How can I activate my membership?
Our members can activate additional features by logging in with the admin user created during setup and then following the steps described in our activation guide. We recommend that new users install our free Community Edition before signing up for a membership.
Do I need a membership if I choose a cloud solution?
PikaPods has partnered with us to offer you an officially supported, cloud-hosted solution. A share of the revenue helps fund the development of PhotoPrism. In exchange, your cloud instance includes member features like premium themes and high-resolution world maps at no additional cost.
Why are some features only available to members?
PhotoPrism is 100% self-funded and independent. Voluntary donations do not cover the cost of a team working full time to provide you with updates, documentation, and support. It is your decision whether you want to sign up to enjoy additional benefits.
Are there alternatives to a recurring subscription?
Yes, our Plus members automatically receive a free Lifetime Essentials membership after 24 months. Likewise, Silver members receive a Lifetime Plus membership after 24 months, Gold members after 12 months, and Platinum members after only 6 months. If you would like to sign up for a Silver, Gold or Platinum membership, you can do so either directly on our website or on Patreon. In addition, we are working on a Plus Feature Pack that includes just the features without support, so we can offer it to you at a lower price.
As a lifetime member, you will always receive updates and support for your personal use from us, unlike with so-called lifetime licenses, which may only be good until the next major version is released.
What happens if I cancel my membership?
If you are eligible for a Lifetime Essentials or Plus membership, you can continue to use these features even if you decide to stop supporting us. Otherwise, you can continue to use all the freely available features. In no case will you lose access to your pictures.
Why isn't the Plus membership more affordable?
Our membership fees make the development of new features and the maintenance of existing ones sustainable, which is in the interest of all users, including those who use our software for free. If everyone paid a small amount, membership would be available at a lower price, but not everyone has the desire or income to support us.
That being said, we plan to make some of the PhotoPrism+ features available to Essentials members at a later time, just as we have already made many features available for free.
Are there any special conditions for members of the free and open source software community?
Maintainers of non-commercial open source projects and others who frequently volunteer in the community are welcome to contact us with a link to their project or organization for free access to many of our paid products and services.
Is there a limit for "personal use"?
We have intentionally not specified a hard limit on the number of instances you can activate as a member, since the scope of "personal use" depends on the context. For example, if you're (a) a family with 10 happy kids, then 12 instances is personal use, (b) a freelance photographer who has additional instances for private pictures and maybe one or two close friends, then that still qualifies as personal use unless your friends directly contact us for technical support, (c) a corporation or government agency, then even one instance doesn't count as personal use, or (d) you share your account in a public forum or chat room, then that's not personal use either.
How can I install PhotoPrism+ without the Docker image?
All the Community Edition features and most of the Essentials features (except additional user roles) are included in our public repository, from which you can build the app from source. In addition, you can install PhotoPrism+ on Linux using the tar.gz archives we provide. We recommend that only advanced users choose one of these installation methods, since they require manual configuration and installation of additional system dependencies to make use of all the features.
If you are a Plus, Silver, Gold or Platinum member and would like to build from source, for example because you are using FreeBSD, please let us know so we can give you access to our private extension repository and provide assistance. As this cannot be automated yet, we are currently unable to offer this service to Essentials members and users who got a free trial.
Why does your Docker image use the Plus License instead of the AGPL?
Our Plus License is used for both the PhotoPrism+ extensions we provide to our members as well as the standard Docker image we distribute. This allows us to bundle the extensions, and other third-party components that we are not allowed to distribute under the AGPL, with the compiled application in the Docker image. The public source code, however, remains under the GNU Affero General Public License (AGPL).
If you don't want additional features, you can alternatively use the "ce" tag instead of "latest" to get a smaller Docker image distributed under the AGPL license. Note that third-party components and digital assets included in this image are still subject to additional terms and conditions.
Do I qualify as a Plus member if the version I am currently using says it is PhotoPrism+?
With the old activation method, it was not possible to distinguish between different membership tiers within the app. We have therefore improved this in our latest version to provide additional features to those who support us the most. Note that the Essentials and Plus membership tiers are not new, and we have of course made sure that no one loses functionality compared to the previous release.
Please see the Patreon or GitHub Sponsors tier description for details regarding your membership, and feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
I can't find a download link to install your software on Windows?
PhotoPrism depends on a number of other open source tools and applications, such as Darktable, RawTherapee, and FFmpeg. While you can install them directly on Windows, it's a lot of work and we don't have the capacity to test the respective Windows versions before each release.
We therefore recommend to use Docker, so you can take advantage of our pre-built and QA-tested Docker image, which includes all the dependencies you need. It is a well-tested standard tool that also lets you run many other self-hosted apps without having to worry about the details or Windows-specific issues. To further simplify the setup for you, we offer a batch script that you can run in the directory where you want to install PhotoPrism:
curl.exe -o install.bat https://dl.photoprism.app/docker/windows/install.bat
install.batThis will automatically download all required config files and start the server for you. Before you run the script, make sure you have Docker Desktop installed on your PC. Should you require further assistance, we will be happy to help.
Why can't I buy and download a single version?
Unlike traditional offline apps such as Microsoft Office or single-player games, software exposed to the Internet must be updated regularly to stay secure and compatible with the latest standards. Keep in mind that providing this software also involves answering support questions and reviewing bug reports, which is ongoing work.
When will new features be released?
Our Project Roadmap shows what tasks are in progress and which features are likely to be implemented next. You are invited to give ideas you like a thumbs-up, so we know what's most popular.
Be aware that we have a zero-bug policy and do our best to help users when they need support or have other questions. This comes at a price, as we can't give exact release dates for new features. Our team receives many more requests than can be implemented, so we want to emphasize that we are in no way obligated to implement the features, enhancements, or other changes you request. We do, however, appreciate your feedback and carefully consider all requests.
Since sustained funding is key to quickly releasing new features, we encourage all users to support our mission by signing up as a member or purchasing a commercial license. Ultimately, that's what's best for the product and the community.
Why don't you communicate your practices and policies more prominently, for example in a blog?
We aim to be as transparent as possible, but need to spend a lot of time on product development. When specific questions come up in our community, we do our best to answer them as soon as possible and also add them to this FAQ for future reference.
