# Lychee hosting in the EU

> Run your own Lychee, an alternative to Google Photos and PhotoPrism. One-click install, HTTPS, servers in the EU. Free plan, no card.

Web page: https://blitz.cloud/apps/lychee/
Updated: 2026-10-14

Lychee: A photo gallery you host yourself, with albums, maps and a slideshow for every trip. On blitz.cloud you install it from the App Store in one click. It gets its own address with HTTPS, 5 GB of storage and the MariaDB it needs, and it runs on servers in the EU. You can run it on the free plan, without a credit card.

## A self-hosted alternative to Google Photos and PhotoPrism

Lychee does the job of Google Photos or PhotoPrism, but it is your own copy: your data sits in your app, not in somebody else's account, and nobody changes the price or the rules on you. Self-hosting usually means renting a server and keeping it patched. Here the App Store sets it up and keeps it running.

## What it needs

| Need | Lychee |
|---|---|
| Memory | 256 MB reserved from your plan |
| Storage | 5 GB |
| Database | MariaDB, created and connected for you |
| Plan | Free or Pro |

## Install it

1. [Start the install of Lychee](https://blitz.cloud/get/lychee/). Without an account you create one with Google, GitHub or your email.
2. Pick your address, like `yourname.blitz.cloud`. The app's page in the App Store opens right after.
3. Click Install. It lists what gets created, the database included, and is online about a minute later, at an address like `lychee.yourname.blitz.cloud`.
4. Open the app's address and sign in with admin / password, the default login. Change it at once under Settings.

## Deploy button for your README

Do you maintain Lychee or write about it? Put this button in a README or a post. A click opens Lychee in the blitz.cloud App Store, ready to install; someone without an account signs up for free first.

```markdown
[![Deploy on blitz.cloud](https://blitz.cloud/badge/deploy.svg)](https://dashboard.blitz.cloud/store/lychee?src=badge-lychee)
```

## Questions

### Can I host Lychee for free?

Yes. The free plan runs it without a card and without an end date. The app sleeps after 30 minutes without visitors, and the next visit wakes it.

### Where is my Lychee data stored?

On blitz.cloud's servers in the EU, run by BlitzWorks, a company in Germany. Once signed in, you can download the [data processing agreement](https://dashboard.blitz.cloud/account/dpa?lang=en) as a PDF.

### Can I use my own domain for Lychee?

Yes, on Pro, or on the free plan by making this one app a Pro app. HTTPS for the domain is set up for you.

### Is Lychee backed up?

Its database is backed up every night: 7 nights are kept on the free plan, 30 on Pro. On Pro the app's files are copied every night too.

### How does Lychee get updates?

With automatic updates on, it gets new versions of its version line overnight. If a new version doesn't start, the one before it keeps running.