What is Ente used for?

Ente is an open-source, end-to-end encrypted cloud for photos, 2FA codes and documents, with apps for mobile, web and desktop. It is a good fit for moving off Google Photos for privacy reasons, backing up family photos with shared albums and replacing Authy for 2FA codes.

Yes. Ente is open source under the AGPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at ente/ente and is written mainly in Dart.

Yes. Ente is open source, so the software itself is free to use. A managed cloud version is also available, with paid plans from $4.99 per month.

Can I self-host Ente?

Yes. Ente can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is Ente an alternative to?

Ente is an open-source alternative to Google Photos, iCloud, Amazon Photos and Apple Photos. Other open-source alternatives to Google Photos include Immich, PhotoPrism and Lynavo Drive.

Is Ente actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Ente was on 2 October 2026. The project has 29k stars on GitHub.

Ente: open-source alternative to Google Photos, iCloud

About Ente

Ente is a service built on an open-source, end-to-end encrypted platform that lets you keep data in the cloud without having to trust the provider. Three apps run on it: Ente Photos, an alternative to Google Photos and Apple Photos; Ente Locker, for important documents and credentials; and Ente Auth, a two-factor authentication app positioned as a replacement for Authy. The monorepo contains the clients and the server.

Ente Photos includes triple data replication, face detection, semantic search, private sharing, collaborative albums, family plans, background uploads and straightforward import and export, all encrypted across platforms. Clients exist for iOS, Android, F-Droid, web, Linux, macOS and Windows, built with Flutter, Go and TypeScript. The README says the source code and cryptography have had external audits. The server can be self-hosted, and the code is under the AGPL-3.0 license.

Key features

End-to-end encrypted photo storage and backup
Authenticator app for two-factor codes
Locker for documents and credentials
Face detection and semantic photo search
Private sharing and collaborative albums
Apps for mobile, web and desktop

Good fit for

→Moving off Google Photos for privacy reasons
→Backing up family photos with shared albums
→Replacing Authy for 2FA codes

Built with: Dart; Flutter; Go; TypeScript
Tags: e2ee; photos; privacy; google-photos-alternative; authenticator; 2fa; encryption; self-hosted

Ente: questions and answers

What is Ente used for?: Ente is an open-source, end-to-end encrypted cloud for photos, 2FA codes and documents, with apps for mobile, web and desktop. It is a good fit for moving off Google Photos for privacy reasons, backing up family photos with shared albums and replacing Authy for 2FA codes.
Is Ente open source?: Yes. Ente is open source under the AGPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at ente/ente and is written mainly in Dart.
Is Ente free?: Yes. Ente is open source, so the software itself is free to use. A managed cloud version is also available, with paid plans from $4.99 per month.
Can I self-host Ente?: Yes. Ente can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is Ente an alternative to?: Ente is an open-source alternative to Google Photos, iCloud, Amazon Photos and Apple Photos. Other open-source alternatives to Google Photos include Immich, PhotoPrism and Lynavo Drive.
Is Ente actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Ente was on 2 October 2026. The project has 29k stars on GitHub.