System Requirements
What your computer needs to run Pluto Photos, including the AI features, stated only where it's actually known rather than guessed.
Operating Systems
Windows — Windows 10 or Windows 11, 64-bit. Installed via a standard NSIS installer.
macOS — macOS 11 (Big Sur) or later, on Apple Silicon (M1 or later) only. Pluto Photos does not ship an Intel build — Apple stopped selling Intel Macs in 2023, and building for that architecture would come at the cost of the AI features' performance on the hardware almost everyone running macOS today actually has.
Linux — 64-bit, distributed as an AppImage (runs on effectively any modern distro without installing anything) or a .deb package for Debian-based systems. A Docker-based server mode is also available for self-hosting.
CPU and GPU
Almost everything runs on CPU on a modern 64-bit machine — face detection, contextual search, background removal, and the click-to-select step of object removal.
The one exception is the generative fill that Object Removal uses to rebuild the background. It runs on a compatible GPU where one is available (DirectML on Windows, Core ML on Apple Silicon), and it is a separate one-time download rather than part of the base install — so a machine without a supported GPU still gets every other feature, and the rest of the app is sized to run well on CPU alone.
Disk Space
Beyond the installer itself, Pluto Photos downloads a set of AI model files (used for face detection, search, background removal and object selection) after installation — collectively on the order of a few hundred megabytes to roughly a gigabyte, fetched once and cached locally. The generative fill model behind object removal is a further ~2.6 GB, downloaded only if and when you first use that tool. On top of that, budget space for your actual photo/video library and its generated thumbnails, same as any photo tool that keeps local thumbnail caches.
Library Size
Pluto Photos is built and tested against libraries in the tens of thousands of photos and videos. Import is designed to stay responsive on large libraries by reading each file once at import time rather than repeatedly, which matters most on a slower disk (an external HDD, for example) rather than an NVMe SSD.
Internet Connection
Not required for day-to-day use — see the offline photo organizer page for what that covers. A connection is needed to download the app, download the AI model files on first run, and activate a Pro license.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Pluto Photos support Windows 7 or 8?
No — Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit, is required.
Can I run Pluto Photos on an Intel Mac?
No. Only Apple Silicon (M1 and later) is supported.
Do I need a gaming GPU for face detection to work?
No. Face detection, search, and background/object removal all run on CPU and don't require a GPU.
How much disk space do I need in total?
The app and its AI models are on the order of a gigabyte; beyond that, plan for your actual photo/video library size plus generated thumbnails.
Try it before you decide
Free up to 500 photos, no account needed. Windows, macOS and Linux. Pro is $29, once.