Show HN: Sygal – Convert PDFs, scans and web pages to Markdown, locally

Sygal launched as a local document-conversion tool that turns PDFs, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, images, scans, web pages and YouTube links into clean Markdown and structured JSON on macOS 12+ and Windows 10+, priced at a €25 one-time purchase with a 14-day free trial and no subscription or account. The developer says converting visual and web content to text can run roughly 2 to 7x lighter on tokens, with exact figures varying by file, and offers OCR through OpenAI, Claude, Mistral, NVIDIA, Gemini or a custom provider using the user's own API key. Sygal supports 29 formats, batch conversion, a persistent searchable local library, and a token count shown on every document.

NewLaunch offer: €25 one-time, no subscription pricing Turn any document into clean, AI-ready Markdown, right on your machine. PDF, Word, Excel, images, scans, web pages, even YouTube links: Sygal converts them locally into clean Markdown and structured JSON, ready to drop into a prompt, a knowledge base or a pipeline. On scans, images and web pages in particular, that also means far fewer tokens for your AI. 14-day free trial · macOS 12+ · Windows 10+ One-time purchase · no subscription · no account Reads everything you throw at it From raw to clean Markdown. Drop a dense PDF, a spreadsheet or a screenshot. Sygal returns clean Markdown you can read, or JSON your pipeline can parse. ⌘ V A raw file and clean Markdown aren't the same to an AI. Sygal normalizes every document into one clean, structured output your AI can actually work with. What that changes depends on where the file comes from. 2 to 7x lighter, where it counts Images, scans, PDFs, web & YouTube A scan, a screenshot, a scanned PDF or a web page carries a lot your AI pays to read but never uses: pixels, layout, markup. Converted to text, the same content can run roughly 2 to 7x lighter on tokens, and the model reads what matters. YouTube links come in as clean transcripts, ready to summarize or search. The gain is largest on visual and web content; exact figures vary with each file. One clean, consistent output Word, Excel, PowerPoint Already-structured files get a different win: Sygal standardizes them into the same clean Markdown and JSON as everything else. One predictable output for your whole pipeline, ready to parse, search and reuse, with no format-by-format handling. Whatever a document starts as, it ends the same way: clean, structured, and ready for your AI. Drop. Convert. Review. Export. From a raw file to something usable, in seconds. Drop A file, a URL, or a screenshot with Cmd+V. Sygal detects the format automatically. ⌘ V to paste Convert Fully local processing. For OCR on an image or scan, the provider of your choice, with your own key. Review Native preview of the original file right next to the result. Edit the Markdown or JSON directly before exporting, nothing is locked. Export Markdown, JSON, or both at once. Export right away, and the result also stays in your local library, searchable anytime. A full conversion engine, not just an exporter. Three groups of features: the essentials, what few tools offer, and what you need for daily use and volume. The essentials 29 supported formats PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, HTML, email, EPUB... Clean Markdown output and structured JSON Native preview of the original document, next to the result Edit the result before exporting What few tools offer - OCR of your choice: OpenAI, Claude, Mistral, NVIDIA, Gemini or a custom provider, with your own API key - Direct import from a URL - A persistent local library, with full-text search - Token count shown on every document, so you see exactly what a model reads For daily use and volume - Batch conversion - Filters and search in the library - Simple retry if a file fails - Direct copy-paste Cmd+V for screenshots Three ways to use Sygal. Three profiles, one conversion engine. Developers and AI builders Prepare your documents for a RAG pipeline, a vector store, or an agent, Markdown and JSON ready to use directly, with no extra cleanup step. Professions handling sensitive documents Legal, accounting, HR, healthcare. Your contracts, payslips or case files never leave your machine, except the images you choose to send to OCR. Everyday document use Meeting notes, internal documentation, research. A local, searchable library of everything you've converted. Your OCR, your rules. Images run through the OCR provider you pick, with your own API key. Pick on cost and volume, and switch whenever you like. Billed per token, by image resolution. Everyday, mixed documents. Flat price per page, with an even cheaper async batch mode. Large volumes of scans. Billed per token; the priciest at volume. When you specifically want Claude. NVIDIA NIM and Gemini are also available, along with a custom provider. NVIDIA offers a free option to get started with no API budget. OCR runs through your own API key and the engine you choose: no markup, swap anytime. Your documents are converted 100% locally and never leave your machine; only OCR on an image and importing a URL you choose reach the network. Your documents stay on your machine. Two columns, no ambiguity: what stays, what can leave. Stays on your machine - Your files Word, Excel, PDF, HTML, email... - The text converted to Markdown and JSON - Your local library and its history - Your API keys, encrypted locally Can go over the network, on your request - An image or a scan, sent to the OCR provider you choose, with your own key - A URL, if you import one No account to create. No telemetry. Sygal never sees your documents. See the full privacy policy https://sygal.app/privacy Your AI agents deserve clean Markdown too. The same conversion engine exists on the command line. One-command install, strict JSON output for your scripts, compatible with orchestrators like Hermes or OpenClaw. npm install -g sygal-cli Explore Sygal CLI https://sygal.app/cli What the people using it have to say. Three reviews, three different uses. Privacy isn't negotiable in my line of work. Sygal converts my files locally, no cloud, no account. I can finally get AI-ready documents without compromising my clients' data. Laurence C. Executive Assistant I feed Sygal's JSON output straight into my AI pipelines. The structure is consistent every time, exactly what I needed. Thomas S. CEO Fast and efficient. It saves half a day of processing, for me and for the teams. Easy to use and genuinely useful. Jonathan D. Senior Director One price. One purchase. No subscription. No usage meter, no surprise renewal. One-time purchase, launch offer - Licence for 2 seats, usable on the desktop app or the CLI, your choice - All features: conversion, OCR BYOK , library, batch export - Updates included for the major version - 14-day free trial before purchase - Refund available within 14 days Start free trial download No card required for the trial. No subscription, ever. Need several licences for your team? See the team offer https://sygal.app/pro Questions, answered. Everything you might want to know before you try Sygal. Yes. Documents are converted locally with MarkItDown, so they never leave your machine and there's no account to create. Only images you send through OCR, and URLs you choose to import, reach the network. You choose from built-in providers OpenAI, Claude, Mistral, NVIDIA NIM or add any custom provider with your own API key. “I'm an independent developer in Paris. I built Sygal for two reasons: to stop using tools that upload everything, lock you into a subscription, and still hand back messy text; and to stop burning through my AI credits. A raw document drags along a lot of noise an AI has to read without needing it. Sygal is the tool I wanted for myself: local, paid once, built to hand my AIs clean text. If it spares you the same hassle, that's the whole point.” Cyrill Semah Creator of Sygal Stop copy-pasting. Start converting. 14-day free trial. No card required. One-time purchase after that, no subscription.