Eagle
A desktop asset manager that tags, sorts and searches huge local libraries of images and video.
why this verdict
Keep paying — Microsoft has not replaced it
Microsoft's version overlaps, but does not finish the design job, so this one still earns its $30/mo.
- A named launch, not a vibe named, unlinked
- Copilot-style semantic file search making manual tagging feel unnecessary. Microsoft, February 21, 2025 — no announcement link recorded yet.
- How much of the job it covers not the job editorial call
- Parts of it. The job still needs the tool to get finished.
- Is there a free way to do it? yes
- 3 of 3 listed replacements have a usable free tier: Raycast, Are.na and Adobe Bridge.
- What the call is worth $360/yr
- $30/mo at the entry paid tier — $360 a year per seat.
- Threatened by
- Microsoft
- Since
- February 21, 2025
- List price
- $30/mo
- Per year
- $360
The backstory
Eagle is a local-first library for designers drowning in screenshots, fonts, references and client assets. OS-level semantic search now finds pictures by description, which chips away at the reason to tag anything by hand. Eagle still wins on scale and control: colour search, duplicate handling, custom folders and a library that lives on your own disk. Professionals with tens of thousands of files keep it because generic search does not manage a collection.
Escape hatches
Fast local search and launcher with extensions
raycast.com open_in_newCloud-based collections if you do not need local files
are.na open_in_newFree asset browser bundled with Creative Cloud
adobe.com open_in_new3 of 3 replacements have a usable free tier.