Last updated 08-30-2026
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PDF Pals
PDF Pals lets you open any PDF on your Mac and ask questions about it in plain language, with answers tied to specific pages in the source file. The native macOS app indexes documents locally instead of uploading them to a cloud server, which makes it a fit for researchers, developers, legal teams, and product managers handling long technical or legal PDFs.
Most ChatPDF tools run in the browser and send your files to their servers for indexing. PDF Pals embeds documents on your machine with an open-source model, so a 2,000-page PDF costs nothing to process beyond your own API usage. You buy a perpetual license once ($60 to $300) instead of paying a monthly SaaS fee for document hosting.
You bring your own API key from OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, or OpenRouter, or point the app at a custom OpenAI-compatible endpoint. PDF Pals supports multi-document chats with no file size cap, OCR for scanned PDFs, and automatic redaction of emails, phone numbers, and credit card numbers before prompts leave your Mac.
The app is built by Podzim LLC, the team behind BoltAI and KTool. Files stay local, API keys sit in the Apple Keychain, training data lives in a local SQLite database, and the app ships without in-app analytics.
Chat with multiple PDFs in one session with no file size limit
Indexes and embeds documents locally using an open-source model at no ingestion cost
OCR extracts text from scanned PDFs and complex form layouts
Connects to OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, OpenRouter, Mistral, Perplexity, or custom endpoints
Redacts emails, phone numbers, and credit cards before prompts are sent to your API provider
Perpetual licenses from $60 (1 device) to $300 (5 devices) with one year of free updates
Documents stay on your Mac with local indexing and no cloud vector database.
One-time perpetual license pricing with no recurring PDF Pals subscription.
Supports multiple API providers and custom OpenAI-compatible endpoints.
Built-in redaction catches emails, phone numbers, and credit cards before API calls.
Available on macOS only; no Windows or Linux release yet.
Requires your own API key and pays per-token usage to the model provider.
Supports PDF files only; other document types are not available yet.
Does PDF Pals offer a free plan?
PDF Pals offers a free trial download, but ongoing use requires a paid perpetual license. Plans on pdfpals.com/buy are Basic ($60), Pro ($180), and Team 5 ($300), each with a one-time payment and one year of free updates.
What do I need to run PDF Pals?
PDF Pals requires macOS Ventura 13 or later, an OpenAI API key or OpenAI-compatible service, and an internet connection for model responses. No PDF Pals account is required to start.
Does PDF Pals upload my PDF files?
No. PDF Pals processes and stores documents on your Mac. The site states files are not uploaded to PDF Pals servers, and chat training data is kept in a local SQLite database.
Does PDF Pals support scanned PDFs?
Yes. PDF Pals uses OCR to extract text from scanned PDFs and complex forms before chat indexing begins.
Can I chat with multiple PDFs at once in PDF Pals?
Yes. PDF Pals supports multi-document chats. Select multiple PDFs and open them together in the app to ask questions across the full set.
Is PDF Pals available on Windows or Linux?
No. PDF Pals is macOS only. The FAQ notes Windows support is on the public roadmap but not available yet.
Can PDF Pals use GPT-4 or other models?
Yes, if your API key has GPT-4 access. PDF Pals also supports OpenRouter, which can route to GPT-4, Claude, and other models listed in the app.