Kitsmith / Utilities / PDF Pals
PDF Pals
$60 one-time (1 device) up to $300 (5-device team) at source; or via Setapp from $14.99/mo with bundled AI credits
Price checked at source August 28, 2026.
Chat with your PDFs using local AI — ask questions and get cited answers, with documents processed on-device instead of uploaded.
Our take
The odd one out in this section — not an editor at all, but a local AI chat interface over PDF content, with answers cited back to source pages. Pricing runs notably higher than the rest of this list: $60–$300 one-time from the developer’s own site (per-device tiers), or via Setapp from $14.99/mo with bundled AI credits. Either way, using it also costs an AI provider — bring your own OpenAI/Azure/OpenRouter API key, or rely on bundled credits.
- Price
- $60 one-time (1 device) up to $300 (5-device team) at source; or via Setapp from $14.99/mo with bundled AI credits
- License
- Proprietary
- Get it via
- Setapp · Direct
- Developer
- Podzim LLC
Do you use PDF Pals?
Who made this
Solo developer of PDF Pals, who also builds BoltAI and KTool.io — all credited to him by name on his own GitHub profile, which also names his own company, Podzim LLC.
Site (opens in new tab) GitHub (opens in new tab) X (opens in new tab)
What it does
Chat with citations
Answers cite the specific pages or passages in your PDF they’re drawn from.
Local-first processing
Documents are processed on-device with a built-in OCR engine — nothing is uploaded to chat with them.
Multi-document chat
Ask questions across several PDFs at once instead of switching between them one at a time.
The deal
- $60 one-time (1 device), $180 (3 devices), or $300 (5-device team) — includes one year of updates
- Also available via Setapp from $14.99/mo, with bundled AI credits
Worth knowing: Not a text or form editor — it answers questions about PDF content rather than editing it. Also requires an AI provider to work: your own OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, or OpenRouter API key (a separate ongoing cost), or bundled AI credits through a purchased license or Setapp.
PDF Pals — questions people ask
Does PDF Pals edit PDF text or forms?
No — it’s a chat interface over PDF content, not a text or form editor. For editing, see PDFgear or Nitro PDF Pro in this section.
Do I need my own AI API key?
Either that (OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, or OpenRouter, at your own ongoing cost) or bundled AI credits through a purchased license or Setapp membership.
Who makes PDF Pals?
Podzim LLC, an indie developer.
Is PDF Pals free?
PDF Pals costs $60 one-time (1 device) up to $300 (5-device team) at source; or via Setapp from $14.99/mo with bundled AI credits.
Does PDF Pals work alongside a notch app like Alcove?
Yes — PDF Pals lives in the screen, so it runs happily alongside any Dynamic Island hub or notch app.
Where can I download PDF Pals?
PDF Pals is available via Setapp, Direct.
Reviews
No public ratings yet. Reader reviews are coming to Kitsmith soon.
Listing hand-verified August 28, 2026 from the developer's site and public sources.
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