Rock-Solid Local Privacy
Google analyses your images on its servers to profile you and optimise its systems. PhotoCore does the exact opposite: all AI runs on the processor cores of your Mac. No external server, no tracking, no profiling.
Comparison
PhotoCore vs Google Photos
Google Photos is the benchmark for AI visual search, but the price is high: your photos are analysed on Google's servers to build user profiles, images get compressed, and you must pay Google One as your archive grows. PhotoCore offers the same semantic search intelligence — entirely on your Mac, with absolute privacy and a single one-time purchase.
Zero profiling
Originals intact
Offline archives
One-time purchase
Direct Comparison
Feature comparison
Same AI search power, diametrically opposite philosophy: cloud with profiling vs local intelligence with total privacy.
| Feature | Google Photos | PhotoCore |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Recurring Google One subscription | Free (Light) / €29.99 one-time |
| Data privacy | Google cloud — user profiling | 100% local — zero tracking |
| AI semantic search | Yes (Google cloud) | Yes — 100% local, fully offline |
| Photo compression | Yes (Storage saver mode) | No — originals always untouched |
| Offline external disk archives | No — requires cloud upload | Yes — search while disconnected |
| Tracking & profiling | Yes | No — pure local architecture |
| AI smart rename | No | Yes — based on visual content |
| Offline availability | Limited (requires internet) | Full — everything local |
Why PhotoCore
Same AI, total privacy
The fundamental difference is not the quality of the search — it's where the processing happens and who has access to your data.
No Photo Compression
Google Photos compresses your images in "Storage saver" mode to reduce costs on its servers. PhotoCore never touches original files: it only creates a local vector index and separate thumbnails, preserving 100% of your RAW and original quality.
Offline Archives, Always Searchable
Google Photos only works if files are uploaded to the cloud. PhotoCore lets you index entire photographic collections stored on external hard drives or NAS units, keeping them safe but fully searchable by meaning at any time.
Smart Investment, Once
Stop paying Big Tech every month for online storage. With PhotoCore's one-time licence, the only storage limit is the size of your physical disks — no fees that grow with your archive.
Deep Dive
Google analyses your photos — PhotoCore doesn't.
Architecture is the Guarantee
With PhotoCore, privacy is not a promise — it is a technical impossibility for data to leave the device. SigLIP 2 runs on the Apple Neural Engine directly in your Mac's chip. Visual embeddings are computed locally and saved in a SQLite database on your disk. No external server ever receives anything.
- No internet connection required for search
- No account to create, no email required
- Apple App Sandbox for maximum process isolation
Works offline: PhotoCore requires no internet connection to index, search, or rename photos. Everything runs on your Mac's Apple Neural Engine. A connection is only used, optionally, for custom AI endpoints that the user explicitly configures.
Your Historical Archives, Always Searchable
Google Photos requires uploading files to the cloud to find them. PhotoCore lets you index years of archives stored on external drives in your drawer: after indexing, you can semantically search the entire historical photo collection even when the drives are disconnected — Google Photos cannot do this.
- Index external drives, NAS, historical archives
- Lightweight thumbnail cache for offline browsing
- No upload needed — zero cloud storage costs
Multilingual semantic search: Like Google Photos, PhotoCore understands queries in 100+ languages via the SigLIP 2 tokenizer. Search in English, Italian, Spanish, or any other language — the model understands without configuration. All local, all instant.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Google Photos analyse my photos?
Yes. Google Photos uploads and analyses your photos on Google's servers to build user profiles and feed its systems. PhotoCore performs all visual analysis entirely locally on your Mac via CoreML on the Apple Neural Engine: no data, no image, no embedding ever leaves the device.
Does PhotoCore offer the same AI search quality as Google Photos?
Yes, for visual semantic search. PhotoCore uses SigLIP 2 via CoreML — an enterprise-grade model — to understand photo content and answer natural language queries. The difference is where the processing happens: locally on your Mac, not on Google's servers.
Can I stop using Google Photos and switch to PhotoCore?
Yes, if you use Google Photos mainly for AI search and organisation. Download your photos via Google Takeout, index them with PhotoCore, and get the same visual intelligence with total privacy. If you use Google Photos mainly to sync with Android devices, you may want to keep a separate backup solution for that.
Does PhotoCore compress photos like Google Photos?
No. PhotoCore never touches original files. Google Photos in "Storage saver" mode compresses images, reducing quality. PhotoCore only creates a local vector index (SQLite) and separate thumbnails for fast browsing. Your originals, RAWs and HEICs included, are always 100% intact.
Get Started Free
Try PhotoCore — Free up to 200 photos
Download PhotoCore for free. The Light version is free forever up to 200 images. Full access unlocks with a one-time purchase — no subscription ever.