PDF-ChatGPT

6.8easy start · #22of 27
in AI PDF Assistants

Well documentedyes
Runs where you workyes

Runs on api, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows.

PDF-ChatGPT is ranked #22 of 27 in AI PDF assistants on The Geeks Club. It runs on API, Linux, macOS, Self-hosted, Web, Windows.

Compared on AI PDF assistants

Maximum file size: 25 MB
Multiple PDFs per chat: Yes
Source citations: Yes
Scanned PDF support: No
Export formats: []
Access platforms: Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, API

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The record

Purpose: PDF-ChatGPT is a self-hosted RAG application for asking natural-language questions about PDF documents and receiving answers with page citations.
Document library: It supports uploading and indexing multiple PDFs and shows document status, page counts, and chunk counts.
Answer generation: The app uses OpenAI's Responses API and can stream answers token by token.
Search: It uses semantic search over a persistent FAISS index, with a relevance threshold and optional per-document scoping.
Citations: Answers include citations to the source document and page.
Conversation features: Conversation history is stored in SQLite and prior turns are used for follow-up questions.
Interface: The browser interface supports Markdown rendering, dark and light themes, and responsive layouts for mobile and tablet.
Integrations: Out of the box, the project uses OpenAI embeddings and the OpenAI Responses API; the maker says adapting it to another LLM provider would require code changes.
Usage costs: Users need an OpenAI API key with billing enabled, and embedding and chat usage is metered per token.
Data handling: The maker says PDFs, the FAISS index, and conversation history are stored locally, while text is sent to OpenAI for embeddings and chat generation.
Access control: The default setup is single-tenant with no login system, and the maker advises against exposing it publicly without authentication or network restrictions.
File limits: Uploads are restricted to PDF files under a configurable size limit, and scanned PDFs without extractable text are not supported without adding OCR.
Deployment: The maker documents local running and deployment on hosting platforms including Render, Railway, Fly.io, and Azure App Service; persistent storage is needed to retain data across redeploys.
License: The repository is released under the MIT License.

Where it ranks on The Geeks Club

Best AI PDF Assistants in 2026#22 of 27

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Sources

github.com/OlehDatsyk/pdf-chatgpt· checked 7 Oct 2026
github.com/OlehDatsyk/pdf-chatgpt/blob/main/INSTRU· checked 7 Oct 2026