Self-hosted alternatives to Imgur
Want image hosting without handing your data to Imgur? These 23 self-hosted apps run on your own server (most are open source; licenses are listed below). Cheapest estimated hosting starts at about $3.5/month.
About Imgur: Image hosting and sharing site.
| App | Health | Stars | License | Docker | RAM (est.) | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thumbor | Active | 10.5k | MIT | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Zipline | Active | 3.5k | MIT | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| PicoShare | Active | 3.1k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 512 MB | $3.5/mo |
| Gokapi | Active | 3k | GPL-3.0 | ✓ | 512 MB | $3.5/mo |
| Chibisafe | Active | 2.8k | MIT | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| ProjectSend | Active | 2.1k | GPL-2.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Plik | Active | 1.8k | MIT | ✓ | 512 MB | $3.5/mo |
| Slink | Active | 1.6k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| HomeGallery | Active | 1.2k | MIT | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| XBackBone | Active | 1.2k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Chevereto | Active | 1k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Safebucket | Active | 993 | Apache-2.0 | ✓ | 512 MB | $3.5/mo |
| PictShare | Active | 952 | Apache-2.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| 015 | Active | 427 | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Damselfly | Maintained | 1.8k | GPL-3.0 | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Flare | Active | 138 | MIT | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| snowshare | Active | 110 | CC0-1.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| This week in past | Active | 103 | MIT | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| elixire | Active | 29 | AGPL-3.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Jirafeau | Maintained | 38 | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| GoSƐ | Maintained | 5 | Apache-2.0 | ✓ | 512 MB | $3.5/mo |
| Reservo | Unknown | – | ⊘ Proprietary | – | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| pacebin | Slowing | 0 | AGPL-3.0 | – | 512 MB | $3.5/mo |
The options in detail
1. Thumbor
Smart imaging service and enables on-demand cropping, resizing, applying filters and optimizing images.
Active Last commit 2026-11-08. 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.
Active Last commit 2026-11-08. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release v4.8.3 (2026-11-08). 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.
Active Last commit 2026-11-08. 7 releases in the past year. 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.
Active Last commit 2026-10-22. 3 releases in the past year. 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.
Active Last commit 2026-11-10. Latest release v2.8.1 (2026-11-09). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
7. Plik
Scalable and friendly temporary file upload system.
Active Last commit 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.
Active Last commit 2026-11-06. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release v1.14.6 (2026-11-06). 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.
Active Last commit 2026-11-07. Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
10. XBackBone
Simple, fast and lightweight file manager with instant sharing tools integration, like ShareX.
Active Last commit 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.
Active Last commit 2026-11-02. 10+ releases in the past year. 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.
Active Last commit 2026-11-08. Latest release v0.8.1 (2026-11-05). 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.
Active Last commit 2026-11-04. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release 0.16.0 (2026-11-05). 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 commit 2026-01-14. Latest release 4.5.3 (2026-01-14). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
16. Flare
Nonbloated, modern, and highly configurable file/screenshot vault server with support for ShareX, Flameshot, and Spectacle. Offers OCR search and more.
Active Last commit 2026-11-10. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release rolling (2025-07-06). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
18. This week in past
Aggregates images taken this week, from previous years and presents them on a web page with a simple slideshow.
Active Last commit 2026-11-10. Latest release 4.1.2 (2026-11-10). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
19. elixire
Simple yet advanced screenshot uploading and link shortening service.
Active Last commit 2026-11-12. Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
20. Jirafeau
One-click-fileshare project. Select your file, upload, and share a link. That's it.
Maintained Last commit 2026-06-27. 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.
Maintained Last commit 2026-07-18. Needs roughly 512 MB RAM. How to run it →
22. Reservo
Scalable image hosting script with support for CDNs, paid account upgrades, advertising spots and drag & drop upload.
Unknown Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
23. pacebin
Super-minimal pastebin and file upload service focusing on small executable size, portability, and ease of configuration.
Slowing Last commit 2025-09-06. Needs roughly 512 MB 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 Active (a commit in the last 90 days) and with Docker support for the easiest ride.
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