Yeah I have an immich instance myself, and do plan on relying more on that as I max out my Google drive size.
The bigger issue I gave with that is remote backup still imposes a cost, and like you said you gotta know what you're doing to safely expose that to the Internet.
That is true. I only use mine locally, so it's not a problem. Although you can remote access via Tailscale for safety. It's quicker and easier than trying to set up remote proxies etc, about which I know nothing. Tailscale took 5 mins.
You don’t have to pay Google a penny. I bought a quite cheap (50-60$) used but working Pixel 1 XL specifically for unlimited lifetime full-quality Google Photos upload.
Google photo sucks
What do you prefer using?
Immich is on a par with Google Photos, imo. It's self hosted though, so not for everyone.
Yeah I have an immich instance myself, and do plan on relying more on that as I max out my Google drive size.
The bigger issue I gave with that is remote backup still imposes a cost, and like you said you gotta know what you're doing to safely expose that to the Internet.
That is true. I only use mine locally, so it's not a problem. Although you can remote access via Tailscale for safety. It's quicker and easier than trying to set up remote proxies etc, about which I know nothing. Tailscale took 5 mins.
I personally love it. Being able to search "Tom at the beach drinking a cocktail" and get all the relevant pictures is magic.
Does it? It's a fantastic service that works really well, whether it's worth the price or privacy is a slightly different conversation
You don’t have to pay Google a penny. I bought a quite cheap (50-60$) used but working Pixel 1 XL specifically for unlimited lifetime full-quality Google Photos upload.