iCloud Photos Downloader
Ranked 4 of 19 backup tools by recommenders
Free command-line tool that downloads your iCloud photo library into year and month folders. Critics note slow runs on large libraries and possible staleness.
Free command-line tool that downloads your iCloud photo library into year and month folders. Critics note slow runs on large libraries and possible staleness.
22 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 18
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 82%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 18 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 4.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Downloads entire iCloud photo library
“isn't user friendly or pretty, but I finally managed to rip my entire collection”
Comment from 31 Jan 2026 in “My Ridiculously Robust Photo Management System (Immich Edition)” “Here is an open-source command-line tool to download all your iCloud photos.”
Comment from 11 Jan 2026 in “Open-source iCloud Photos Downloader (AKA escape from iCloud)” “I've downloaded the entire library to a new Mac. It worked fine.”
Comment from 12 Jan 2026 in “Open-source iCloud Photos Downloader (AKA escape from iCloud)” - Comment from 11 Jan 2026 in “Open-source iCloud Photos Downloader (AKA escape from iCloud)”
Free open-source command-line tool
“Here is an open-source command-line tool to download all your iCloud photos.”
Comment from 11 Jan 2026 in “Open-source iCloud Photos Downloader (AKA escape from iCloud)” “I was happy to learn that someone made an open-source downloader for iCloud.”
Comment from 11 Jan 2026 in “Open-source iCloud Photos Downloader (AKA escape from iCloud)” “Luckily, there is this open-source iCloud Photos Downloader”
Comment from 11 Jan 2026 in “Open-source iCloud Photos Downloader (AKA escape from iCloud)” Sorts into year and month folders
“I liked that it's downloading all photos in date/folder structure.”
Comment from 12 Jan 2026 in “Open-source iCloud Photos Downloader (AKA escape from iCloud)” “it seems to be dropping them nicely into folders by year and month”
Comment from 12 Jan 2026 in “Open-source iCloud Photos Downloader (AKA escape from iCloud)” Worked fine on large libraries
“I've downloaded the entire library to a new Mac. It worked fine.”
Comment from 12 Jan 2026 in “Open-source iCloud Photos Downloader (AKA escape from iCloud)” “Worked well for me for 70k photos but took a long time”
Comment from 11 Jan 2026 in “Open-source iCloud Photos Downloader (AKA escape from iCloud)”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Requires turning off Advanced Data Protection
“Disabling ADP is a pretty severe thing to do -- and pretty disappointing since I was interested in the product.”
Comment from 12 Jan 2026 in “Open-source iCloud Photos Downloader (AKA escape from iCloud)” “unlike with this open source tool, I can keep advanced data protection enabled.”
Comment from 11 Jan 2026 in “Open-source iCloud Photos Downloader (AKA escape from iCloud)”
Other backup tools people recommend
The four most recommended other backup tools, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| restic | 83 | 5 | 94% | 12 | — | Approved |
| pgBackRest | 32 | 6 | 84% | 6 | 1 yr4 owners | Approved |
| Borg Backup | 30 | 8 | 79% | 12 | — | Approved |
| iCloud Photos DownloaderThis page | 18 | 4 | 82% | 2 | — | — |
| Barman | 17 | 3 | 85% | 6 | — | Approved |
What people said
25 of the 26 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I have successfully used this about 2 years ago from a Synology to perform a one-time backup”
“unmaintained and starting to crack due to Apple API changes”
“isn't user friendly or pretty, but I finally managed to rip my entire collection”
“Great replacement for the script + cron job I was using before.”
“Yes — that’s exactly what it’s designed for.”
“Disabling ADP is a pretty severe thing to do -- and pretty disappointing since I was interested in the product.”
“I should have used an iCloud photos backup tool like this much sooner.”
“it seems to be dropping them nicely into folders by year and month”
“Thanks for creating this amazing tool.”
“I liked that it's downloading all photos in date/folder structure.”
“This would be even better.”
“I don't need iCloud Photos Downloader.”
“I've downloaded the entire library to a new Mac. It worked fine.”
“This is awesome! This might be a great replacement”
“Luckily, there is this open-source iCloud Photos Downloader”
“iCloud Photos Downloader simply solves this”
“But it really saves just the raw data. You'd never get it back in to Apple Photos as nice as when you pulled it out.”
“unlike with this open source tool, I can keep advanced data protection enabled.”
“I was happy to learn that someone made an open-source downloader for iCloud.”
“Worked well for me for 70k photos but took a long time”
“it’s a great piece of software”
“the only thing stopping me is eight years of photos. No more.”
“I'd rather have my photos backed up somewhere I own.”
“Glad things like this exist.”
“Here is an open-source command-line tool to download all your iCloud photos.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.