Immich
Pulumi
| Feature | Immich | Pulumi |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $0/mo | Free / from $50/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.7 / 5 | 4.4 / 5 |
| Best For | self-hosters, families, privacy-focused-users, photographers | developers, platform-engineers, polyglot-teams, cloud-architects |
| Founded | 2022 | 2017 |
| Photo Backup | ✓ | ✗ |
| Facial Recognition | ✓ | ✗ |
| Smart Search | ✓ | ✗ |
| Shared Albums | ✓ | ✗ |
| Memories | ✓ | ✗ |
| Map View | ✓ | ✗ |
| Mobile Apps | ✓ | ✗ |
| Programming Languages | ✗ | ✓ |
| Multi Cloud | ✗ | ✓ |
| State Management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Policy As Code | ✗ | ✓ |
| Secrets Management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Pulumi Ai | ✗ | ✓ |
| Drift Detection | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Immich Pros
- Full Google Photos replacement (self-hosted)
- AI face recognition and smart search
- Mobile apps with automatic background backup
- Shared albums and partner sharing
✗ Immich Cons
- Self-hosting only (no managed cloud option)
- Resource-intensive (especially ML features)
- Still in active development (breaking changes possible)
✓ Pulumi Pros
- Use real programming languages instead of DSLs
- Strong typing and IDE support for infrastructure code
- Multi-cloud support with consistent API
- Pulumi AI generates infrastructure code from prompts
✗ Pulumi Cons
- Smaller community than Terraform
- State management requires Pulumi Cloud or self-hosting
- Less third-party provider coverage than Terraform
The Verdict
Immich is built for self hosters and families, with a focus on photo-backup and facial-recognition. Pulumi targets developers and platform engineers and leads with programming-languages and multi-cloud.
On pricing, Immich is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $0/mo compared to $50/mo for Pulumi. That $50/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Bottom line: Immich has a slight overall edge — but if use real programming languages instead of dsls matters most to you, Pulumi may still be the right call.