The on-device alternative to NotebookLM and cloud document AI.
Silo Vault is a private research vault for macOS: an on-device alternative to cloud document tools like NotebookLM that indexes your PDFs, Office files, spreadsheets and notes on your Mac and answers with citations that open the exact page or cell range, with no account and nothing uploaded unless you turn on your own cloud key.
Silo Vault vs NotebookLM.
dimension by dimension| Dimension | Silo Vault | Cloud (NotebookLM, ChatGPT) |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | On your Mac by default (Apple Silicon, offline after setup) | Google's servers |
| Your documents | Indexed on your Mac; cloud AI only with your own key | Uploaded & stored |
| Account | None required | Google account required |
| Answers | Citations open the page or cell range | Grounded in uploaded sources |
| Contract review | Legal vault with risk flags, playbook comparison & redline | General Q&A only |
| Pricing | One-time $19.99 | Subscription / usage limits |
| Works without internet | Yes, after the one-time model download | No |
NotebookLM column describes the category in general and has not been checked against a dated vendor source. Names are trademarks of their owners; not affiliated.
NotebookLM alternative, answered.
Silo Vault · on-deviceYes. Silo Vault does the same core job, asking questions about your documents and getting grounded answers, but indexes and searches on your Mac. Your files are never uploaded to a cloud library. Only if you turn on your own cloud key does text go to the provider you chose: each Ask question with recent messages and its matching excerpts, and through version 1.12.2 also summaries and other document tools, plus matching Timeline moments for a question asked with Recall on and RAG off.
Yes. Every citation opens the stored passage it came from: a document page or a worksheet cell range, so you can check each claim against the original document.
Yes. After a one-time, consent-gated model download of about 3.8 to 5.4 GB, Silo Vault indexes, searches and answers offline. NotebookLM requires a constant internet connection.
Silo Vault includes a Legal / Contracts vault with risk flags, clause extraction, playbook comparison and clause-level redlines, capabilities NotebookLM doesn't offer for agreement review. It is informational document review, not legal advice.
Keep your work on your Mac.
Silo Vault: $19.99 one-time · no subscription. No subscription, no Silo account, and nothing uploaded unless you add your own key: an on-device-first alternative to NotebookLM.