Culvia vs Selekt
Culvia
github.com
Selekt
selekt.photosSide by side
| Figure | Culvia | Selekt |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | A$16/mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 0 | 4 |
| Spec score · Photo Culling Software | 7.7 (#18) | 8.5 (#5) |
| Integrations | Exported CSVs include helper columns mapped to Lightroom and Capture One ratings, flags, and color labels; writing XMP, sessions, catalogs, or sidecar files is described as future work. | Selekt exports XMP sidecars for Lightroom Classic, Capture One, and Adobe Bridge. |
| Intended users | It is aimed at photographers reviewing similar frames from portraits, events, weddings, street sessions, practice shoots, editorial selects, and personal archives. | The Pro plan is described as being for working photographers and includes room for client galleries. |
| Purpose | Culvia is a local-first photo culling, scoring, review, and delivery workbench for photographers. | Selekt is a desktop photo library management application designed for photographers, providing import, organization, culling, rating, RAW processing, tagging, and optional cloud AI and synchronization. |
| What it does | Culvia is a local-first photo culling, scoring, review, and delivery workbench for photographers. | Selekt is a desktop photo-culling and library-management application for photographers. |
Plans
In their own words
Culvia
Culvia is a local-first workbench for photographers to cull, score, review, and prepare photos for delivery. It can import folders or temporary uploads, scan subfolders, and deduplicate repeated paths. Local models score images for aesthetic and technical qualities and generate thumbnails for browsing. An optional OpenAI-compatible vision review can add image critique, subscores, retouching advice, and shooting advice. Photographers make the final selections by marking images as picks, holds, or rejects, with star ratings and color labels also available. Filters and sorting cover recommendations, technical quality, AI review, manual status, and other review dimensions. Culvia exports picked photos and CSV results for later editing and delivery; documented CSV fields map to Lightroom ratings, flags, and color labels, and to Capture One ratings and color tags. Photos and working data stay on the user's machine by default; images go to an external service only when vision review is enabled. The project is free and open source, with desktop packages for macOS, Windows, and Linux and a local web app. It is early-stage and does not replace a full RAW editor.
Selekt
Selekt is a desktop photo library manager for photographers, with tools to import, organize, cull, rate, process RAW images, and tag photos. It groups bursts, similar frames, and duplicates for comparison, while on-device scoring checks focus, exposure, and blur using profiles for weddings, portraits, sports, and events. Optional cloud analysis can flag closed eyes, create face close-ups, and tag subjects and scenes for search. Importing, manual culling, and export work offline; cloud AI, sync, and client proofing need an internet connection. The app runs on Apple silicon and Intel Macs and has a 64-bit installer for Windows 10 and 11. Supported formats include camera RAW files such as CR2/CR3, NEF, ARW, RAF, RW2, ORF, PEF, SRW, and DNG, plus JPEG, TIFF, PNG, HEIC, and HEIF. XMP sidecars can be exported for Lightroom Classic, Capture One, and Adobe Bridge. Import, culling, and export do not require sign-in; a free account enables AI scoring and grouping. The Free plan includes cloud AI for 100 photos/month and 1 GB sync and client proofing. Pro costs A$16 a month and includes unlimited cloud AI and 10 GB sync and client proofing.