Built by a software engineer who got tired of chasing tax docs. PDF Insight classifies, renames and merges T4, RL-1, RL-31, receipts and invoices into one clean folder — fully offline, so client files never leave your computer.
or get Founder Lifetime — $399 once →
This is what PDF Insight does to a real client's pile: it reads, classifies and merges every slip into one correctly-ordered file. The whole thing runs on your own machine.
The pile a client sends· 11 loose files
One merged, sorted package
Real app The actual PDF Insight desktop app sorting a real client folder. The full run happens on your own machine, so client files never leave your computer.
Ready to buy? Unlock everything: Founder Lifetime · $399 or Solo · $49
Two kinds of people use PDF Insight. Pick the door that sounds like you.
Tax preparers, bookkeepers and firms handling client files
Self-employed, and anyone with a pile of PDFs to organize
Point it at a folder. Write your sorting rules once. PDF Insight reads and classifies every document, even scanned pages, orders them your way, lets you review, and exports one clean merged file. Nothing leaves your computer. Curious how it works? It's all under the hood, just below.
🧭 On the roadmap: a guided assistant that asks the right questions as you go, so nothing's missed in a client's return. Not in the app yet — the tool sorts and merges today.
The plain version is above. Here's the technical detail, for anyone who wants it.
PDF Insight runs an open local language model on your own machine through Ollama, which is free to install. The model reads and classifies each document locally; no account, API key or internet connection is needed for the local tier.
Scanned and image-based pages are read with on-device OCR using Tesseract, in both English and French, so scanned slips are sorted and ordered just like native digital PDFs. The OCR runs entirely on your computer.
In the local tier, nothing is uploaded. No server, no cloud copy of your files. It works with no internet connection, so it keeps running on an air-gapped machine during tax season.
If you want near-instant processing, there is an optional, clearly-labelled paid cloud speed lane powered by Cerebras. It is off by default and billed separately; only when you turn it on do documents leave your machine.
TaxDome, SmartVault, Canopy and Dext lead with compliance badges precisely because client files sit in their cloud. Pasting documents into ChatGPT ships client SINs to a third party. In PDF Insight's default local mode, documents are read, sorted and merged on your machine, so there's no upload, no server, and no third-party copy to breach. It removes the risk instead of insuring it.
Client files uploaded to someone else's servers. You're trusting their breach response.
The AI runs on your machine. Files are read locally and never transmitted. Nothing to breach.
Prices in CAD. 14-day free trial, no card required. Plans named for who you are, not for upsells.
Pay once for this version (Solo), subscribe to always stay current (Individual), or pay once for lifetime updates (Founder).
A low-commitment way to try the optional cloud speed lane
What you getAbout 100 pages of cloud processing — roughly 10 scanned documents or a season of client merges and sorts
Self-serve cloud checkout is on the way — we'll email you the moment the starter pack is ready to buy.
For one person organizing their own PDFs
UpdatesCurrent major version only — no future major upgrades
For you, a solo preparer or personal use
UpdatesAlways on the latest version while subscribed
Pay once, keep it forever — for early adopters
UpdatesAll future updates, forever — no renewals
What's includedWhy lifetime? One payment covers the app for good — no yearly renewal to budget for, and every future update is already included.
Buy lifetime · $399Only the first 100 customers get this $399 lifetime price — no countdown, no fake timer. After that, it's subscription only.
For your team, multiple preparers
Handling client tax documents? See how the local-first architecture keeps files on your machine — nothing uploaded by default. Privacy & security →
No credit card. Default local mode runs on your computer with nothing to upload. macOS and Linux are ready; Windows is temporarily paused.
macOS: signed & notarized by Apple, so it just opens with no warnings. Windows: paused while we replace an installer with a broken signature; email us if you need early access. Needs Ollama (free) for the local AI; setup link is in the app.
One quick step to get your download
We'll send you the occasional product update. No spam.
We only use your email to send product updates. Unsubscribe anytime.
Tap a question to expand. Straight answers for accountants and bookkeepers evaluating a private, local document tool.
Yes. You don't set up anything. Drop your receipts and statements in a folder, type how you want them ordered, and get one clean PDF to send your accountant. Nothing is uploaded.
No. In the default local tier, PDF Insight runs entirely on your own computer. Your clients' tax PDFs are read, classified and merged on-device and are never uploaded to any server. An optional, clearly-labelled paid cloud speed lane (powered by Cerebras) can be turned on for near-instant processing; only then do documents leave the machine. The local tier is the default — nothing leaves your machine when you use it.
Yes. The local tier works fully offline. The AI model runs on-device through Ollama and the OCR runs on-device through Tesseract, so PDF Insight can organize and merge a client's documents with no internet connection. The licence check is offline-tolerant with a grace window, so it won't break on an air-gapped tax-season machine.
PDF Insight is built for Quebec and Canadian tax slips, including T4, T4A, T5, RL-1, RL-3, RL-31, RRSP/REER contribution receipts and FHSA documents. Because it uses a local LLM to read and classify documents, you can also write your own rules to handle any other document in a client's pile.
Point PDF Insight at the client's folder, write your sorting rules once, and the local AI classifies and orders every slip the way you specified. You review the result and export a single merged, correctly-ordered PDF for that client. A real 11-document bundle is organized in about 100 seconds on a 16GB Mac.
Yes. PDF Insight reads scanned and image-based pages with on-device OCR using Tesseract, so scanned slips are classified and ordered just like native digital PDFs. The OCR runs locally and scanned pages are never sent to the cloud in the local tier.
Yes. PDF Insight is a desktop application that runs on both macOS and Windows. On a 16GB Mac it organizes a full client bundle in about 100 seconds entirely on-device.
TaxDome, SmartVault and Canopy are cloud document vaults that store your clients' files on their servers and charge per seat. PDF Insight is a local organizer that runs on your own machine and pre-sorts and merges the pile before it ever reaches a vault. Because nothing is uploaded in the local tier, there is no third-party copy of client data to breach. It also speaks Quebec slip vocabulary (T4, RL-1, RL-31) in French and English, which the US cloud tools do not.
A real 11-document client bundle is organized in about 100 seconds fully locally on a 16GB Mac. If you enable the optional paid cloud speed lane (Cerebras), the same work completes in roughly one second of compute.