Lychee Hosting Live In 5 Minutes

Deploy Lychee hosting and run a self-hosted photo gallery where you upload, organise and share albums from your own server, with originals, generated thumbnails and the database kept on infrastructure you control. xCloud starts the pinned Lychee image beside a private MariaDB database, generates the application key and database credentials and publishes the gallery over HTTPS, ready for you to create the first administrator.

Deploy your Lychee

No terminal
No technical skills needed
No lock-in, cancel anytime

What is Lychee?

Lychee is a free, open-source photo-management tool that runs on your own server or web space, released under the MIT licence. Upstream says you can upload, manage and share photos as if using a native application. A paid Supporter Edition adds further functionality; this page does not describe it. Self-hosted Lychee is the option for people who would otherwise keep albums on a hosted service such as Google Photos or Flickr.

On xCloud the template runs Lychee 7.7.3 on the vendor-maintained FrankenPHP image beside a private MariaDB 11.8.8 database, both pinned by digest. Five volumes hold uploads, application data, logs, temporary processing data and the database. There is no pre-made administrator: you create the first one in Lychee's own setup screen. The optional worker, face recognition and Redis services are not included.

From Sign-Up to a Live Lychee Gallery In Just 3 Easy Steps

Self-hosting Lychee normally means a container, a private database, five volumes to keep straight, a domain and a certificate before a single photo is uploaded. This is the same result without assembling any of it.

Step 01
Sign Up
Create your xCloud account and pick Lychee from the OneClick catalog. Enter a site title and domain — the template needs no other app-specific fields.
Step 02
We Deploy It For You
One click. We bring up the vendor-maintained Lychee 7.7.3 image and MariaDB 11.8.8 pinned by immutable digest, generate the application key, mount all five persistent volumes, and publish it over HTTPS on your domain while MariaDB stays private.
Step 03
Create Your Administrator And Upload
Open your HTTPS URL, create the first administrator account directly in Lychee, and sign in. Create an album and upload your first photos.

Everything Lychee Does, On Your Own Server

The open-source Lychee baseline runs here — its album, sharing and gallery tooling, on infrastructure you control. Supporter Edition features are not included.

Private And Shared Albums
Organize photos into albums you keep private or share through Lychee's own controls, not a link that lives on someone else's server.
Responsive Web Gallery
Browse and present collections through a gallery interface built for photos first, on desktop or mobile.
Uploads, Media And Metadata
Originals, generated thumbnails and image metadata are handled and stored together, ready to browse without extra processing steps.
First-Run Administrator Setup
Create the first administrator account from inside the live application — the same supported flow Lychee documents upstream.
Your Photos, Your Server
Originals, thumbnails and database records stay on a server you control instead of a third-party photo-hosting account.
Five Volumes, Cleanly Split
Uploads, application data, logs, temporary processing data and the MariaDB database each persist on their own volume, all surviving a restart.

Everything You Need To Run Your Photo Management 24/7

Managed hosting for Lychee, so the parts that keep it online are not your problem.

Lychee 7.7.3 deployed instantly
Vendor-maintained pinned image digests
Application key generated for you
Private MariaDB service
Free SSL certificate
Server backups and snapshots
Server security updates included
30+ server locations
Unused balance refunded

What You Can Do With Lychee

Run a Lychee photo manager for your albums
A photographer can upload originals, sort them into albums and show a gallery on their own domain, with the files and database on a server they control rather than a third-party account.
Share an event album with guests
After a wedding or team trip, upload the photos to one album and share it using Lychee's sharing controls, keeping other albums private. Guests browse the gallery in a browser.
Keep family photos off third-party clouds
Move a household's photo library to a server you own, with uploads on their own volume and the database on another, so a backup of the volumes captures everything.
Publish a portfolio gallery
Show finished work in a responsive gallery built for photos first. Visitors see it on desktop or mobile, and you update it by uploading to an album.

Lychee vs Alternatives

Google Photos: If your albums live in Google Photos, Lychee is the self-hosted route: originals and generated media sit on volumes on your own Cloud VPS, with album records in MariaDB, and you decide what is shared.
Flickr: If you publish on Flickr, Lychee serves your albums from your own domain. Its open-source baseline is MIT-licensed, and a paid Supporter Edition exists upstream for extra functionality.
Immich: Immich has its own xCloud page. Lychee's template is deliberately smaller, one app container plus MariaDB, with the optional worker, face recognition and Redis services left out of the baseline.
Piwigo: Piwigo has its own xCloud page and is a photo library and gallery with albums, tags, themes and plugins. Compare the two pages for their volumes, databases and sizing before you choose.

Simple Pricing. Everything Included.

Dedicated Cloud VPS sizes, pre-configured for Lychee hosting. Pick the one that fits, and resize any time.

Cloud VPS 6 GB

Cloud VPS 16 GB

Larger libraries, more albums, more concurrent uploads.

$59.99per month

16 GB RAM
6 vCPU cores
200 GB NVMe SSD
30 TB
Unlimited

Get started

Cloud VPS 24 GB

Lychee alongside a whole self-hosted stack.

$84.99per month

24 GB RAM
8 vCPU cores
300 GB NVMe SSD
30 TB
Unlimited

Get started

Every size is a dedicated Cloud VPS we provision, patch, monitor and restore. Billed monthly with no lock-in — delete the server and the unused balance comes back to your account. Lychee itself is free under the MIT licence.

Docker hosting

Already Have a Server? Bring Your Own

Connect any VPS — DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, Hetzner or bare metal — and deploy Lychee on it through the same panel, for a per-server management fee instead of a Cloud VPS rental.

Free

Start your journey without cost.

$0forever

1 server
10 sites

Start free

Starter

Professional

The same platform, discounted at 6–10 servers.

$4per server / month

6–10 servers
Unlimited sites
All features included
Bring any VPS provider

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Agency

The same platform, discounted at 11+ servers.

$3per server / month

11+ servers
Unlimited sites
All features included
Bring any VPS provider

Get started

Priced per connected server, so your rate adjusts automatically as you add or remove servers. You pay your own provider for the server itself.

Self-managed hosting

Ready To Own Your Photo Library?

Lychee on xCloud runs on a dedicated Cloud VPS that we provision, patch, monitor and restore. Deploy faster. Own the server. Stay in control.

Fast Provisioning
Deploy faster using an xCloud Managed Server built with optimized stacks and high-speed SSDs.
Enterprise-grade security
Protect your infrastructure with a free SSL certificate and more advanced security features at no additional cost.
Intuitive Control Panel
From Server creation to application deployment, everything can be managed from our intuitive control panel.

Hear what people are saying about us

See why agencies, developers, startups, and growing businesses choose xCloud to power their projects.

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So far my experience has been smooth like silk. I didn't imagine that configuring and managing a VPS would be so easy. As of today, I have deployed 8 sites. The support is good, and they treat users with respect, even if they ask stupid questions (myself included). For the future, I hope for greater flexibility in scheduled backups and more comprehensive and consistent documentation. I'm sure that within a few months, xCloud will become the leader in its segment. This community is amazing, and the Staff here is super helpful.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have.

Can I self-host Lychee with Docker?

Yes. For Lychee Docker hosting the template runs the vendor's ghcr.io/lycheeorg/lychee image on FrankenPHP, pinned by digest, with a private MariaDB 11.8.8 container and five named volumes. It generates the application key and database credentials and puts HTTPS on your domain, so you do not write the compose file.

How much RAM does Lychee need?

Lychee's manifest floor is 2048 MB of RAM, one core and 10 GB of disk, plus room for your photo library. The 6 GB Cloud VPS sold here sits above that, which helps while thumbnails are generated for large uploads. Size the disk for your originals, since photos are usually the biggest cost.

Is Lychee free?

Yes. The Lychee version in this template is free and open source under the MIT licence. Upstream also sells a Supporter Edition with extra functionality, which this template does not include. What you pay xCloud for is the Cloud VPS hosting the gallery and its database, plus the deployment.

What is the Lychee Supporter Edition?

Upstream describes the Supporter Edition as a version with additional functionality for more advanced features. It is a separate paid offering from the Lychee team. This template deploys the open-source baseline only and excludes optional Supporter Edition services, so do not expect those features on your install.

Where does Lychee store my photos?

Originals and generated media sit on the lychee_uploads volume, application-managed files on lychee_app_data, logs on lychee_logs and temporary upload processing on lychee_tmp. Album and photo records live in MariaDB on lychee_db. All five persist across a restart, so uploads are not lost.

How do I back up Lychee?

A restorable Lychee backup captures lychee_uploads, lychee_app_data and lychee_db together while writes are quiet, and keeps the APP_KEY with it. Logs and temporary data are operational and usually skipped. Keep an off-server copy, test a restore, and expect a large copy if your library is big.

Backups in xCloud

How do I upgrade Lychee?

The 7.7.3 image and the MariaDB image each keep their digest until you change them. Before moving on, copy the volumes and the APP_KEY, read Lychee's migration notes, and select a later template version. Upstream flags that version 7 reorganised the Docker image layout.

Can I share albums publicly with Lychee?

Yes. Upstream says Lychee lets you upload, manage and share photos, and you control which albums stay private and which are shared through Lychee's own settings. A shared album is served from your own domain and server, not from a third-party photo account. Check each album's sharing setting before publishing.

How do I create the first administrator?

The template has no admin field and generates no admin password. Open your HTTPS URL after the install and create the first administrator account in Lychee's built-in setup flow, then sign in and make an album. Do this promptly after the install finishes.

Can I run Lychee in the cloud on xCloud?

Yes. Under Lychee cloud use, xCloud sets up a dedicated Cloud VPS, deploys the gallery and MariaDB and attaches your domain and certificate. A VPS from another provider can be enrolled as self-managed. The baseline sends no email until you configure SMTP.

Must I keep the application key?

Yes. APP_KEY must stay stable, so do not rotate it casually, and keep a copy with every backup. Changing database passwords in the Environment editor does not rotate the existing MariaDB users; change them in MariaDB first, then update the matching values and redeploy.

Can I cancel anytime?

Yes. There is no lock-in — cancel any time. Hosting is billed monthly and charged for what you actually use, so when you delete the server the unused balance is refunded to your account, less up to 10% in payment-processing fees.