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+--- Thread: Synology Photos Alternative (/showthread.php?tid=12151)
Synology Photos Alternative - Enquiries - 07-08-2025
Heyo,
Love the videos and all your on NAS info.
I've been using a DS918+ since launch, it's been great with one of my major uses being Synology Photos.
MAIN Q:
Do you have any insight on comparable NAS OSs in regards to photo management?
The latest Ubiquiti NAS was interesting, but lacks such program.
I only ask as I'm looking to upgrade to a rackmount system and debating sticking with Synology or not.
Thanks for all you do!
- Dan
RE: Synology Photos Alternative - ed - 07-11-2025
That’s a great question, and it’s one of the big factors that keeps a lot of people in the Synology ecosystem: Synology Photos really doesn’t have a perfect like-for-like alternative on other NAS OS platforms.
On QNAP, you have QuMagie, which is their AI-assisted photo management app. It does face detection, timeline view, albums, tags, and sharing — but in my experience, it’s not quite as polished or reliable as Synology Photos, and it can be a little buggy with large libraries. Still usable, but just know it feels like a step behind DSM in this area.
On TrueNAS or Unraid, there’s no built-in photo management. You’d need to install something yourself, like PhotoPrism or Immich, which are excellent open-source projects and in some ways more powerful than Synology Photos. They run in a Docker container or VM, and they offer AI tagging, face recognition, and great web and mobile interfaces — but it does mean more setup and maintenance compared to the all-in-one experience Synology provides.
The new Ubiquiti UNAS line, as you noted, is focused more on file storage and backup — no dedicated photo solution yet.
So if seamless, integrated photo management with as little fuss as possible is a priority, sticking with Synology is still the best bet right now. If you’re willing to roll up your sleeves a bit, a rackmount system running TrueNAS or Unraid with PhotoPrism/Immich is a very capable (and arguably more powerful) alternative.