Collate

Summary

Collate is a free Mac app for reading, organizing, and working through PDF documents. Its tools include PDF chat, citations to sources, summaries, automatic highlights, folders, persistent conversations, and management of local models. The Local AI option processes documents on the Mac and can work offline once the app and a supported model are downloaded. Users may instead connect their own OpenAI or Anthropic API key; content needed for a request is sent to the chosen provider. Collate also lets users compare findings across selected documents, keep conversations with folders, and export selected work as HTML, PDF, email drafts, or web links. Shared links for selected answers, summaries, or highlights are public, require no sign-in, and expire after 90 days. The app has no account-based document quota, though practical capacity depends on available storage and memory, PDF complexity, and model choice. Collate is available for macOS 13.5 or later on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. Windows is not yet ready, and the current document workflow focuses on PDFs.

Who it is for

Collate suits students, researchers, and others who build understanding from PDF documents. It is also a fit for Mac users who want local document processing or the option to use their own cloud-model API key.

Compared on AI PDF tools

Free plan

Yescollate.one

Multi-file chat

Yescollate.one

Source citations

Yescollate.one

Export formats

HTML, PDF, email drafts, web linkscollate.one

Facts

Product

Collate is a native Mac workspace for reading, organizing, questioning, summarizing, and highlighting PDFs.collate.one · 4 Oct 2026

Local AI

Local AI processes documents on the Mac and works offline after the app and a supported model have been downloaded.collate.one · 4 Oct 2026

Cloud AI

Users can optionally select OpenAI or Anthropic models with their own API key; Collate sends content required for the request to the selected provider.collate.one · 4 Oct 2026

Features

The app includes PDF chat, source citations, summaries, automatic highlights, folders, persistent conversations, and local model management.collate.one · 4 Oct 2026

Research workflow

Users can compare findings across selected documents, keep conversations with folders, and export selected work.collate.one · 4 Oct 2026

Sharing

Collate can create web share links for selected answers, summaries, or highlights; links are public, unauthenticated, and expire after 90 days.collate.one · 4 Oct 2026

Privacy

Collate says Local AI does not send document content to a cloud model provider, and cloud API keys are stored in the macOS Keychain.collate.one · 4 Oct 2026

Analytics

Firebase app analytics is disabled by default and can be toggled in the Collate menu.collate.one · 4 Oct 2026

File support

The current reading and AI workflow is focused on PDF files.collate.one · 4 Oct 2026

Usage limits

Collate says it imposes no account-based document quota; practical limits depend on storage, memory, PDF complexity, and the selected model.collate.one · 4 Oct 2026

Model requirements

The recommended local model is about 5.9 GB, larger options can exceed 8 GB, and 16 GB or more of Mac memory provides more model choices.collate.one · 4 Oct 2026

Support

Collate provides email support at [email protected].collate.one · 4 Oct 2026

Audience

Collate describes itself as made for students, researchers, and anyone building understanding from documents.collate.one · 4 Oct 2026

Windows availability

The download page says Collate is not yet ready for Windows and invites users to join a waitlist.collate.one · 4 Oct 2026

Where it ranks on Everything Xiaomi

• Best AI PDF Tools in 2026#21 of 29

Sources

• collate.one/faq/· checked 4 Oct 2026
• collate.one/privacy/· checked 4 Oct 2026
• collate.one/features/· checked 4 Oct 2026
• collate.one/help/· checked 4 Oct 2026
• collate.one/about/· checked 4 Oct 2026
• collate.one/download/· checked 4 Oct 2026