Raspberry Pi 5 Runs 50TB Immich Backup, Replacing Google Photos' 15GB Free Tier
Updated
Updated · How-To Geek · Jul 21
Raspberry Pi 5 Runs 50TB Immich Backup, Replacing Google Photos' 15GB Free Tier
3 articles · Updated · How-To Geek · Jul 21
Summary
$600 in drives and SSDs gave one user a self-hosted Immich setup with 50TB of photo storage, replacing Google Photos and avoiding recurring cloud fees.
Immich runs on a Raspberry Pi 4 or Pi 5 as Docker containers for the server, database, Redis and machine-learning features, delivering automatic phone backups, facial recognition and smart search on local hardware.
An 8GB Pi is recommended, with photos stored on external SSDs or HDDs rather than the microSD card; Pi 5 support for M.2 storage can improve performance, while AI tasks still run slower than on larger systems.
The trade-off is maintenance: users must manage failures, power-loss drive remount issues and remote syncing, sometimes using tools like Tailscale for HTTPS access away from home.
The setup is pitched as a privacy-focused alternative to subscriptions after Google’s 15GB free cap across Gmail, Drive and Photos, but it still needs separate 3-2-1 backups because local storage can fail.