What Is Excire Foto?
Excire Foto is a standalone photo and video management program for Windows and macOS that adds AI search and selection tools to a local photo library. Excire states that everything runs on your computer and that the program does not send data to external parties. Excire Foto 2027 was announced on 15 June 2026 and became available on 16 June 2026.
The maker is Pattern Recognition Company GmbH in Lübeck, Germany. Excire also sells Excire Search, a separate plugin for Adobe Lightroom Classic, and an Excire Foto Office Edition for Windows 11 on a subscription; this review covers the consumer product Excire Foto 2027. Excire's news page lists a TIPA World Award entry dated 17 April 2026 and an EISA award entry dated 18 September 2026; PromptQuorum did not check those awards with the award bodies.
Get It
Excire Foto is a double-click installer for Windows and macOS; you then sign in with an Excire account and activate it with a code or start the 14-day trial.
Option | How to get it |
|---|---|
| Product page | excire.com/en/excire-foto |
| Free trial | 14-day trial, no payment method required |
| Buy | Excire shop: one-time purchase; the shop page shows no price |
| Windows | Installer .exe for Windows 11, linked from the download article |
| Mac | Separate Apple silicon and Intel .dmg downloads, same download article |
| Privacy statement | Excire privacy statement: covers the website, not in-app behaviour |
| Source code | None: proprietary software |
Version reviewed: Excire Foto 2027, version 5.0.2. The launch post lists a regular price of $249 (€229) and a limited-time introductory price of $219 (€199) for new customers; the shop page shows no price, so confirm the current price at checkout. Excire Foto 2025 and older versions are still listed in the shop.
Requirements
Excire lists Windows 11 or macOS 12 or later, a 64-bit processor with AVX support, and at least 8 GB of RAM, with 16 GB or more recommended.
Operating system
- What the sources say:
- macOS 12 or later, or Windows 11 (x86, 64-bit); the shop page says it is not optimized for Snapdragon/ARM Windows
Mac processors
- What the sources say:
- Separate downloads for Apple silicon and Intel Macs
Processor
- What the sources say:
- Multi-core 64-bit CPU with AVX; older AMD Phenom II/Athlon II and Intel Core 2 Duo are not supported
Memory
- What the sources say:
- 8 GB minimum, 16 GB or more recommended
Disk space
- What the sources say:
- About 900 MB per 100,000 photos for databases, and about 25 GB for previews at the highest quality with RAW files
GPU
- What the sources say:
- No GPU requirement is listed
Windows HEIC
- What the sources say:
- HEIC files need the Microsoft HEIF and HEVC extensions to display
These minimums come from Excire's shop and product pages; PromptQuorum did not measure analysis time or memory use on any hardware.
How to Get Started
These steps follow Excire's product, trial and download pages; PromptQuorum has not run them.
- 1Download the installer
Why it matters: Take the Windows .exe or the Apple silicon or Intel .dmg from Excire's download article, then run the installer or mount the disk image. - 2Create an account and activate
Why it matters: Excire says an Excire user account is required and the software must be activated once with an activation code; the trial runs for 14 days without a payment method. - 3Back up, then add your folders
Why it matters: Excire advises backing up an existing database first, because a database migrated to version 5.x cannot be opened by older versions. - 4Let the analysis finish
Why it matters: Photos must be analysed before content search works; Excire says existing photos need re-analysis to use the new text search.
Key Features
Every item below comes from Excire's product page, launch post or version comparison; none has been tested by PromptQuorum.
- Search. Free-text content search, similar-image search, people search, scene and object recognition, and a combined search and filter bar.
- Text recognition. Excire Foto 2027 reads text in images, such as signs and documents, and highlights matches in the preview.
- Keywords and duplicates. Automatic keywording for photos and videos, and a duplicate search.
- Culling. Sharpness checks, a smart selection, a survey view for comparing images, a 3×3 grid and focus peaking.
- Library. Collections, ratings, colour labels, flags, metadata editing, a world map view, a timeline graph and RAW support.
- Sharing. Collection sharing through Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive and Nextcloud.
AI Features and Where They Run
The AI is image-based: it recognises content, faces and text in your photos so you can search and select them; no chat assistant or language model is described.
- Content search. You type what is in the picture and the program finds matching photos; Excire does not name the models behind it.
- People. Faces are found and grouped so you can search for and name people, and write person names to files when saving metadata.
- Text in images. New in 2027; existing photos must be analysed again before their text can be searched.
- Where it runs. Excire says all processing happens locally on your computer with no cloud dependency and that photos are not uploaded for analysis.
Data Flow and Privacy
Excire's product page says "Everything runs locally, your photos stay on your computer" and "Excire Foto does not send any data to external parties". In the product FAQ, Excire answers "No" to whether photos are uploaded for analysis and says it does not use a cloud solution.
Three things reach outside according to the sources. Activation needs an Excire user account and an activation code; the website privacy statement says activation codes are generated by the provider 10Duke and that registration stores name, email address, password, a hardware identifier, the product name and a timestamp. Checkout runs through FastSpring. Cloud sharing through Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive or Nextcloud sends the shared photos to those services when you use it. The privacy statement covers the website, and it does not describe update checks, crash reports or what the program does on a network after activation.
📌Note: These are the vendor's declarations, not audit results. Excire does not state whether the program works fully offline after activation, and PromptQuorum has not inspected network traffic.
Who Should Use It
- Photographers with large local libraries who want search by content, people and text without uploading to a cloud service.
- People who dislike subscriptions and prefer a one-time purchase, accepting paid major upgrades.
- Users who cull many similar shots and want sharpness checks and a comparison view.
What We Could Not Verify
- Maintenance. The 5.0.2 installers date from 15 July 2026 and no changelog exists, so it is unclear whether further updates are planned.
- AI quality. Search relevance, face grouping, text recognition and speed were not tested.
- Offline use. Excire's activation article says the code is entered only once and that afterwards logging in to (and staying logged in to) your Excire account activates the software; it does not say whether this works without an internet connection.
- Price. The shop page shows no price; the figures come from Excire's launch post and may have changed.
- Languages and GPU. The app's interface languages and any GPU benefit are not listed in the sources read.
Competitors and Alternatives
The directory has three photo-library tools with a review; all three list an AGPL-3.0 licence, unlike the closed-source Excire Foto.
Immich
- Platforms:
- Server (Docker), phone apps, browser
- Price / license:
- Free / AGPL-3.0
- Key difference:
- Self-hosted server with phone backup; setup needs Docker, and it is open source
Articles about Immich (1)
- Immich Review: Self-Hosted Photo Library with Smart SearchUpdated October 26, 2026
Also mentioned in:
- Facet Review: Local Photo Scoring, Culling and GalleryUpdated October 28, 2026
PhotoPrism
- Platforms:
- Server (Docker), browser
- Price / license:
- Free Community / AGPL-3.0
- Key difference:
- Self-hosted web app with built-in AI labels, not a desktop program
Articles about PhotoPrism (1)
- PhotoPrism Review: Self-Hosted AI Photo Library for Your ServerUpdated October 24, 2026
Ente Photos
- Platforms:
- iOS, Android, desktop, web
- Price / license:
- Free 10 GB, paid plans / AGPL-3.0
- Key difference:
- Encrypted cloud storage with on-device AI; no local library manager
Articles about Ente Photos (1)
- Ente Photos Review: Encrypted Backup with On-Device AI SearchUpdated October 24, 2026
Confirm each app's current price, license and platforms on its own page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Excire Foto a local LLM?
No. The sources describe image, face and text recognition for photo search, and they name no chat feature or language model.
Does Excire Foto work offline?
Excire says processing runs locally on your computer, but it also says an Excire account and an activation code are required to activate the software; whether it runs without internet after activation is not stated.
How much does Excire Foto cost?
The shop page shows no price. Excire's June 2026 launch post lists a regular price of $249 (€229) and a limited-time introductory price of $219 (€199); a trial is free for 14 days.
Do I have to pay for updates?
Excire says bug fixes and minor improvements are free, while upgrades with major improvements are paid, with a substantial discount for existing customers.
Can I try it before buying?
Yes: Excire offers a 14-day trial for Windows or Mac and says no payment method is required. The trial page does not list feature limits.
Is the project still maintained?
Unclear. The installers for version 5.0.2 were last modified on 15 July 2026 and Excire publishes no changelog, so treat it as possibly unmaintained and check the support site before buying.
Verdict
Excire Foto offers AI search, people search, text recognition and culling that run on your own computer, for a one-time purchase with a 14-day trial, according to its maker. Against that, it is closed source, it requires an Excire account and activation code, its offline behaviour after activation is not stated, major versions are paid upgrades, the shop page shows no price, and the newest installers date from 15 July 2026, which triggers a stale-project warning. It suits Windows 11 and macOS photographers who value a local, subscription-free tool and will run the trial first; anyone who needs a maintained, open-source or self-hosted solution should look elsewhere.
Sources
- Excire Foto product page — features, local-processing statements, activation and upgrade policy, checked 28 October 2026.
- Excire shop — system requirements and purchase models, checked 28 October 2026.
- Excire trial page — 14-day trial terms, checked 28 October 2026.
- Excire Foto 2027 launch post — release date, new features and list price, published 15 June 2026.
- Excire news — award entries, checked 28 October 2026.
- Excire support download article — version 5.0.2 and installers, checked 28 October 2026.
- Excire privacy statement — website data processing, activation provider and checkout, checked 28 October 2026.