What Is PixelUnion and What Does It Offer?
PixelUnion is a private photo and video storage service built on a forked version of Immich and hosted entirely within the EU. It offers a free 16 GB tier plus paid plans from 150 GB to 16 TB, supports the native Immich mobile apps for iPhone and Android, and runs its servers on 100% renewable energy. It is aimed at people who want to move their photo library off American tech platforms without giving up automatic phone backup or mobile viewing.
What PixelUnion actually is
PixelUnion is not a from-scratch photo app. It is a hosted service built on a forked version of Immich, the open-source photo and video backup platform. That distinction matters: the underlying software is open source, while PixelUnion supplies the infrastructure, storage, and support layer around it.
The service positions itself around two claims:
- Privacy and safety as defaults — the site states "No ads or tracking" and lists facial recognition with privacy among its features.
- European hosting — servers sit on European soil, and all servers and storage run on 100% renewable energy, which the site describes as a minimal CO2 footprint.
The site's own framing is "Your memories, kept safe in Europe," with the tagline "Free your photos from American tech platforms."
Storage plans and pricing
PixelUnion publishes both monthly and yearly pricing. Yearly billing is advertised as "2 months free," and the page shows the exact annual totals.
| Plan | Monthly price | Yearly price | Annual total | Yearly saving |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 GB | €0 (always free) | — | — | — |
| 150 GB | €2,95 /month | €2,46 /month | €29,50 billed once a year | €5,90 per year |
| 450 GB | €4,95 /month | €4,13 /month | €49,50 billed once a year | €9,90 per year |
| 2000 GB (2 TB) | €9,95 /month | €8,29 /month | €99,50 billed once a year | €19,90 per year |
The 16 GB tier is described as "perfect for getting started" and is free permanently ("€0 always free"). The 450 GB plan is marked "Popular" on the pricing page.
For larger libraries, PixelUnion offers a scale-up option: storage from 4 TB to 16 TB, priced at €19,95 per month for 4 TB, with a "Contact Us" step for the upper end of that range.
Mobile apps and backup
PixelUnion supports the native Immich apps rather than shipping its own client. According to the site, this means:
- Backups from your phone to the cloud happen instantly.
- You can view your photos on your phone.
- iPhone and Android are both fully supported.
The practical takeaway: if you already know Immich's mobile app, the backup and browsing experience should feel familiar, because PixelUnion is built on a fork of that same software.
Migrating from Google Photos
The site lists "Migrating from Google Photos" as a dedicated section alongside its help center, which suggests migration is a supported, documented path rather than something you improvise. If leaving Google Photos is your main reason for looking at PixelUnion, that section is the place to start before signing up, since it should tell you what carries over and what does not.
Who this fits
PixelUnion makes sense if you want:
- EU-based storage with a stated renewable-energy footprint.
- Open-source foundations — Immich under the hood, with the option to understand or verify the software.
- A free starting point — 16 GB costs nothing and never expires, so you can test backup and browsing before paying.
- Straightforward scaling — from 150 GB up to 16 TB without changing providers.
It is less obviously a fit if you need features the page does not mention, or if you want to compare against non-EU providers on dimensions like sharing, editing, or third-party integrations — none of which appear in the material available here.
Getting started
- Choose a plan on the pricing page — the 16 GB free tier works as a trial.
- Create an account via the sign-up link.
- Download the PixelUnion app (the native Immich app) for iPhone or Android.
- Point the app at your PixelUnion account and let it back up your camera roll.
- If you are coming from Google Photos, work through the migration section before deleting anything at the source.
The one thing worth verifying yourself before committing: how the migration handles albums, metadata, and shared items, since those details are not spelled out in the page content summarized here.