Every Android user is started on a free Google account by default, because you need one to set your device up. It's all fun when you discover the power of the Google Workspace tools, but start snapping photos with your smartphone camera, and the Drive storage shared with those tools, photos, and now, WhatsApp backups, runs out quickly. My Google account got 15GB of free-tier storage, but the first paid tier bumps you directly to 2TB. That's a huge increment considering all the other features you see in other Google services, and I happily signed up for the paid tier to back my photos up and enjoy the convenience.

In due course, I realized the subscription isn't justifiable just for cloud backup of my photos and videos, especially when I share the cloud storage with family members and end up running out, forced to pay for even more storage. I switched to a NAS and finally started self-hosting my image backups when I realized the recurring subscription cost paid upfront buys me a lot more than storage. It gives me privacy, complete control, and the comfort of offloading a lot more media cluttering up my PC. I picked Immich as my Google Photos replacement and am happier for it.

Cloud storage is a money pit

With very little freedom and control for the afforded convenience

Google's cloud storage makes a very compelling case for upgrading to a paid tier. If you're an individual, 15GB runs out in the blink of an eye, shared between Workspace autosaves, Drive file storage, Gmail, and Photos backups. Late in 2023, messaging giant WhatsApp also announced that its backups will now eat into the same 15GB. With WhatsApp media backed up to the same storage, I could exploit the system and create multiple Google accounts to up my storage limits and speedrun my way to a ban, or pay for additional storage. Switching cloud providers would add more friction to the auto-backup process and deprive me of cool new Google Photos editing options added routinely, I thought.

At the time, an upgrade to paid-tier storage for Google Drive made a lot of sense, especially since a local carrier offered a free upgrade to the $14/month Standard tier for 18 months, saving me $252. At the time of writing this article, Google's Starter plan costs $7 per month billed annually, and offers 30GB of storage, which is an inclusive limit. Effectively, you're getting just 15GB more than the free plan. The most expensive plan for individuals costs $22 a month billed annually, for 5TB of cloud storage, among other benefits, including liberal Pro model limits on the current hot favorite AI tool, Gemini. Lastly, your account is frozen and all cloud activities suspended if you stop paying for this storage or hit the allocated limit.

While I cannot negate the other bundled features and treat a Google Cloud subscription as something exclusively for photos, my concerns go well beyond space constraints. All these tools the tech titan offers still collect copious amounts of user data to stay viable, even from paying subscribers. These frustrations built up to a point where the upfront price of a simple NAS dwarfs the recurring subscription fee.

Switching to Immich

A solution that outshines Photos, and then some

Keeping in line with the 3-2-1 backup principles we harp on here at XDA, I didn't get a NAS solely for backing up my photos. It unlocked a world of self hosting and containerized services that put me back in charge of my data. After a long debate with friends and colleagues, and a brief stint using Synology Photos, I switched over to Immich. It's a relatively new image management service that's quickly gaining popularity.

I started out seeking a drop-in replacement for Photos, only to realize that'd be hard to find. Immich gets close enough, with a mobile-first user experience that reduces the friction of backing files up, which I alluded to earlier. Almost all the features I loved in Photos are here, including object detection and facial recognition. That's really important to me since I snap a lot of portraits at events. It's worth mentioning that the search function on Immich blows Google Photos out of the water. I was able to find specific photos easily with the granular search filters like the camera type, OCR info, and image content.

I'm taking all my data off Google's servers, and was pleasantly surprised by the speed and responsiveness of this self-hosted service. All despite the size of my library, it was indexing in the background. Moreover, I was worried I'd lose out on the editing features the Photos app enables when you back up the file to Google Cloud. I could edit files on my phone and then back them up to the Immich instance, or even within the self-hosted solution. The integrated tools help with simple edits like cropping, rotation, and mirroring. Moreover, the EXIF data interpretation is so good it can take the assets with lat-long specified and reverse geocode my photo to determine where it was taken and update the database.

Self-hosting leaves you free to choose

The last and most important feature I appreciate about Immich is how it easily retains my file segregation structure in the folder view. Immich isn't without its problems, though. It supports a wide array of file formats for most of the cameras I have, but Sony and Canon RAW formats aren't supported, and sharing is time-consuming. There's also an omnipresent fear that developers may lose interest in maintaining Immich since it is a community-led project, and a relatively new one at that, entering a crowded market.

However, once you cross over from the paying subscriber to a FOSS self-hosting connoisseur, you're free to choose from a plethora of image management tools, each besting Google Photos in its own unique ways. For my needs, Immich fit the bill perfectly. I just need to remember that my freedom from Google comes with the added responsibility of keeping abreast with the latest database updates to the service, now that I'm my own cloud provider.