Docs & PDF Q&A
PrivateGPT
Ask questions about your documents completely offline.
★ 57k
September 2026
Apache-2.0
Docs & PDF Q&A
What we checked ourselves
Not copied from the project's own blurb. These are things we opened and verified, with the date.
- 23 Aug 2026We checked that the link to the project still resolves.
- 30 Aug 2026We read the project's own documentation and found no sign that development has stopped.
Where this sits among the 63 tools we list in Docs & PDF Q&A
- No API key required32 of 63
- Keeps your data on your own machine20 of 63
- Commercial use confirmed as allowed52 of 63
- Requires terminal commands20 that do not →
Only 17 of the 63 meet all of the conditions above.
Counted from our own checks: every tool we list is examined against the same criteria.
What it does
PrivateGPT is a pioneering tool that lets you ask an AI questions about your local documents without connecting to the internet. This ensures your data remains private and secure while still leveraging AI for information retrieval.
Summary based on the project's own description. The Japanese page has a fuller beginner guide: setup difficulty, what to prepare, and a step-by-step start.
Screenshots & visuals
Before you start
- Setup difficultyEasy to start
- Command lineRequired
- API keyNot required
- Sends data onlineNo
Judged automatically from the project's own metadata. Always confirm on the official page.
PrivateGPT FAQ
- Is PrivateGPT free?
- Yes. It runs on your own machine, so there is no usage-based cost either.
- Do I need to install anything or write code to use PrivateGPT?
- It needs the command line. If you are not comfortable typing commands, expect to get stuck during setup.
- Does PrivateGPT work on a phone?
- No. It needs a computer.
- Can PrivateGPT run offline?
- Yes. Everything happens on your own machine, so your data is never sent to an outside server. That makes it usable for material you cannot share externally.
- Can I use PrivateGPT commercially?
- The licence is Apache-2.0, which permits commercial use. Conditions such as keeping the copyright notice still apply, so read the licence text before shipping it inside something.
How it compares
The conditions that decide whether you can actually use it, side by side.
| Tool | Command line | API key | Sends data out | Phone | Commercial use |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PrivateGPT (this page) | Required | Not needed | No | No | Yes |
| LangChain | Required | Required | Yes | No | Yes |
| Docling | Required | Not needed | No | No | Yes |
| llm-app | Required | Required | Yes | No | Yes |
"Sends data out" means your input is uploaded to someone's server. Pick "No" when the material cannot leave your organisation.