Comparison
PicPeak vs Piwigo
Piwigo is a mature general-purpose photo manager. PicPeak is built for a single job: delivering photos to clients — with password protection, expiry dates, and your branding.
- modern stack instead of PHP/LAMP
- React
- modern stack instead of PHP/LAMP
- Docker-native deployment
- 1 command
- Docker-native deployment
- built for client delivery, not just albums
- Delivery
- built for client delivery, not just albums
Choose PicPeak if …
- you deliver photos to clients
- you need password-protected galleries with expiry dates
- you want Docker-native one-command deployment
- you want white-label branding with your studio logo
- you need guest uploads for weddings and events
- you need engagement analytics per gallery
Choose Piwigo if …
- you need a personal photo archive with complex organisation
- you need advanced tags, metadata, and albums
- you want a large plugin ecosystem
- you prefer a project with 15+ years of development
- you're comfortable with PHP and LAMP administration
- you manage very large libraries (100k+ photos)
| Feature | PicPeak — modern & Docker-native | Piwigo — classic photo manager |
|---|---|---|
| Main focus | photo delivery to clients | photo management & albums |
| Cost | $0 | $0 |
| Self-hosted | yes | yes |
| License | MIT | GPLv2 |
| UI / technology | React + Tailwind | PHP, classic interface |
| Docker | one-command setup | available but more complex (LAMP) |
| Password protection | built in per gallery | via access-control plugins |
| Expiring galleries | built in, configurable | not available natively |
| White label | colors, logos, fonts | theme-based customisation |
| Guest uploads | yes | via plugins |
| Client proofing | yes — favorites & selections | not designed for it |
| Bulk downloads | one-click ZIP | via plugins |
| Analytics | views, downloads, engagement | basic visitor stats |
| Setup | 5 minutes with Docker | LAMP stack or Docker configuration |
Where the differences come from
Built for client delivery
Piwigo organises archives; PicPeak delivers: password protection, expiring access, and branded galleries are the core, not plugins.
Modern stack
React frontend, Node.js backend, Docker-native — instead of PHP on a LAMP stack. Faster UI, simpler deployment.
Secure by default
Every PicPeak gallery is protected from the moment it's created. Piwigo gets there via plugins.
5-minute setup
docker compose up — done. Piwigo's Docker path often needs extra configuration for PHP, database, and reverse proxy.
Archive or delivery —for the latter, there's PicPeak.
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