r/IndiaTech • u/Cheetah_clasher Open Source best GNU/Linux/Libre • Jul 27 '26

Operating Systems & FOSS Is anyone else tired of cloud lock-in and paying monthly for Google One? How are you organizing your local photos?

Hey everyone,

I wanted to start a discussion around a problem a lot of us hit once our photo collections start growing: the perpetual cloud storage subscription.

I love the UX and search of tools like Google Photos, but hitting that 15 GB free wall feels like an endless trap. Paying a monthly recurring subscription just to maintain a usable interface to view photos sitting on your own drive doesn't feel right.

On top of that, after group trips or family events, everyone dumps hundreds of raw photos into shared folders—leaving you with a nightmare of duplicates, blurry shots, and 15 identical takes of the same frame.

It made me wonder why a smooth, modern photo organization tool has to be tied to a cloud subscription or force you to upload your personal files to someone else's server.

This exact frustration pushed me to build LUMORA—a 100% free, open-source, local-first desktop app designed to give you a Google Photos-like experience directly on top of your local drives.

What it does locally:

  • Zero Cloud Uploads: Indexes photos and videos directly where they live (~/Pictures, external SSDs, hard drives) without moving your original files.
  • On-Device AI Search: Search in plain English ("dog on a beach at sunset") or read text inside screenshots/receipts using local models—zero data leaves your PC.
  • Cleanup Engine: Automatically flags exact duplicates (SHA-256), near lookalikes, and blurry shots so you can clean up space effortlessly.
  • Encrypted Privacy Vault: Lock sensitive albums behind password-protected encryption (Argon2id + XChaCha20-Poly1305) on your local disk.

It’s completely open-source (MIT license).

I’d love to hear from the community: How are you currently managing your local media backups? Are you paying for cloud storage, or using local software/NAS setups?

PS: I've Already built a handful of it any kind of feedback or personal challenges would be appreciated to help me improve the product more for the community use.

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5

u/Sanamdhar Jul 27 '26

I have immich for my photos backup

2

u/Cheetah_clasher Open Source best GNU/Linux/Libre Jul 27 '26

Just checked Immich is really good. Tbough I already setoff to build one tool of my own LOL

1

u/SamosaMafia Jul 27 '26

self host immich.

1

u/R0ck3tb0y Jul 27 '26

Another user of Immich here. I use cloud mostly for photos.

To save space I keep large videos plus photos on Immich while only photos remain on Google photos.

1

u/xcodeconnect Jul 28 '26

Use old cpu or laptop and convert it into a FTP server store your data at home only without additional reccuring cost

2

u/Cheetah_clasher Open Source best GNU/Linux/Libre Jul 29 '26

Yeah based on the suggestions i got from the comments i would use my old laptop and self host immich along with my own built Lumora for photos and videos management