Month: August 2026

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Stingle Photos vs Ente vs Immich vs Proton Drive: Which Privacy-Focused Photo Backup is Right for You?

If you are looking for a private alternative to Google Photos or iCloud, you have more options than ever. But each one takes a different approach. Here is how Stingle Photos compares to the three main competitors in the E2EE photo backup space.

Ente.io

Best for: Users who want a polished, audited service with no self-hosting required.

Ente is the most similar to Stingle in terms of approach. It is fully open-source, end-to-end encrypted, and cross-platform. It has been audited by Cure53 and offers 10GB free (vs Stingle 1GB). Pricing starts at $5/month for 100GB (Stingle is $2.99/month). Ente has a web client and album sharing via link, which Stingle does not yet have but is building.

Key differentiator for Stingle: Stingle offers a built-in camera on both iOS and Android that captures photos directly into the encrypted gallery (never touches system photos). Stingle also has a desktop app built in Rust. Stingle is significantly cheaper for paid plans.

Immich

Best for: Technical users who want to self-host on their own hardware.

Immich is the gold standard for self-hosted photo management. It offers automatic backup, facial recognition, CLIP-based semantic search, and timeline view. It is free and open-source but requires Docker and a server to run.

Key differentiator for Stingle: Stingle is zero-knowledge by default — even Stingle cannot see your photos. Stingle works out of the box with no server setup, plus offers the option to self-host via Docker.

Proton Drive

Best for: Existing Proton users who want integrated file storage.

Proton Drive offers encrypted file storage from the Proton ecosystem. However, it is a general file storage service, not a photo-specific app. It lacks photo-specific features like gallery view, albums, built-in camera, and auto-backup of photos only.

Key differentiator for Stingle: Stingle is built specifically for photos and videos. Gallery view, albums, built-in camera, auto-backup — everything designed around the photo experience.

Where Stingle Stands Out

  • Pricing: Most affordable paid plans ($2.99/mo for 100GB vs Ente $5/mo)
  • Built-in camera: Unique feature — capture directly into encrypted gallery
  • Desktop apps: Native Rust apps for Windows, Mac, Linux
  • Self-host option: Full Docker setup available
  • Open source: GPLv3, all code on GitHub

Where Stingle is Catching Up

  • Web client: Coming soon
  • Share album via link: Coming soon
  • AI search: On-device, E2E encrypted — coming soon
  • Third-party audit: Planned for Q4 2026

Bottom line: If you want an affordable, open-source, zero-knowledge photo backup that works across all your devices without needing to self-host — Stingle is the best value in the market right now.

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Stingle Photos is Back — What’s New and What’s Next

If you have been following Stingle Photos for a while, you might have noticed things went quiet. Here is the honest story — and why the silence is finally over.

The Short Version

Stingle Photos is back in active development. We have released brand new desktop apps for Windows, Mac, and Linux, updated our Android and iOS apps with major fixes, and the roadmap ahead is full of new features. If you tried Stingle before and ran into bugs or felt the project was abandoned — we hear you, and we have been working to fix it.

The Honest Story

Stingle Photos started as a side project that grew into something bigger than expected. After our initial launch, things slowed down — life got in the way, and for a stretch the project did not get the attention it deserved. We know that led to bugs going unfixed, App Store reviews going unanswered. Fair criticism.

But here is the thing: the project was never abandoned for good. We kept the servers running, we kept the encryption solid, and we never stopped believing in the mission — giving people a real, private alternative to Google Photos and iCloud.

In 2026, we got back to work.

What’s Changed

Desktop Apps (New!)

Stingle Photos now has native desktop applications for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Built in Rust for performance and security, the desktop app brings full end-to-end encrypted backup, sync, and gallery browsing to your computer. This was the single most requested feature — and it’s here.

Android App — Updated

The Android app has been significantly improved with bug fixes, performance optimizations, and stability improvements. The foundation is stronger than ever.

iOS App — Feature Parity & Built-in Camera

The iOS app has been completely updated to match Android’s feature set. It now includes a built-in camera that lets you take photos and record videos directly inside the app — so they never appear in your system Photos app, not even for a brief second. Your media stays encrypted and private from the moment it’s captured.

Active Development

We’re shipping updates regularly. The GitHub repos are active, the desktop app is at version 0.1.8 and climbing, and we’re adding features every month.

What’s Next

  • Web version — access your encrypted gallery from any browser
  • Share album with a link — securely share an album with anyone, even if they don’t have Stingle
  • AI-powered search — on-device AI model analyzes photo and video content, with all metadata stored end-to-end encrypted like everything else in Stingle
  • Performance improvements — faster sync, smarter background backups
  • Community — growing the open source community, accepting contributions, and being more transparent about where we’re headed

Trust & Transparency

  • Open source — always has been, always will be. Every line of code is on GitHub under GPLv3.
  • Security whitepaper — fully documented encryption model built on Libsodium (XChaCha20, X25519, Argon2).
  • No tracking, no ads, no analytics — zero. We don’t collect your data.

Try It Today

Stingle Photos is free to download and includes 1GB of encrypted cloud storage. If you want more, plans start at $2.99/month for 100GB.

  • Android: Download the APK from stingle.org/download
  • iOS: Available on the App Store
  • Desktop: Windows, macOS, and Linux — all on stingle.org/download
  • Self-host: Run your own API server with the open-source Docker setup

We’re back, we’re building, and we’re not going anywhere this time.

Questions? Feedback? Come find us on Telegram, Reddit, or open an issue on GitHub.

— Alex Amiryan, Founder, Stingle Photos