Phrasea

Phrasea is the open-source digital asset management system from Paris-based Alchemy. Rewritten from the ground up, it replaces Phraseanet in 2026 after around 20 years of development. It focuses on managing, tagging and publishing photos, videos, audio and documents for public institutions, media organisations, cultural institutions and businesses.

Features

• Workspaces, nested collections and configurable metadata models with multilingual fields
• Elasticsearch search with facets and its own query language (AQL)
• AI indexing through third-party providers, including AWS Rekognition, Transcribe and Translate
• Expose: a mini CMS for publishing galleries, with public, password-protected or login-based access and delivery via CDN
• Uploader for large files, plus an API and webhooks
• Asset review and annotation, versioning
• SaaS or self-hosted deployment using Docker or Kubernetes

Deployment and security

Alchemy offers Phrasea as SaaS. Alternatively, the software can be deployed on-premises using Docker or Kubernetes, or in a hybrid environment. Hosting locations and certifications are not specified. The website’s legal notice lists AWS as its hosting provider.

Integration with PIM and other systems

Phrasea does not have its own PIM module. The vendor describes data exchange with a PIM through image import and transfer back to the PIM, without naming specific systems. An API reference and webhooks are documented.

Who Phrasea is suited to

According to the vendor, the solution is aimed at public administrations, media organisations, cultural institutions, tourism, luxury goods, retail, industry and photographers.

Pricing

Alchemy does not publish prices. It offers demos, installation and training services, blocks of consulting hours and maintenance contracts.

Ownership

Phrasea and Phraseanet are developed and distributed by Alchemy (Paris). The company does not mention any investors or acquisitions. Phraseanet (GPLv3) is being replaced in 2026 by the newly developed, MIT-licensed Phrasea.

Find more vendors in our overview of DAM vendors. We explain how DAM and PIM work together in our PIM selection section.

Sources

• Phraseanet: Legal notice (Alchemy)
• Phraseanet: Homepage (replacement by Phrasea)
• Phrasea: Features
• GitHub: alchemy-fr/phrasea
• Phrasea: Technical documentation
• Phraseanet: Services

As of 30 October 2026. Information based on the vendor and the sources listed.