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Best free tools to chat with your PDFs and documents

Ask questions about contracts, reports and notes, with answers that point to the source.

  1. Chat with your documents privately using any AI model
    ★ 67.9kstars
    anything-llm by Mintplex-Labs · Free alternative to ChatPDF, NotebookLM
    Desktop app, no setup beyond install
    No codingDesktop appHealthy
  2. Chat with your documents and make podcasts from them, like NotebookLM
    ★ 41.5kstars
    open-notebook by lfnovo · Free alternative to NotebookLM
    Private NotebookLM with audio summaries
    Some setupSelf-hosted appHealthy
  3. Build an AI that answers questions from your documents
    ★ 93.5kstars
    ragflow by infiniflow · Free alternative to Glean, ChatPDF
    Handles complex documents and tables well
    Some setupSelf-hosted appHealthy
  4. Research and write with a private NotebookLM alternative
    ★ 16.8kstars
    SurfSense by MODSetter · Free alternative to NotebookLM, Perplexity
    Connects files, Notion, Slack and the web
    Some setupSelf-hosted appHealthy
  5. Ask questions about your documents with fully private AI
    ★ 57.6kstars
    private-gpt by zylon-ai · Free alternative to ChatPDF
    Fully private, for sensitive files
    Some setupSelf-hosted appHealthy

Ranked for people new to AI: ease of use first, then quality, upkeep and popularity. Last checked 4 Nov 2026.

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