Frequently asked questions

On your device, in a file only your computer can read. PearPie does not run a server that stores your messages. If you wipe the app, your conversations go with it. There's no backup we'd hold for you.

No. Your conversations aren't permanently stored anywhere we can browse. Local chats physically can't reach us, and premium requests on the PearPie Network are processed transiently and discarded.

The only thing we keep is a record of misbehaviour. If a request clearly breaks the Acceptable Use Policy (think: trying to generate something illegal), an automated check can record that against your public key so we can act on it. Normal conversations don't go into any such record.

No. There's no email, no password, no profile. The first time you open PearPie, your computer generates a small private key. That's your identity inside the app, and it never leaves your machine.

Yes, but with important constraints. The servers are in the EU, and PearPie has data processing agreements with those providers. Your message isn't tagged with a personal identity (PearPie doesn't have one for you), and PearPie itself doesn't store the request. In some cases the underlying provider may briefly retain a request purely for abuse prevention and then automatically delete it; no third-party provider permanently stores your data.

Over time, more of this infrastructure will move onto hardware PearPie operates directly.

No. Local models run as you downloaded them and don't send anything anywhere. Premium models on the PearPie Network receive your message just long enough to reply and then discard it. It never enters a training pipeline.

Yes. It's designed around GDPR principles. There's no personal profile collected, conversations stay on your device, and premium model processing happens within the EU. You have the standard GDPR rights (access, deletion, portability, correction, objection, complaint). The one carve-out is that if you've purchased credits, payment-record retention is required by EU tax and anti-money laundering law, which overrides the right to erasure for those records (Article 17(3)(b)).

For data-related requests, contact privacy@pearpie.ai.

Mostly, but with one caveat. Free use of PearPie (local models, peer-to-peer, no purchases) is fully pseudonymous: PearPie only ever sees a public key generated on your device.

If you buy credits, your payment goes through Stripe, and Stripe creates a customer record linked to that purchase. Through that payment relationship your public key gets linked to a real-world identity. PearPie doesn't store your card details, but we do have access to transaction records (which we're legally required to retain).

Local means the AI runs on your own computer. Nothing leaves your device.

Peer-to-peer means your devices (or a friend's, with permission) connect directly over a private link to share AI work. There's no server in the middle.

The PearPie Network is for models you can't or don't want to host yourself — closed-source models like Claude, or open ones too large for typical hardware. Underneath, it uses the same peer-to-peer mechanism: PearPie joins your network as a private peer that runs those models on European infrastructure. Your message is discarded after the reply.

It's an AI model whose weights are publicly released under a licence that lets anyone download, run, modify, or redistribute it. Examples: Qwen, Gemma, Mistral, DeepSeek. That's a property of the model itself, not of where it runs. An open-source model can run on your own computer, on a friend's machine, or on someone's server, including PearPie's.

In PearPie you'll see both. Smaller open-source models run locally on your device for free. Larger ones (open-source or closed) are available through the PearPie Network when you don't want to host them yourself. The opposite of open-source is a closed-source model like Claude, where only the company that made it can run it.

For the smaller local models, no, a normal laptop from the last few years works fine. Bigger models (which give better answers) need more power, especially a decent graphics card. If your computer can't handle a big model, you can either use a premium model on the PearPie Network (uses credits) or borrow another linked device's GPU.

It's a long, random string of characters that lives on your device. PearPie generates it the first time you open the app. It's how your devices recognise each other (when you link them) and how your peer-to-peer connections stay encrypted. You don't have to know or remember it. PearPie handles it for you.

Yes. Local models work without an internet connection. Premium models on the PearPie Network and device linking obviously need the internet, but the local-only experience is fully self-contained.

PearPie launches on macOS, Windows, Linux, and iPhone. All four are available from day one of the beta. See the download page →

You must be at least 16 to use PearPie. If you're under 18, you need a parent or legal guardian's consent.

Your conversations live on the device. Wiping the app or losing the device that hasn't been synced anywhere else means those conversations are gone. There's no cloud backup we'd hold for you.

Your private key, the thing that holds your purchased credits, also lives on the device. If the only device with it is lost, those credits aren't easily recoverable. We technically could trace them back through payment records — but only by actively creating a persistent link between your payment data and your public key, which is exactly what the architecture is designed to avoid. We'd rather not do that as a routine practice.

The simple fix: link a second device. Your chats and your identity then sync directly between them, so a single lost device isn't catastrophic. See linking your devices.

Not today. Right now PearPie is pay-as-you-go: local and peer-to-peer use are free, and premium models on the PearPie Network use credits you top up when you need them. As PearPie matures, we may add recurring options too, particularly for people who'd find a simple monthly arrangement easier than topping up. The credit system will stay alongside it.

No. Once you buy them they're yours to use at your own pace. There's no monthly cycle that resets them.

No. The whole local and peer-to-peer experience is free, including downloading models and linking devices. Credits only come into play when you choose a premium model on the PearPie Network.

If something's gone wrong, get in touch. We'd rather sort it out than not. Write to legal@pearpie.ai with a quick explanation and we'll review it. Your statutory rights under EU consumer law always apply on top of that.

Possibly, as the product grows. Whatever happens, credits already in your balance keep the price you bought them for. We'll be straightforward about any changes well in advance.