Softr
Softr ships MCP and embedded agents, making no-code apps AI-orchestratable
Comparison · Collab
Elgg vs Immich
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Elgg and Immich — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:open-sourceself-hosted
Elgg vs Immich: at a glance
What is Elgg?
Elgg 7.1.0 adds invitation-only groups and designates MariaDB as its primary database
Elgg is a mature open-source PHP social networking framework used primarily for self-hosted community platforms. The 7.0 major version shipped in May 2026 and introduced system-level IP logging, accessibility improvements, and a generic entity controller. Since then the 7.x branch has been in a stabilization phase — the team maintains both 7.x for current users and the 6.x branch for security backports, with coordinated dual-branch release patterns visible across the changelog.
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.
Elgg vs Immich: editorial side-by-side
Elgg
5.0COLLAB
Elgg 7.1.0 adds invitation-only groups and designates MariaDB as its primary database
◆ Current state
Elgg is a mature open-source PHP social networking framework used primarily for self-hosted community platforms. The 7.0 major version shipped in May 2026 and introduced system-level IP logging, accessibility improvements, and a generic entity controller. Since then the 7.x branch has been in a stabilization phase — the team maintains both 7.x for current users and the 6.x branch for security backports, with coordinated dual-branch release patterns visible across the changelog.
◆ Where it's heading
Elgg 7.1.0 moves in two directions simultaneously: infrastructure positioning (MariaDB as the explicit recommended database for self-hosted deployments) and access control granularity (invitation-only group membership, admin-only menu items in entity actions). These are consistent investments in making Elgg viable for communities that need fine-grained permission models. The dual 6.x/7.x maintenance cadence reflects a conservative community that upgrades slowly and values stability over feature pace.
◆ Prediction
Continued dual-branch maintenance with 7.x accumulating incremental access control and entity management features while 6.x receives security backports. Given the 7.1.0 MariaDB recommendation, database-specific optimizations or stricter compatibility requirements for MariaDB are a plausible next step.
Immich
6.3COLLAB
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 Elgg 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 Elgg or Immich.
Koofr
Koofr's rebuilt iOS 4.0 with native Files integration is its best shot at mainstream mobile relevance
AFFiNE
AFFiNE's canary track is fixing critical self-hosted configuration bugs and editor correctness before a stable push.
Mattermost
Mattermost is running a coordinated Zero Trust and sovereign AI narrative ahead of a major October release.
Double
Double restructures AI pricing with a 93%-cheaper Standard tier, making Ask Double viable at full-book scale
SiYuan
Siyuan lets AI agents reconfigure your database schema — not just read it.
Recent activity from Elgg and Immich
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 22h agoElggElgg 7.1.0: invitation-only groups and MariaDB becomes the recommended database
- 6d agoImmichv3.2.0 RC3: bug fixes before stable release
- 10d agoImmichv3.2.0 RC2: search UI and face merge bug fixes
- 13d agoImmichv3.2.0 RC1: new search UI, face cluster groups, memories view ⚡
- 14d agoImmichv3.2.0-rc.0: fix: build release branch images instead of re-tagging main (#31064)
- 22d agoElggElgg 7.0.5
- 22d agoElggElgg 6.3.8
- 1mo agoElggElgg 7.0.4
- 1mo agoElggElgg 6.3.7
- 2mo agoElggElgg 7.0.3
- 2mo agoImmichv3.0.0 RC3: webhook actions and bug fixes
- 2mo agoImmichv3.0.0 RC2: bug fixes ahead of stable release
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Elgg and Immich?
Both compete on the same themes — open-source, 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 Elgg 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 Elgg?
Top Elgg alternatives in Collab are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Elgg alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/elgg 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.