The therapeutic efficacy of whole tumor cell vaccines (TCVs) is modest, which has delayed their translation into personalized immunotherapies in the clinic. Here, we develop a TCV platform based on photothermal nanoparticle-loaded tumor cells, which can be rationally applied to diverse tumor types to achieve on-demand boost of anti-tumor immune responses for inhibiting tumor growth. During the fabrication process, mild photothermal heating by near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation induces the nanoparticle-bearing tumor cells to express heat shock proteins as endogenous adjuvants. After a single vaccination at the back of tumor-bearing mice, non-invasive NIR laser irradiation further induces mild hyperthermia at vaccination site, which promotes the recruitment, activation, and antigen presentation by dendritic cells. Using an indicator we term fluctuation of tumor growth rate, we determine appropriate irradiation regimens (including optimized irradiation intervals and times). This TCV platform enables on-demand NIR manipulation of immune responses, and we demonstrate potent therapeutic efficacy against six murine models that mimick a range of clinical scenarios, including a model based on humanized mice and patient-derived tumor xenografts.