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Should I self-host Adobe Lightroom?
PhotoPrism and Immich organize and search photos brilliantly. Neither develops a RAW file. Lightroom's $9.99 plan is an editor with a catalog attached — replace the catalog and you still need the editor, so the subscription survives. Darktable is free and local but it's a different app, not a self-hosted service.
The math (nothing hidden, including your time)
| Adobe Lightroom (Photography plan (20GB)) | $9.99/mo |
| VPS share + storage | −$2.00/mo |
| Your maintenance: 20 min/mo at $20/h | −$6.67/mo |
| Net saving | $1.32/mo |
| Setup: 15 min measured (one-time) | $5.00 |
| Break-even | 3.8 months |
| Markup Index (price ÷ real self-host cost) | 1.2× |
Price: source, checked 2026-08-07. Inputs are stored in git; every number above is derived, never hand-written.
What you lose
- The RAW develop engine — the actual reason the subscription exists
What you're paying Adobe Lightroom for
- RAW photo editing
- catalog & organization
- cloud sync
- presets
Ranked alternatives
A photo library that indexes what is in the picture, so twenty years of files become something you can search.
Your camera roll uploads itself to a server you own, and search still finds the dog on the beach.
Hardware
Runs comfortably on a real VPS (2 GB+).
Verification
Protocol v1 · verified by zernonia on 2026-08-10 · setup measured at 15 min · AI assistant: claude-code (allowed & stated)
Full timed log
# Adobe Lightroom — verdict log - **Date:** 2026-08-10 - **Verdict:** NOT REALLY — keep paying - **Protocol:** v1 (2GB reference env, Docker preinstalled, AI assistant: claude-code) ## Why no compose file - This verdict is decided by economics/capability, not setup effort — the rubric doesn't require a timed install to conclude the subscription should stay (or that the replacement's cost lives elsewhere, e.g. GPUs, egress, or an installer script). ## The call PhotoPrism and Immich organize and search photos brilliantly. Neither develops a RAW file. Lightroom's $9.99 plan is an editor with a catalog attached — replace the catalog and you still need the editor, so the subscription survives. Darktable is free and local but it's a different app, not a self-hosted service.
Verdict history
- 2026-08-10: unscored → NOT_REALLY — Initial verdict: PhotoPrism and Immich organize and search photos brilliantly.