PhotoCore Light
$0
Free
- Up to 200 indexed photos
- Semantic search
- Local AI processing
- Standard, RAW and short-video formats, full list in Technical specs
- Web Story up to 10 photos
ArchiveFindRememberShare
The private home for your whole photo life.
On your Mac. No cloud. No subscription. Archive your folders, drives and NAS, find any photo by describing it, and share it your way.
Compatible with
M1M2M3M4M5
macOS 26.4+ required
Watch the demo
New in PhotoCore 1.9Isolate the selection, filter by Picks and export copies with the star in the metadata. Originals are left untouched.Read what's new →
Archive · Find · Remember · Share
One home, four promises
Archive any folder, phone or drive. Find anything by describing it. Remember it with Constellation, Semantic Bridge and Stories. And share it from your Mac, with no subscription.
Bring every photo home
Apple Photos, phone, folders and drives: verified, incremental import, RAW included.
Find it like you remember it
Describe the scene: semantic search with people, places, dates and quality, even with the drive unplugged.
Turn your archive into stories
Web Story, photo book, Short, Constellation and Poster, built on your Mac.
Keep it private and yours
Local AI, no account, no cloud, one-time purchase.
Bring photos home
Every part of your photo life. One private home.
Three roads to the same place: a verified copy, on space you own, that PhotoCore keeps searchable.
Your Apple Photos library, in folders you own
Originals and current edits to your Mac or an external drive, verified file by file. Later runs copy only what is new. Nothing is ever changed in Apple Photos.
Your phone is full. Bring it home, verified
Photos and videos from iPhone, Android and PTP cameras to a destination you choose, checked byte for byte. Never a deletion on the phone.
The drive in your drawer is still searchable
Index folders, external drives and NAS without moving your files. RAW files stay RAW: PhotoCore uses their embedded JPEG preview for search, Best Shot and Stories.
PhotoCore does not develop or edit RAW files. The original file stays untouched.
The Interface
A Gallery That Understands Your Content
Browse thousands of photos, diagrams and infographics through a fluid grid. Find with a sentence, rename with local AI in one click. Everything instant, everything on your Mac.
Smart Rename With Local AI
Local AI analyzes every image and generates a meaningful descriptive name. Properly named files are easier to find, organize and recall.
BeforeIMG_7843.png
Aftersales-flow-diagram.png
Search by Meaning, Not Filename
Describe what you’re looking for in natural language. PhotoCore finds photos, infographics and diagrams regardless of filename.
business model diagramQ3 presentation coversunset at the beach
But I already have Apple Photos: isn't that enough? See the comparison →
Remember & share
One archive. Five ways to share.
Create a web Story, a print-ready photo book, a 30-second vertical Short, an interactive Constellation, or a color-sorted Poster. Everything is built on your Mac.
One file. Opens anywhere. Offline.
Pick a trip, a person, or a search result. PhotoCore chooses the best shots and lays them out, and you can edit every Story text. You get a single file that opens in any browser, with no link that expires and no tracking. Share it by AirDrop, message or email.
- Built entirely on your Mac. Photos never leave it.
- The file you share carries no location data.
- Web Story and print-ready PDF photo book.
- Vertical 9:16 Short up to 30 seconds.
- Interactive Constellation exported as a single HTML file.
- Color-sorted Poster and Best Shot star on the recommended photo.
Explore beyond search
Two new ways to see your archive
Beyond search and rename, PhotoCore turns your photos into something to explore: a map of semantic groups and a narrative bridge between two images. All local, on your Mac.
Constellation
Turn a search into a navigable visual map of semantic groups. Organize a photo shoot in one click and understand thousands of images in seconds.
Semantic Bridge
Find the "story" that connects two photos: a sequence of real images from your archive that reveals hidden connections and narrative steps.
Try it now · Free · In your browser
Try it right now, with nothing to download
Six free tools run the same PhotoCore AI, SigLIP 2, directly in your browser. Pick a folder: your photos never leave your computer. No account, no upload.
Free Semantic Photo SearchSearch your photos by describing them.AI Photo OrganizerAuto-group photos by visual content.Free Duplicate Photo FinderExact and near-duplicates, read-only.Constellation mapYour folder as a map of groups.Semantic BridgeThe path of photos between two photos.Free Best Shot PickerThe best shot of every burst, explained.
Open the free tools
Works in Chrome, Edge, Safari and Firefox · up to 200 photos · nothing to install
How It Works
Find, Rename, Rediscover. All Local.
Select a folder, local AI indexes and renames files, then search everything with natural phrases. Three steps, zero cloud.
01
Select Your Folder
Open PhotoCore and choose a folder of images, photos, diagrams or infographics. The app scans recursively and counts files, estimating indexing time.
02
Index & Rename With Local AI
PhotoCore analyzes each image with SigLIP 2 on the Apple Neural Engine. Local AI generates descriptive names (e.g. “sales-flow-diagram.png” instead of “IMG_7843.png”) and saves 768-d vectors to local cache and XMP metadata.
03
Search With Words, Find Everything
Type what you’re looking for, “Q3 cover”, “architecture diagram”, “team photo”. PhotoCore finds content by semantic meaning, ranking by relevance. No file ever leaves your Mac.
Privacy
Your Privacy Is Non-Negotiable
No photo ever leaves your Mac. AI runs locally on the Apple Neural Engine. No account, no connection required.
- No connection required for search
- No account to create
- No photos uploaded to the cloud
- Embeddings saved locally (SQLite + XMP)
- Optional: API Key stored in macOS Keychain
- Apple App Sandbox for maximum isolation
Pricing
One home. Two editions.
Start free with 200 photos. Unlock your complete archive with one payment. No subscription.
PhotoCore Full
$29.99$59.99
Until September 15, then $59.99
- Complete archive, no 200-photo limit
- All released features
- One payment, yours forever
- Family Sharing included
Technical Specs
Built for Your Mac
Native macOS app for Apple silicon, M1 or later. Local AI SigLIP 2 via CoreML. Zero cloud dependencies.
| Chip | Apple silicon, M1 or later |
|---|---|
| System | macOS 26.4 or later |
| AI Encoder | SigLIP 2 via CoreML (Apple Neural Engine) |
| Search | Fast on-device similarity search |
| LLM | Local AI via CoreML + optional custom endpoint |
| Photo formats | JPG, PNG, HEIC, TIFF, WebP, GIF, BMP |
| RAW formats | CR2, CR3, NEF, ARW, RAF, DNG, embedded preview, original untouched |
| Video formats | MOV and MP4, short videos up to 30 seconds |
FAQ
Common Questions
In which languages can I search my images?
More than 100 languages. The local SigLIP 2 model understands queries in English, Italian, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Korean, Arabic, Russian and many more, search in your own language, no setup required.
Does PhotoCore work without internet?
Yes, everything works offline. Search and rename AI runs locally on the Apple Neural Engine. External endpoints are only an advanced option for those who want it.
Are my photos uploaded anywhere?
Never. Indexing happens entirely on your Mac via CoreML and the Apple Neural Engine. No pixel ever leaves your computer.
Is there a subscription?
No subscription. PhotoCore Light is free, with up to 200 indexed photos. PhotoCore Full is a one-time purchase: $29.99 with the Early Bird offer until September 15, then $59.99. You pay once. Family Sharing is included.
Can I share photos without uploading them?
Yes. Stories turns any set of photos into a single web page or a print-ready PDF photo book, built entirely on your Mac. In 1.6 you can also export a 30-second vertical Short, an interactive Constellation as a single HTML file, and a color-sorted Poster. Nothing is uploaded, and the shared file carries no location data.
How many photos can I index?
PhotoCore Light indexes up to 200 photos. Start on your Mac with 200 photos. Unlock PhotoCore Full to index your complete archive across folders, external drives, and NAS. Supported formats: JPEG, PNG, HEIC, TIFF, WebP, GIF and BMP, plus CR2, CR3, NEF, ARW, RAF and DNG RAW files.
Is it compatible with Intel Macs?
No, PhotoCore requires Apple silicon, M1 or later to leverage CoreML and the Apple Neural Engine.