Runs 100% on your own machine

Talk to your files. Keep them yours.

FileWhisper reads your PDFs, notes and scanned documents and answers questions about them, entirely on your computer. No uploads, no account, and no API key to get started.

FileWhisper (127.0.0.1:8001)

What time is my Indore to Kolkata flight, and when does check-in close?

Your IndiGo flight 6E798 from Indore to Kolkata departs at 8:30 PM on 2 July 2026 and arrives at 10:40 PM. Check-in closes 45 minutes before departure, so make sure you’re at the counter by 7:45 PM.

Itinerary.pdfBoarding_Pass.png

The actual app: a clean local web page that opens in your browser. Answers read like a conversation and cite the files they came from.

Free, no API key needed. Private by design · macOS, Windows & Linux · open source.

See it in action

From folder to answers in one minute.

Watch FileWhisper index a folder of PDFs and scans, then answer questions with citations.

Get going in a minute

Three steps. Then never the terminal again.

Open your terminal

On a Mac, press Command + Space, type “Terminal”, and hit Enter.

Terminal

Paste one line

Paste the install command from above and press Enter. It sets everything up and adds a FileWhisper icon to your Desktop.

Open & ask

Double-click FileWhisper. It opens in your browser. Pick a folder, then just type your question in plain English.

How it compares

Private where the others upload.

Cloud tools make you upload your documents to someone else's server. FileWhisper keeps everything on your machine.

	FileWhisper	ChatGPT / ChatPDF uploads	NotebookLM
Where your files go	Stay on your computer	Uploaded to the cloud	Uploaded to Google
Account needed	None	Yes	Google account
Cost	Free & open source	Free tier, then paid	Free, usage limits
Scanned pages & photos (OCR)	Built in	Varies by plan	Limited
Cites the exact source file	Every answer	Sometimes	Yes
Choice of AI model	Any provider, or the free built-in one	Fixed	Fixed (Gemini)

Your choice of brain

Free to start. Faster with your own key.

FileWhisper works the moment you install it. No signup, no key. Want quicker, sharper answers? Add an API key from any major provider. It’s completely optional, and it’s saved on your computer and used directly.

No key

Just install and ask

A free built-in assistant answers your questions out of the box. Perfect for trying it out and everyday use.

Zero setup, zero cost
Nothing to sign up for
Great for quick lookups

Your key (optional)

Faster & more accurate

Paste a key from any provider (Groq, OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, or any OpenAI-compatible API) in the LLM Settings panel for noticeably quicker, sharper answers. Totally optional.

Use any LLM you like
Snappier, more accurate replies on long documents
Key stays local, never uploaded

Why FileWhisper

Private by design, simple by default.

100% local

Indexing, search and OCR all happen on your machine. Files never leave your computer.

No setup headaches

One command. No Docker, no databases, no Python wrangling. Small install, no PyTorch.

Reads almost anything

PDFs, text and Markdown, plus scanned pages and images via built-in OCR.

Always cites sources

Every answer shows exactly which of your files it came from, so you can trust it.

FileWhisper for Websites

The AI search engine for your website.

One command on your server. Five minutes later, your visitors get an “Ask our docs” search box that answers questions from your own pages, manuals and PDFs, and cites exactly where each answer came from.

How it works

Install like a developer tool, not a platform.

No vector databases to run, no pipelines to build, no AI team required. FileWhisper indexes your documentation on your own server and serves search from there.

Run one command

SSH into your web server and paste the install command. That's the whole setup.

curl … | bash

Pick your content

A setup page opens in your browser. Point and click through your server's folders to choose the docs, manuals and PDFs to include.

It indexes everything

FileWhisper reads your pages and scanned files and builds a search index, right on your server. Your content never leaves it.

Paste one script tag

Copy the snippet it gives you into your site's HTML. The AI search box appears instantly.

Who it's for

Anywhere people dig through documents.

Product & API docs

Let developers ask questions instead of hunting through pages. Every answer links back to the exact doc.

Universities & research

Course portals, lab knowledge bases and paper collections become searchable. Students get cited answers.

Company knowledge

Policies, handbooks and internal manuals, searchable in plain language on your intranet.

Manuals & standards

Equipment manuals, standards libraries and government portals, including scanned PDFs via OCR.

Pricing

The desktop app is free. Websites pay for scale.

FileWhisper Desktop stays free and open source. FileWhisper for Websites is the commercial product for organizations.

Community

Free

forever

For personal sites, small docs and trying it out.

Up to 500 pages indexed
One website
Cited answers out of the box
Community support

Get it on your website first.

Join the waitlist

Tell us about your website and where we can reach you when integration is ready.