Immich is a self-hosted photo library that stores and organises your entire photo collection on a NAS or home server, with no monthly fees, no third-party access to your images, and no storage caps. Google Photos is a cloud service that does the same job with better AI search and zero hardware required, but charges for storage beyond 15 GB and holds all of your family's photos on Google's servers. The right choice depends on how much you value privacy, what you're willing to spend on hardware, and whether your NBN connection can handle the upload load.
In short: Choose Google Photos if you want a polished, zero-effort experience and are comfortable paying $3.49-$34.99/month (AUD) for storage. Choose Immich on a NAS if you want full control, no recurring fees, and can invest $500-$1,000 upfront in hardware. Whether Immich's sync speeds are workable for ongoing backups depends on the connection used by each phone, the size of the backup workload, and how remote access is configured.
Google Photos
Google Photos is the default photo management choice for Android users and widely used on iPhone. Every Google account includes 15 GB free, shared across Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos. When that fills, you move to Google One at $3.49/month for 100 GB or $34.99/month for 2 TB (prices as of early 2026 in AUD).
The standout feature is search. Google Photos can find photos by subject, location, face, or natural-language query with accuracy that no self-hosted alternative currently matches at the same level of ease. The mobile app backs up photos automatically in the background. Sharing albums with family is frictionless. Video processing and motion photos work well. For most households, it simply works without any configuration.
Google analyzes backed-up photos to provide Photos features, but says Photos content is not used for advertising and personal Photos data is not used to train generative AI models outside Google Photos. Photos of your children, your home, your daily movements, and your family's milestones sit on Google's servers under Google's terms of service. This is fine for most people and a dealbreaker for others.
Australian-specific consideration: Google Photos upload speed is constrained by your NBN upload. On a standard NBN 50 plan with 20 Mbps upload, backing up a library of 50,000 photos (roughly 200 GB) takes around 22 hours of continuous upload. Once the initial sync is done, ongoing backup is fast because only new photos are uploaded.
| Storage (free) | 15 GB (shared with Gmail and Drive) |
|---|---|
| Storage pricing (AUD) | $2.99/month for 100 GB, $4.49/month for 200 GB, and $14.99/month for 2 TB |
| Platform | Cloud (Google servers) |
| AI search | Excellent: face, subject, location, natural language |
| Mobile backup | Automatic (Android and iOS) |
| Family sharing | Google One family plans up to 6 members |
| Video quality | Original quality stored (within plan limits) |
| Offline access | Limited. Requires download or cached copies. |
| Privacy | Google holds and processes all photos |
| Hardware required | Not required |
| Setup effort | Minimal: install app, sign in |
Pros
- No hardware required, works immediately
- Best-in-class AI search and face recognition
- Seamless mobile backup on Android and iOS
- Easy family sharing and collaborative albums
- Access from any device, anywhere
- Automatic duplicate detection and memory highlights
Cons
- Recurring cost: $3.49-$34.99/month once you exceed 15 GB free
- All photos stored on Google servers, no privacy guarantee
- Subject to Google's terms of service, which can change
- Upload speed capped by NBN upload (20-50 Mbps typical)
- Account suspension can restrict access. If payment lapses, Google provides a grace period and then stops new backups while the account is over quota; content may be deleted after two years over quota.
- No option to self-host or migrate easily to another service
Immich
Immich is an open-source, self-hosted photo and video backup application that runs on a NAS or home server. It is designed to look and feel like Google Photos: automatic backup from your phone, face recognition, subject search, albums, and a map view of where photos were taken. Everything runs on your own hardware. No subscription. No third-party access to your photos.
The project has matured rapidly since 2022. As of early 2026, Immich supports mobile backup on iOS and Android, face clustering, machine learning-based search, shared libraries between family members, and external library integration. It is a serious alternative to Google Photos for technically-capable households, not a rough proof-of-concept.
The setup requirement is real. Immich runs as a Docker container stack. On Synology, you install it through Container Manager. On QNAP, through Container Station. The installation time varies with your NAS platform, network, storage, firewall, and remote-access configuration and requires comfort with Docker configuration, port mapping, and reverse proxy or Tailscale for remote access. Once running, day-to-day use is straightforward.
The hardware requirement is the key decision point. You need a NAS or home server with enough CPU and RAM to run Docker containers and handle AI indexing. The minimum practical spec is a NAS with 4 GB RAM and an Intel or AMD x86 CPU. ARM-based NAS units (common in the entry-level Synology and QNAP range) can run Immich but AI indexing will be significantly slower. The DS425+ ships with 2 GB RAM and must be expanded to its 6 GB maximum to meet Immich's current minimum; it cannot reach Immich's 8 GB recommended RAM level.
Remote access is where the NBN CGNAT issue matters. Many Australian ISPs place residential NBN connections behind Carrier-Grade NAT (CGNAT), which means you cannot simply open a port on your router to reach Immich from outside your home. The practical solution most NTKIT readers use is Tailscale: a free, peer-to-peer VPN that creates a private network between your devices and your NAS without needing a public IP or open ports. Check your ISP before assuming direct remote access is possible.
CGNAT and remote access: CGNAT use varies by provider. Check your WAN address and ISP policy before planning port forwarding; Tailscale or a tunnel can provide remote access where CGNAT is present. This is not a problem unique to Immich, but it affects any self-hosted service.
| Storage cost | No subscription: you pay for hardware and drives only |
|---|---|
| Platform | Self-hosted (NAS or home server via Docker) |
| AI search | Good and improving: face clustering, CLIP-based semantic search |
| Mobile backup | Automatic (iOS and Android apps) |
| Family sharing | Shared libraries between accounts on the same server |
| Video quality | Original quality always, no compression |
| Offline access | Full access on home network; remote access via Tailscale or tunnel |
| Privacy | Complete: photos never leave your hardware |
| Hardware required | a server with Docker Compose, at least 6 GB RAM and two CPU cores; 8 GB RAM and four cores are recommended. Immich supports amd64 and arm64. |
| Setup effort | Moderate: Docker setup, 30-60 min initial configuration |
| Minimum practical NAS (AU) | Synology DS425+ from $848 (Mwave, Scorptec) |
Pros
- No subscription fees: hardware and drives are a one-time cost
- Complete privacy: photos never leave your home network
- No storage caps: add drives as your library grows
- Original quality video and photos always preserved
- Runs on existing NAS hardware you may already own
- Active open-source development, improving rapidly
Cons
- Requires NAS hardware: $500-$1,500+ upfront depending on model and drives
- Setup requires Docker knowledge, not for non-technical users
- AI search quality lags behind Google Photos, especially for natural language
- Remote access requires Tailscale or tunnelling due to NBN CGNAT
- Backups rely on your NAS being online and drives being healthy
- Immich includes a Memories feature for resurfacing photos and videos from the same day in past years.
Side-by-Side Comparison
Immich vs Google Photos: Feature Comparison
| Google Photos | Immich on NAS | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | $3.49-$34.99/month (after 15 GB free) | No required Immich subscription; hardware, electricity, offsite backup and eventual drive-replacement costs remain. |
| 5-year total cost (family, 200 GB) | ~$630 AUD ($10.49/month x 60) | ~$800-$1,200 upfront (NAS + drives), then $0 |
| Privacy | Google holds and processes your photos | Completely private: stays on your hardware |
| AI search quality | Excellent, best available | Good, CLIP semantic search, improving rapidly |
| Face recognition | Excellent, high accuracy | Good: clusters faces, improving accuracy |
| Mobile backup | Automatic, background, iOS and Android | Automatic via Immich app, iOS and Android |
| Remote access | Always-on, from any device | Requires Tailscale or tunnel (CGNAT issue on AU NBN) |
| Storage limit | Plan-dependent, up to 30 TB via Google One | Unlimited: limited only by your drives |
| Video quality | Original quality stored (within plan) | Always original quality, no compression |
| Family sharing | Google One family plan (up to 6) | Shared libraries between accounts on same server |
| Setup effort | None: install app, sign in | 30-60 min Docker setup, CGNAT workaround needed |
| Hardware required | Not required | NAS with 4+ GB RAM, x86 CPU recommended, HDD/SSD storage |
| Data portability | Google Takeout export (manual) | Direct access to original files; Immich-specific metadata may require database backup, sidecars or a migration tool for full portability. |
| Offline access | Limited: needs download or cache | Full access on home network at all times |
Cost Comparison Over Time
The cost comparison shifts depending on your family's total library size and how long you plan to run either solution. Google Photos charges by storage consumed. Immich has a fixed hardware cost up front and then runs on electricity.
How quickly a family fills the 15 GB Google free tier depends on its existing library and how much new photo and video content it adds. Moving to the 100 GB plan at $3.49/month costs $41.88/year. A family with a 200 GB photo library generally needs a plan providing more than 200 GB of total available storage, because the quota is shared with Gmail and Google Drive. A family shooting 4K video or with a large legacy library may hit the 2 TB tier at $34.99/month, which is $419.88/year.
As checked at Scorptec on 18 August 2026, a DS425+ was $849 and two 4 TB IronWolf drives were $349 each, totalling about $1,547 before the required RAM upgrade. Electricity costs roughly $25-40/year for a NAS running 24/7 at typical AU power rates. No subscription cost after that, ever.
At current monthly Google One prices of $4.49 for 200 GB and $14.99 for 2 TB, the article’s $1,547 NAS-and-drive example has no practical payback against the 200 GB plan: after the article’s estimated $25-$40 annual electricity cost, simple payback is about 54-111 years. Against the 2 TB plan, simple payback is about 10-11 years. The required RAM upgrade, offsite backup and future replacement drives would extend both periods further. The economics clearly favour Immich for large families with big libraries and a long time horizon. For a family spending $3.49/month, the payback period stretches to 20+ years, at which point Google Photos is the simpler financial choice.
NBN Upload Speed Reality
Both services are constrained by your NBN upload speed, but in opposite ways. Google Photos requires uploading your entire library to Google's servers. Immich stores photos locally and only requires upload when you access your NAS remotely.
On a standard NBN 50 plan with a 20 Mbps upload, the initial Google Photos sync of a 100 GB library takes around 11 hours of continuous upload. For a 500 GB library, that stretches to 55 hours, spread across several days of background sync. Once synced, ongoing daily uploads are small.
For Immich, photos taken on your phone sync to your home NAS when you're on your home Wi-Fi, which is fast. Remote access via Tailscale uses NBN upload only for the data you're actively viewing, not for initial library sync. This is a real advantage for households with large video libraries: a 4K family video never needs to be uploaded to a cloud service. It sits on your NAS and you access it locally or via a direct Tailscale connection.
NBN upload variability is a practical consideration for Google Photos users. Upload performance varies by plan and access technology; ACCC testing found negligible busy-evening variation for fixed-line NBN uploads, while fixed-wireless uploads were more variable. On eligible FTTP and HFC connections, current NBN wholesale tiers include Home Fast at 500/50 Mbps, Home Superfast at 750/50 Mbps and Home Ultrafast at approximately 1000/100 Mbps. On a base NBN 12/1 connection, Google Photos backup of any meaningful library size becomes impractical. Immich is largely immune to this constraint for the initial library setup because everything lives on local storage.
Which NAS Hardware Works for Immich in Australia
Immich runs as a Docker container stack. The hardware requirements are more demanding than basic NAS file storage: you need enough CPU and RAM to run the machine learning models that power face recognition and semantic search. ARM-based processors can run Immich, but AI indexing performance varies widely by processor, library contents, Immich version, machine-learning model and configuration.
The recommended minimum for a family running Immich with AI features enabled is a NAS with an Intel or AMD x86 processor and at least 4 GB of RAM. Models worth considering from Australian retailers as of early 2026:
- Synology DS425+, 4-bay, Intel Celeron J4125, 2 GB RAM expandable to 6 GB, from $848 at Mwave and Scorptec. The most popular choice for Immich in the Synology ecosystem. The DS225+ (2-bay from~$638) is viable for smaller libraries.
- Synology DS925+, 4-bay, AMD Ryzen V1500B, 4 GB ECC RAM expandable to 32 GB., from $980 at Mwave and Scorptec. More headroom for large libraries and concurrent family access.
- QNAP TS-464, 4-bay, Intel Celeron N5095, 8 GB RAM., from $989 at Scorptec and PLE Computers. Good balance of price and performance for Immich. QNAP's Container Station makes Docker management straightforward.
- QNAP TS-264, 2-bay, Intel Celeron N5095, 8 GB RAM, from~$999 at Scorptec. Solid 2-bay option for families with smaller libraries.
For drives, a mirrored RAID 1 configuration with two NAS-class drives is the minimum for a family photo server. Seagate IronWolf 4 TB drives are available from Mwave and Scorptec. Factor the drive cost into your hardware budget alongside the NAS enclosure.
Already have a NAS? If you have a Synology or QNAP NAS with Container Manager or Container Station installed and at least 4 GB RAM, you can run Immich on your existing hardware. The Immich project provides step-by-step Docker Compose instructions. You don't need to buy new hardware to try it.
Privacy and Data Ownership
The privacy difference between Immich and Google Photos is absolute. With Immich, photos never leave your home network unless you explicitly set up remote access. With Google Photos, all photos are uploaded to and stored on Google's servers, processed by Google's AI systems, and subject to Google's terms of service and privacy policy.
For most families this is an acceptable trade-off. Google's terms are standard for a large cloud provider and the service is genuinely useful. The risk that concerns privacy-conscious users is not Google selling your individual photos but the broader implications: your family's location history, daily routines, children's faces, and personal moments are all part of Google's data estate. You are dependent on Google not changing its terms, not being breached, and not discontinuing the service.
Google has a mixed track record on service continuity. Google Reader, Google+, Inbox by Gmail, and dozens of other products have been discontinued. Google Photos is a core product with hundreds of millions of users, so discontinuation is unlikely. But the precedent exists.
With Immich, you own the data outright. If you stop maintaining the server, you still have all your photos on the drives. If the project is abandoned (open-source risk), you still have your files. The trade-off is that you are now responsible for backups: if your NAS drives fail without a backup, photos are gone. The 3-2-1 backup rule applies: three copies, two different media types, one offsite. A NAS running Immich is one copy, not three.
Which Option Suits Each Family
There is no single right answer. The right choice depends on your family's priorities, technical comfort level, and budget profile.
Google Photos suits families who:
- Want a polished, zero-effort experience that just works on everyone's phone
- Spend less than $10-12/month on storage (the payback period for Immich hardware extends beyond 8-10 years at this cost level)
- Have limited NBN upload but are comfortable with background sync over multiple days
- Are not concerned about Google processing their photos
- Don't want to manage hardware, software updates, or Docker configuration
Immich on NAS suits families who:
- Value privacy and want complete control over where family photos are stored
- Have a large library that would cost $15-35/month on Google One
- Already own a compatible NAS or are planning to buy one for other purposes (file sharing, Plex, backups)
- Have a technically-capable family member willing to handle the initial Docker setup and ongoing maintenance
- Want original-quality video storage without compression or upload constraints
- Understand the responsibility of self-hosting: they need to manage drive health and offsite backups themselves
The hybrid approach: Some families may choose to run both. Immich as the primary high-resolution archive on a NAS, with Google Photos running in compressed mode on phones as a fast, searchable, always-available mobile copy. This gives the best of both worlds for families who can absorb the complexity: full-resolution, private archival storage at home plus the convenience of Google's AI search in your pocket. Storage Saver uses less space than Original quality, but uploads made after 1 June 2021 still count toward the shared 15 GB quota, so remaining within the free tier is not assured.
Australian Families: What You Need to Know
Australian families considering Immich should factor in a few local realities that generic guides tend to miss.
CGNAT is the biggest surprise. Most Australian residential NBN connections are behind Carrier-Grade NAT, which means you cannot simply open a port on your router and access Immich from your phone while away from home. The standard workaround is Tailscale, a free peer-to-peer VPN that works behind CGNAT without requiring a static IP. Telstra, Optus, TPG, Aussie Broadband, and most other NBN providers use CGNAT on standard residential plans. Check before you plan your remote access setup.
NBN upload speeds vary significantly. Standard NBN 50 plans offer 20 Mbps upload. NBN 100 plans offer 20 Mbps upload on most providers (the speed tier name refers to download). NBN 250 and above plans begin to offer 25-100 Mbps upload. If you plan to run Immich as your only copy and rely on Tailscale remote access, this matters less than if you're also syncing to Google Photos or a cloud backup service.
NAS hardware is available through specialist AU retailers. Synology, QNAP, and Asustor NAS units are all readily available through Scorptec, PLE Computers, Mwave, and Umart. Pricing is consistent across the major retailers with modest variation. If you're buying a NAS specifically for Immich, buy from a specialist like Scorptec or PLE where pre-sales staff can advise on compatibility, rather than Amazon AU where you'll get lower pre-sales support if questions arise.
Australian Consumer Law applies to all NAS hardware purchased from Australian retailers. Consumer NAS warranty periods vary by model, commonly between two and three years; check the specific product's warranty terms. Under Australian Consumer Law, the retailer is responsible for resolving consumer-guarantee claims and cannot require you to deal only with the manufacturer; a separate manufacturer-warranty claim may also be available. If a NAS fails to meet an Australian Consumer Law guarantee, the available remedy depends on the circumstances: consumers can choose a refund or replacement for a major failure, while a minor failure generally must be repaired within a reasonable time. Allow a reasonable time for a warranty claim to be assessed and resolved; the timeframe will depend on the circumstances. A NAS running Immich as your primary photo archive should have an offsite backup strategy that can cover this period without data loss risk.
Related reading: our NAS buyer's guide.
Use our free Cloud vs NAS Cost Calculator to compare cloud storage against owning a NAS.
Once you have chosen your NAS, get a second opinion on the full build. Drives, RAID type, network setup, and backup strategy. Before committing. $149 AUD, delivered within 3 business days.
Related reading: our Synology vs QNAP comparison and our NAS explainer.
See also: our complete Synology NAS Australia guide.
See also: our complete QNAP NAS Australia guide.
See also: our full Photo and Video Storage guide.
Can I run Immich on a Synology NAS?
Yes. Immich runs on Synology NAS units that support Container Manager (Docker). This includes most x86-based Synology models, including the DS425+, DS925+, DS1525+, and others. The Synology DS225+ is workable for smaller libraries. The DS223j's fixed 1 GB RAM does not meet Immich's current 6 GB minimum and should not be presented as a supported practical Immich host. Install Container Manager from the Synology Package Center, then follow the Immich Docker Compose installation guide on the Immich project website.
Does Immich work on Australian NBN connections behind CGNAT?
Yes, with the right remote access setup. Most Australian residential NBN plans use Carrier-Grade NAT (CGNAT), which blocks standard port forwarding. The recommended solution is Tailscale, a free peer-to-peer VPN service that works behind CGNAT. Install the Tailscale app on your NAS and your phone, and you can access Immich remotely without a static IP or open ports. Cloudflare Tunnels are an alternative for public-facing access. On your home network, Immich access is unaffected by CGNAT.
How does Immich compare to Google Photos for AI search and face recognition?
Google Photos has significantly better AI search, particularly for complex natural-language queries and large libraries at scale. Immich uses CLIP-based semantic search and has face clustering that works well for most family libraries, but the accuracy and speed of results lag behind Google Photos as of early 2026. Immich is improving rapidly with each release. For basic face grouping and subject search, Immich can be a practical alternative, but its performance varies with hardware, model selection, database configuration and library size; Google Photos remains ahead for deeper AI search at scale.
What happens to my Immich photos if my NAS fails?
If your NAS fails, your Immich photos are at risk unless you have a separate backup. A NAS running Immich is one copy of your data. You need at least one additional copy offsite or in cloud storage (Backblaze B2, cloud sync, or a second NAS at a different location). The 3-2-1 rule applies: three copies, two different storage types, one offsite. RAID on your NAS protects against drive failure but does not protect against NAS hardware failure, theft, fire, or flood. Do not run Immich as your only copy of family photos.
Is Immich free?
Immich itself is free and open-source. There are no subscription fees for the software. The cost of running Immich is the NAS hardware, drives, and electricity. A basic Synology DS425+ setup with two 4 TB drives costs around $1,150 upfront from Australian retailers and roughly $25-40/year in electricity. Optional extras like cloud backup storage (for the offsite copy of your Immich library) have their own costs. There is no Immich subscription or per-user fee.
Can I migrate from Google Photos to Immich?
Yes. Use Google Takeout to export your entire Google Photos library as a ZIP archive. The export includes your photos in original quality along with JSON metadata files containing dates, locations, and album information. Google Takeout archives can be migrated with the separately maintained immich-go community tool, which reads Takeout JSON metadata and maps supported dates, locations and albums into Immich. The migration process for a large library takes time but is well-supported. Once migrated, you can disable Google Photos backup on your phone and switch to the Immich mobile app.
If you're planning a NAS for Immich, the NTKIT NAS Sizing Wizard can help you choose the right capacity and hardware configuration for your family's photo library size.