PDF Pals
Instantly chat with any PDF on your Mac
Overview
PDF Pals is a privacy-focused, native macOS application that lets you chat with PDF documents using AI without uploading files to the cloud. With a powerful OCR engine for scanned documents, no file size limits (tested with 2000+ page documents), and support for complex forms, PDF Pals enables you to extract insights, ask questions, and get answers with cited sources directly from your PDFs. Chat with multiple PDFs simultaneously to gather broader research, customize AI settings including temperature and language, and rest assured knowing your documents stay on your Mac with API keys stored securely in Apple Keychain. Perfect for academic research, legal document review, content analysis, and any workflow requiring deep document understanding, PDF Pals supports OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, and OpenRouter with GPT-4 and Claude compatibility.
Pricing: Personal: $29 (1 device) | Standard: $49 (3 devices) | Free trial available | Also on Setapp ($9.99/month)
Minimum macOS: 13.0 (Ventura)
Architecture: Apple Silicon, Intel
Key Features
- Chat with PDF documents locally without cloud uploads
- No file size limits - tested with 2000+ page documents
- Powerful OCR engine for scanned PDFs and complex forms
- Chat with multiple PDFs simultaneously for broader research
- Source citations showing where information originates in documents
- Complete privacy - files never leave your Mac
- API keys stored securely in Apple Keychain
- No in-app analytics or tracking
- Support for OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, and OpenRouter APIs
- GPT-4, GPT-4o, GPT-4 32K, and Anthropic Claude v2 compatibility
- Customizable AI settings: temperature, model selection, system prompts
- Multi-language response support
- Markdown output formatting
- Automatic redaction of sensitive information
- Audio playback and screenshot chat capabilities
- Local SQLite database storage
- 14-day money back guarantee
- One-time purchase with 1 year of updates (no subscription required)
- Available on Setapp subscription service
- Notarized by Apple for verified security