# beam vs PhotoPrism

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | beam | PhotoPrism |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 60/100 | 76/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #31 of 125 in AI | #4 of 142 in Media Management |
| GitHub stars | 1 834 | 40 373 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +47 | +138 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 364 ✓ | 7 |
| Latest release | gateway-0.1.837 · 26 Oct 2026 ✓ | 261007-65faaae5d · 7 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Other |
| Main language | Go | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

PhotoPrism scores 76/100 against 60/100 for beam, so it is the safer default.

beam ships more often: 364 stable releases in the past year, against 7 for PhotoPrism.

If you want the quickest setup, PhotoPrism is easier to run; beam needs more configuration.

PhotoPrism is growing faster right now (+138 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [beam](https://selfhost.directory/project/beam) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/beam.md)
- [PhotoPrism](https://selfhost.directory/project/photoprism) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/photoprism.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/beam-vs-photoprism