Your video collection stopped fitting in a folder you could browse. Spreadsheets of filenames, duplicate rips with different encodes, metadata scattered across NFO files and three cloud drives — and every “media server” either wants to be a family Netflix clone or a photo app with albums. If you want a single-user, local-first library that treats personal video as a first-class problem, the homelab crowd has been watching a new project climb GitHub fast.
Peach (peach-mitao/peach, “蜜桃”) is an AGPL-3.0 personal media system: Python backend, React UI, ~12k stars as of late 2026. It targets one person managing their own library on disk or mounted cloud storage — scan, metadata, playback wall, watch history, and optional cloud-download workflows. The project is explicit that it is 18+ and for adults managing their own collection; the repo ships no media. Self-hosting here means privacy and control, not publishing a public tube site (and your host’s acceptable-use rules still apply).
What it actually does
Peach is not multi-tenant Plex for the whole household. It is a personal curator:
- Unified library — local disks plus directories exposed via tools like CloudDrive2 (115, PikPak, OneDrive, etc. mounted as paths Peach can read).
- Playback wall — full-screen cover grid, in-place player, subtitle search/load, grouping variants of the same work.
- Metadata repair — reads existing NFO/posters; can enrich titles, tags, and artwork from external sources; manual edits stick.
- Long-running jobs — scans and metadata passes resume after restarts (checkpointed progress).
- Desktop or Docker — Windows installers for “runs on my PC”; official Docker image (
longmeidao/peach) for VPS/NAS with browser UI on port 8900.
Advanced features (creator follows across platforms, taste analysis from local browser history imports, cloud download hooks) are part of why the star count jumped — and why the docs stress consent, diagnostics opt-outs, and what never leaves your machine by default.
Why self-host Peach?
Your files stay yours. Watch history, ratings, and credentials live in a local peach-data directory (SQLite + config). Scanning does not rewrite originals unless you explicitly run organize/delete flows.
Cloud drives without surrendering the UI. Many collectors already mount vendor storage; Peach indexes what appears as filesystem paths instead of handing a third party the index of everything you own.
VPS/NAS when the collection outgrows one PC. Docker deployment keeps /data on a volume and media on separate mounts — rebuild containers without losing the database. Transcoding can use VAAPI/NVENC when you pass through GPU devices on Linux.
License check. AGPL-3.0 — fine for personal/self-hosted use; if you wrap Peach as a commercial multi-user service, read the license and talk to a lawyer. Peach itself does not offer multi-account tenancy in Docker.
What running it takes
Docker path (from upstream docs): image longmeidao/peach, persist /data, mount read-only media at /media, UID 1000. Default bind is often 127.0.0.1 — remote admin expects VPN or SSH tunnel unless you deliberately expose LAN with a strong access password. Peach documents public hosting risks in their security guide; treat a media library like sensitive personal data.
Resource planning: metadata scans and transcoding are CPU/GPU hungry; a small Canadian VPS works for browsing and direct-play files; heavy transcode libraries want more vCPU and optional /dev/dri passthrough. Disk dominates: video libraries are terabytes, not gigabytes. ARM NAS support was still “not validated” in upstream Docker notes when we wrote this — check current releases before buying hardware.
Compared to Immich (photos) or Jellyfin (household streaming), Peach optimizes for a solo archivist workflow — richer personal metadata tooling, not a living-room TV app for six profiles.
Who it's for (and who should skip it)
Good fit: adults with a large personal video library on disk or mounted cloud storage, homelabbers who want browser access from phone on LAN, Docker users on a private VPS behind VPN.
Maybe skip it: family Plex replacement, public streaming, or “host this for strangers.” Swift Host and most reputable providers prohibit using customer servers as public adult distribution — Peach is for your collection on infrastructure you control privately. If you need multi-user SaaS, this is the wrong tool.
Hosting it in Canada
We size Canadian VPS and Docker stacks for private media workloads when clients need data in-country, TLS, backups on the Peach data volume, and network design that does not put a personal library on the open internet by accident.
Tell us storage size, transcode needs, and how you will access it (VPN vs LAN). We will be blunt about disk and egress — video libraries fill disks faster than WordPress sites ever do.
