LocalRAG!

If you want to ask questions about your files without uploading everything to the cloud, LocalRAG! is a tool worth knowing. It is a mobile AI app that helps you chat with PDFs, Office files, images, audio recordings, and even videos, while keeping document processing on your device.

What makes LocalRAG! stand out is its privacy-first approach. You can use its built-in on-device AI for fully offline document chat, or switch to Claude for faster and often higher-quality answers when needed. That makes it useful for people who want both convenience and control.

What is LocalRAG!?

LocalRAG! is an AI document assistant for iPhone, iPad, and Android. It lets you import files, build a local search index, and ask questions in plain language. Instead of manually opening documents one by one, you can search across your content and get answers with source citations.

The app supports a wide range of content types, including PDFs, Word files, Excel sheets, PowerPoint files, EPUBs, text files, images, scanned documents, audio files, and video files. For scanned images and PDFs, it uses OCR to extract text. For audio and video, it can transcribe content on-device before making it searchable.

Who created LocalRAG!?

LocalRAG! is developed by LOOSEDAYS Co.,Ltd., which is listed on the official LocalRAG! website. The product focuses on privacy-preserving AI document chat for mobile users.

There is also a related LocalRAG desktop project at localrag.dev, presented as a local-first AI tool for private documents and folders. However, the consumer app covered here is the official LocalRAG! mobile product at localrag.app.

Main features

LocalRAG! is built around a simple idea: turn your personal or work files into something you can talk to. Its biggest features include private document chat, on-device processing, source-backed answers, and support for many file types.

One of the most useful features is inline citation support. When the app answers a question, it points to the document and page used for the response. This makes it easier to verify information instead of trusting an AI answer blindly.

Another standout feature is offline AI mode. The app includes a local language model that runs on your device, so you can ask questions without sending data to a server. If you want stronger cloud-based performance, you can also choose Claude models.

LocalRAG! also supports multilingual and semantic search. This means it can help you find information even when your query and your documents are in different languages, which is especially helpful for research, study, and international work.

What can you use LocalRAG! for?

LocalRAG! fits a wide range of personal and professional tasks. Students can use it to summarize chapters, review lecture materials, and search research papers. Professionals can use it to scan contracts, reports, presentations, and meeting documents more quickly.

It is also useful for people handling sensitive files. Because document processing happens on-device, LocalRAG! can be a better fit for private notes, client documents, research files, internal reports, and other materials you may not want to upload to standard cloud tools.

Its new audio and video support opens up even more use cases. You can import recordings, interviews, lectures, or meeting videos, generate transcripts, and ask questions about the content without reviewing everything manually.

How to use LocalRAG!

Using LocalRAG! is straightforward. The app is designed around a simple three-step workflow: import, index, and ask.

1. Import your files

Start by adding documents, images, audio, or video from your device or another app. LocalRAG! supports 23 formats, so most common work and study files should be easy to bring in.

2. Let the app process and index them

Once imported, LocalRAG! extracts text, performs OCR or transcription when needed, and builds a local search index on your device. This step prepares your content for fast question answering.

3. Ask questions in plain English

After indexing, you can type natural questions such as “Summarize this chapter,” “What are the termination clauses?” or “What did the speaker say about budget planning?” The app searches relevant passages and returns an answer with citations.

4. Choose local AI or Claude

If privacy is your top priority, use the on-device AI mode for fully offline answers. If you want stronger answer quality or faster results, you can switch to Claude. According to the official site, when Claude is used, only your question and small relevant excerpts are sent, not the full document.

Pricing

LocalRAG! uses a freemium pricing model. The official site says there is a free plan with 5 questions per day, and a 1-week free trial is also available.

Paid plans currently include Standard at $4.99 per month and Pro at $9.99 per month. The app also supports bring-your-own-key access for Anthropic, which can be useful for users who want to pay directly for API usage instead of relying only on the built-in subscription options.

Supported platforms

LocalRAG! is available on iPhone, iPad, and Android. That makes it especially appealing for users who want private AI document chat on mobile rather than on a desktop-only setup.

The app is distributed through the App Store and Google Play. On-device AI is available on iOS and listed as beta on Android on the official product page.

Integrations and model options

The main integration publicly highlighted by LocalRAG! is Anthropic Claude. Users can choose between built-in on-device AI and Claude API models depending on their needs.

For the related desktop LocalRAG project, the product pages also mention broader corporate integrations such as connectors, APIs, webhooks, file shares, object storage, SQL-backed content, and event flows. Still, for the mobile LocalRAG! app, the clearest documented integration is Claude.

Why people may like LocalRAG!

The biggest benefit of LocalRAG! is privacy. Many AI document tools require full file uploads, but LocalRAG! is designed to keep processing on your device and offer a true offline option. That alone makes it appealing for anyone working with confidential or personal material.

Another strong benefit is trust. Because answers include citations and page references, you get a more transparent experience than with generic AI chat tools. You can check where the answer came from instead of guessing.

It also saves time. Rather than scanning long reports, listening to full recordings, or opening multiple files, you can ask direct questions and jump to the relevant source material quickly.

Final thoughts

LocalRAG! is a smart pick for users who want an AI assistant for documents, audio, and video without giving up privacy. Its combination of mobile access, offline processing, broad file support, and source-backed answers makes it more practical than many basic document chat tools.

If you often work with PDFs, notes, scanned files, recordings, or meeting content, and you want a more private way to search and understand them, LocalRAG! is worth trying. The free option makes it easy to test before committing to a paid plan.