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Comparison · Collab

AFFiNE vs Immich

A side-by-side editorial comparison of AFFiNE and Immich — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

Shared themes:self-hosted

AFFiNE vs Immich: at a glance

FeatureAFFiNEImmich
SectorCollabCollab
Velocity score5.06.3
Sparks · 30d01
Top themesknowledge-management, ios-client, self-hosted, collaborationself-hosted, photo-management, ai-search, face-recognition
Last editorial update1d ago8d ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is AFFiNE?

AFFiNE ships stable iOS Share Extension imports while patching editor correctness and selfhost deployment

AFFiNE is releasing daily canary builds that advance the iOS client (Share Extension now stable, share-to-support in prior weeks) alongside editor reliability fixes — heading preservation in readonly mode and priority queue correctness in the block editor. Selfhost deployment is also receiving correctness fixes, indicating the self-hosted user base is growing.

Read the full AFFiNE trajectory →

What is Immich?

Immich's v3.2 RC ships a new search UI and face clustering, advancing self-hosted photo discovery.

Immich is in active release cadence: v3.0 landed workflows, plugins, mobile editing, HLS streaming, and OCR; v3.2 is now in its third RC with a new search UI, face cluster groups, and a rebuilt search API. The RC turnaround pace suggests the team is in cleanup mode ahead of a stable release. It's a self-hosted Google Photos alternative with a large community of contributors across server, mobile, and web.

Read the full Immich trajectory →

AFFiNE vs Immich: editorial side-by-side

A
AFFiNE
COLLAB
5.0

AFFiNE ships stable iOS Share Extension imports while patching editor correctness and selfhost deployment

◆ Current state

AFFiNE is releasing daily canary builds that advance the iOS client (Share Extension now stable, share-to-support in prior weeks) alongside editor reliability fixes — heading preservation in readonly mode and priority queue correctness in the block editor. Selfhost deployment is also receiving correctness fixes, indicating the self-hosted user base is growing.

◆ Where it's heading

The consistent mobile investment suggests AFFiNE is treating iOS as a primary platform, not a secondary one. The canary cadence will harden into stable releases as mobile features reach parity; the selfhost fixes indicate a parallel push toward enterprise self-deployment alongside the consumer cloud offering.

◆ Prediction

The next stable release will consolidate iOS Share Extension improvements; given the concurrent account-switching work, a meaningful update to multi-account or team collaboration workflows seems likely.

I
Immich
COLLAB
6.3

Immich's v3.2 RC ships a new search UI and face clustering, advancing self-hosted photo discovery.

◆ Current state

Immich is in active release cadence: v3.0 landed workflows, plugins, mobile editing, HLS streaming, and OCR; v3.2 is now in its third RC with a new search UI, face cluster groups, and a rebuilt search API. The RC turnaround pace suggests the team is in cleanup mode ahead of a stable release. It's a self-hosted Google Photos alternative with a large community of contributors across server, mobile, and web.

◆ Where it's heading

The product is moving from Google Photos parity toward differentiation through extensibility and AI-assisted organization. Workflows and plugins opened the automation surface in v3.0; the new search UI and cluster groups in v3.2 close the discovery gap. That combination — automation plus better semantic search — is the basis for a self-hosted photo library that replaces cloud products in daily use rather than just archiving them.

◆ Prediction

v3.2 stable will ship within days given the current RC pace. After that, expect the workflow engine to get additional triggers and actions, and possibly AI-assisted album creation tied to the new cluster groups and search API.

Alternatives to AFFiNE and Immich

Other Collab products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either AFFiNE or Immich.

See all AFFiNE alternatives → · See all Immich alternatives →

Recent activity from AFFiNE and Immich

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 1d agoAFFiNEAFFiNE iOS Share Extension moves to stable
  2. 3d agoAFFiNE2026.9.13-canary.928
  3. 6d agoAFFiNE2026.9.10-canary.909
  4. 7d agoAFFiNE2026.9.9-canary.909
  5. 8d agoAFFiNE2026.9.8-canary.909
  6. 10d agoAFFiNE2026.9.6-canary.907
  7. 12d agoImmichv3.2.0 RC3: bug fixes before stable release
  8. 16d agoImmichv3.2.0 RC2: search UI and face merge bug fixes
  9. 19d agoImmichv3.2.0 RC1: new search UI, face cluster groups, memories view
  10. 20d agoImmichv3.2.0-rc.0: fix: build release branch images instead of re-tagging main (#31064)
  11. 2mo agoImmichv3.0.0 RC3: webhook actions and bug fixes
  12. 2mo agoImmichv3.0.0 RC2: bug fixes ahead of stable release

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between AFFiNE and Immich?

Both compete on the same themes — self-hosted — within Collab. Immich is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is AFFiNE better than Immich?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Immich is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Collab products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to AFFiNE?

Top AFFiNE alternatives in Collab are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "AFFiNE alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/affine for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to Immich?

Top Immich alternatives in Collab are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Immich alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/immich for the full list with editorial commentary on each.