Curlo
Curlo is a desktop application for macOS that leverages on-device artificial intelligence to manage and search audio libraries. It enables users to find sound effects, samples, and music by describing the desired sound in natural language, eliminating the need to recall exact filenames or metadata tags. The app processes all data locally, ensuring that neither audio files nor search queries are ever uploaded to the cloud, prioritizing user privacy. Beyond semantic search, Curlo offers metadata search and editing, similar audio search from reference files or clips, custom tagging, and classification using the Universal Category System. It integrates seamlessly with digital audio workstations and video editors through drag-and-drop, and provides a local API for custom workflow automation. A free tier supports up to 5,000 indexed files, while Pro and Lifetime plans unlock unlimited files, metadata writing, batch AI tagging, and priority support. Designed for sound designers, video editors, musicians, and content creators, Curlo streamlines the organization and retrieval of large sound libraries, supporting up to 100,000 audio files with smooth performance.
- Category
- Video
- Pricing
- Free
Problem solved
Curlo solves the challenge of locating specific audio files within large, unorganized libraries. Traditional methods rely on manual tagging or precise filename recall; Curlo uses on-device AI to enable searching by sound semantics, making the process faster and more intuitive.
Use cases
- Find sound effects by describing them in natural language
- Organize a large personal sound library with tags and UCS categories
- Drag and drop audio clips directly into DAWs or video editors
- Search for similar sounding audio files using a reference clip
- Batch tag and categorize sound files using AI
- Integrate Curlo into custom workflows via local API
Audience
- Content Creators
- Hobbyists
- Developers
Pros
- Privacy-first, all local processing
- Semantic search in natural language
- Integrates with DAWs and editors
- Supports large libraries (tested up to 100k files)
- One-time purchase lifetime option
Cons
- Mac only (Apple Silicon, macOS 14.6+)
- Free tier limited to 5,000 files
- No Windows/Linux version
- Requires local AI processing, may be resource-intensive
- Paid features needed for metadata writing and API
Official website: https://curlo.ahrisy.com/
Canonical LambdaBase page: https://www.lambdabase.com/tools/curlo