10-31). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
9. HomeGallery
Browse personal photos and videos featuring tagging, mobile-friendly, and AI powered image discovery.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-10-30. Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
10. XBackBone
Simple, fast and lightweight file manager with instant sharing tools integration, like ShareX.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-09-14. Latest release 3.8.2 (2026-06-27). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
11. Chevereto
Ultimate image sharing software. Create your very own personal image hosting website in just minutes.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-11-02. Latest release 4.5.9 (2026-11-02). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
12. Safebucket
File sharing platform with pluggable infrastructure, where uploads and downloads go directly between clients and S3-compatible storage.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-10-31. Latest release v0.8.0 (2026-10-17). Needs roughly 512 MB RAM. How to run it →
14. 015
Temporary file sharing platform. Focused on providing one-time, temporary file and text upload, processing, and sharing services.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-10-14. Latest release 0.15.0 (2026-10-15). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
15. Damselfly
Fast server-based photo management system for large collections of images. Includes face detection, face & object recognition, powerful search, and EXIF Keyword tagging. Runs on Linux, MacOS and Windows.
Maintained Last activity 2026-01-14. Latest release 4.5.3 (2026-01-14). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
16. This week in past
Aggregates images taken this week, from previous years and presents them on a web page with a simple slideshow.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-11-02. Latest release 4.1.0 (2026-11-02). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
18. Flare
Nonbloated, modern, and highly configurable file/screenshot vault server with support for ShareX, Flameshot, and Spectacle. Offers OCR search and more.
Maintained Last activity 2026-11-03. Latest release rolling (2025-07-06). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
19. Jirafeau
One-click-fileshare project. Select your file, upload, and share a link. That's it.
Maintained Last activity 2026-06-27. Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
20. elixire
Simple yet advanced screenshot uploading and link shortening service.
Maintained Last activity 2026-06-09. Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
21. GoSƐ
Modern file-uploader focusing on scalability and simplicity. It only depends on a S3 storage backend and hence scales horizontally without the need for additional databases or caches.
Health unknown Needs roughly 512 MB RAM. How to run it →
22. pacebin
Super-minimal pastebin and file upload service focusing on small executable size, portability, and ease of configuration.
Health unknown Needs roughly 512 MB RAM. How to run it →
23. Reservo
Scalable image hosting script with support for CDNs, paid account upgrades, advertising spots and drag & drop upload.
Health unknown Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
Why self-host instead of Imgur?
- Own your data — it lives on a server you control, with backups you decide on.
- Predictable cost — a small VPS often replaces per-seat pricing for a whole team or family.
- No lock-in — open-source licenses let you keep running the software even if a vendor disappears.
The trade-off: you are responsible for updates, backups and security. Pick an app marked Actively maintained and with Docker support for the easiest ride.
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