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Filamama vs Ente.

Ente Photos is an end-to-end encrypted photo app. Ente runs it as a paid cloud with 10GB free, and the same open-source server can run at home. This page compares Filamama with self-hosted Ente, and notes where the cloud differs.

Feature	Filamama	Ente
Price	Free, no paid tier	Self-hosted: free. Cloud: 10GB free, then from $2.49 a month ^{[2, 3]}
Licence	Source-available, with the first release	AGPL-3.0 ^[2]
Account with the maker	Not needed	Not needed when self-hosted. Accounts live on your server ^[4]
Install	Native on macOS and Linux	Docker Compose, or a manual setup with Postgres and S3 storage ^{[5, 6]}
Android backup app	Piktures	Yes ^[2]
iPhone backup app	Planned	Yes ^[2]
Broken uploads resume	At the exact byte	Picks up where it left off ^[7]
Duplicate check before upload	Before any bytes move	Skips files already uploaded ^[7]
Outbound calls by default	None	Not checked
Faces and smart search	Planned	Yes, worked out on your devices ^{[2, 8]}
Sharing	Planned	Shared albums and public links ^[2]
Away from home	Home network only, by design	If you expose the server, with HTTPS ^[9]
Command line	dmsp, JSON answers	Ente CLI ^[10]
Provenance and C2PA	Coming	Not checked

Small numbers point to the sources at the bottom. Filamama's column comes from its own specification and code (source 1). "Not checked" means we found nothing either way in Ente's own docs, pages or code. Checked on 17 October 2026.

Where Filamama is ahead

It installs natively on a Mac or a Linux box: one program and one SQLite file. Self-hosted Ente runs with Docker Compose, or by hand with Postgres and S3-compatible storage.
An interrupted upload picks up at the exact byte, and duplicates are caught before any bytes move.
The server makes no outbound calls, and there's no paid tier or cloud to upsell.

Where Ente is ahead

End-to-end encryption: the server only stores encrypted files.
Faces and smart search today, worked out on your devices. In Filamama, search and people are planned.
Shared albums and public links. Filamama doesn't share yet.
An iPhone app, desktop apps, and a published open-source licence (AGPL-3.0).

Switching from Ente

There's no importer yet. Run Filamama next to Ente, pair your Android phone with Piktures and let it back up what's on the phone. Ente stores files encrypted, so you'd export them first with Ente's apps or CLI; indexing existing folders on disk is a planned feature. If your family uses iPhones, wait for the iPhone app.

Sources

Filamama: its own specification and source code (SPEC.md, README, the server and Piktures code).
Ente README and licence (AGPL-3.0): Ente Photos is a paid service with 10GB free, or self-host; iOS, Android, web and desktop apps; face detection, semantic search, sharing github.com/ente/ente
Ente pricing (its cloud): 10GB free, paid plans from $2.49 a month ente.com/pricing
Ente docs, after installing: accounts are created on your server; apps point to it from the onboarding screen ente.com/help/self-hosting/installation/post-install
Ente docs, self-hosting requirements: Docker with the Compose plugin; the server is a Go binary ente.com/help/self-hosting/installation/requirements
Ente docs, Manual setup (without Docker): Postgres and S3-compatible object storage needed ente.com/help/self-hosting/installation/manual
Ente FAQ, Backup and sync: interrupted backups resume, files already uploaded are skipped ente.com/help/photos/faq/backup-and-sync
Ente FAQ, Face recognition: processed on the device ente.com/help/photos/faq/face-recognition
Ente docs, Reverse proxy: make the server reachable over the internet with HTTPS ente.com/help/self-hosting/administration/reverse-proxy
Ente docs, Ente CLI for self-hosting: export, admin tasks, storage quotas ente.com/help/self-hosting/administration/cli

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