Elephas FAQ for solo consultants: your questions answered

Yes — Elephas supports fully offline AI processing on your Mac. You can run local models like Llama, Qwen, and DeepSeek without any internet connection, which means your client data never leaves your device.

This is ideal for consultants working under NDAs or handling sensitive financial, legal, or strategic documents. You control which models run locally and which queries use cloud APIs, giving you full flexibility over your data boundaries.

For a complete walkthrough, see our guide to offline AI for confidential client documents.

No — Elephas does not use your data to train any AI models. Your documents and queries remain entirely under your control.

When you use local models, all processing happens on your Mac and nothing is transmitted externally. When you use cloud models like GPT-4 or Claude, your queries go through the respective API providers under their data processing agreements — but Elephas itself does not store, log, or use your data for training purposes.

This is a critical distinction from consumer AI tools where your conversations may be used to improve future models.

Elephas stores and indexes all uploaded documents locally on your Mac. No document content is sent to external servers during the indexing process.

Documents are processed on-device for retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), so you can query them conversationally without sending the full document to any external server. For maximum confidentiality, pair your Super Brain with a local AI model — this keeps the entire pipeline offline.

Many consultants handle NDA-bound work this way. Learn more in our guide to offline AI for confidential client documents.

Absolutely — Elephas was designed with exactly this use case in mind. By using local AI models and the Super Brain feature, you can build a complete AI-assisted workflow where no data leaves your Mac.

This satisfies the requirements of most NDAs and confidentiality agreements. The local-only configuration ensures zero data transmission to external servers, which is the strictest privacy posture available in any AI tool.

Many solo consultants in legal, financial, and strategy consulting use Elephas specifically because of this capability.

Your data stays on your Mac — Elephas never deletes your local files. Since Super Brain contents and documents are stored locally on your device, canceling your subscription does not affect your files.

You retain full access to everything you uploaded. The AI features (model access, Super Brain querying) stop working once your subscription ends, but your documents remain yours on your own hardware.

If you resubscribe later, you can re-index your documents and pick up where you left off.

Yes — Elephas gives you the tools to maintain GDPR compliance. When you use local models, personal data does not leave your device at all, which is the strongest possible data protection posture.

When cloud models are used, data is transmitted to API providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.) under their respective data processing agreements. Since you control what data goes where, you can ensure that sensitive personal data stays local while using cloud models only for non-sensitive tasks.

No client data is stored on Elephas servers at any point.

Yes — Elephas supports 20+ local AI models that run entirely on your Mac hardware with no internet connection required. This makes it ideal for working on planes, trains, or client sites with restricted networks.

You can query your Super Brain, draft documents, rewrite text, and use the full system-wide AI assistant without any network access. Everything runs on Apple Silicon.

For consultants who travel frequently, this means uninterrupted productivity regardless of connectivity.

Yes — you can configure Elephas to use only local models, completely avoiding cloud-based AI. This is the most privacy-conscious setup and ensures zero data transmission.

Local models like Llama 3, Qwen 2.5, and DeepSeek run on Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) and deliver strong performance for most consulting tasks including research synthesis, document summarization, and draft generation.

Many consultants start with a local-only setup and selectively enable cloud models later for specific tasks that benefit from the additional capability.

There is no hard limit on the number of Super Brains you can create. You can manage as many client projects as you need.

Most solo consultants maintain one Super Brain per active client or project, plus a general-purpose one for their own templates and frameworks. You can create, archive, and organize Super Brains as your client portfolio evolves.

The practical limit depends on your Mac's storage capacity for the uploaded documents, but even consultants with 20+ active clients report no performance issues.

Super Brain grounds AI responses in your uploaded documents, while regular chat relies only on the model's general training data.

When you query a Super Brain, Elephas retrieves relevant passages from your files and includes them in the prompt, so the answer is based on your specific materials rather than generic knowledge. This is the difference between asking “What are common consulting challenges?” and asking “What challenges did Client X mention in their RFP?”

For consultants, this distinction is critical — you need answers grounded in your client's actual situation, not general advice. Learn more in our AI knowledge base guide for consultants.

Yes — this is the recommended setup for consultants. Creating a dedicated Super Brain per client keeps your knowledge bases isolated and your answers focused.

When you query Client A's Super Brain, it only searches Client A's documents. This prevents cross-contamination of client data and makes answers more relevant and accurate.

You can switch between Super Brains easily from the Elephas interface, making it practical to work across multiple clients throughout the day.

Super Brain supports PDFs, Word documents (.docx), text files (.txt), markdown files (.md), PowerPoint presentations (.pptx), and web pages.

This covers the vast majority of documents consultants work with — RFPs, proposals, reports, meeting notes, slide decks, and research papers. You can upload multiple files at once to build a comprehensive knowledge base.

All files are indexed locally on your Mac for fast retrieval when you query the Super Brain.

Elephas allows generous document uploads within your Super Brain. For most solo consultants, you are unlikely to hit any practical limits.

The capacity depends on your subscription plan and your Mac's available storage. Typical project documentation — RFPs, reports, proposals, meeting notes — takes minimal space relative to modern Mac storage.

If you work with extremely large document sets (thousands of pages), organizing them across multiple Super Brains can improve retrieval speed and answer relevance.

Currently, each query targets a single Super Brain. This is actually a feature for consultants, not a limitation.

Single-brain queries ensure that when you ask a question about Client A, you only get answers from Client A's documents — with no risk of accidentally surfacing Client B's confidential information.

If you need cross-project insights, you can create a dedicated Super Brain that contains only the non-confidential materials you want to compare across engagements.

Super Brain answers are significantly more accurate than generic AI responses for your specific work. The retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) approach grounds answers in your actual documents.

The AI retrieves relevant passages from your files and uses them to generate responses, which means it cites your materials rather than making things up. Accuracy depends on the quality and completeness of your uploaded documents — the more relevant files you include, the better the answers.

As with any AI tool, always verify critical facts before including them in client deliverables.

Yes — you can delete a Super Brain at any time, which removes the indexed data from your system.

For consultants who want to retain the source documents but free up active workspace, a practical approach is to move the source files to a backup folder and delete the Super Brain. You can recreate it later if the client engagement restarts.

This keeps your active Super Brain list clean and focused on current projects, while preserving the underlying documents for future reference.

There is no single best model — the right choice depends on the task and your privacy requirements.

For complex analysis, strategic thinking, and detailed proposal drafting, cloud models like GPT-4 or Claude deliver the highest quality output. For everyday tasks like email drafting, document summarization, and meeting note formatting, local models like Llama 3 or Qwen 2.5 perform well and keep your data offline.

Many consultants use a hybrid approach — local models for confidential work and cloud models for non-sensitive tasks where maximum quality matters.

Yes — Elephas supports GPT-4, GPT-4o, Claude, and other cloud models through their respective APIs.

You can bring your own API key or use Elephas's built-in access depending on your plan. GPT-4 is particularly strong for complex analytical tasks, multi-step reasoning, and producing polished prose.

This makes it well-suited for strategy documents, financial analysis summaries, and executive presentations where output quality is the top priority.

For most everyday consulting tasks, local models produce very good results. They handle summarization, Q&A over documents, email drafting, and meeting notes well.

However, for the most complex analytical work — nuanced strategy documents, detailed financial modeling explanations, or highly polished executive communications — cloud models like GPT-4 still have an edge.

The gap is narrowing with each generation of local models, and for privacy-sensitive work, the tradeoff is often well worth it. Many consultants report that local models cover 80% of their daily needs.

Elephas runs smoothly on all Apple Silicon Macs — M1, M2, M3, M4 and their Pro/Max/Ultra variants.

Local model inference is fast enough for interactive use. You typically see responses begin within 1-3 seconds and complete within 10-30 seconds, depending on the model size and query complexity. Super Brain queries add a small retrieval step but remain responsive for normal workflow use.

Macs with 16GB+ RAM can run larger local models for better quality output. The M2 Pro and above provide the best experience for power users.

Yes — Elephas provides a model selector that lets you switch between local and cloud models with a single click.

You can set a default model for everyday use and switch to a more powerful model when needed. For example, use Llama 3 for routine email drafts and switch to GPT-4 for a complex strategy document.

Your Super Brain contents work with any model, so switching does not require re-uploading documents or reconfiguring your knowledge base.

For offline consulting work, Llama 3 and Qwen 2.5 offer the best balance of quality and performance on Apple Silicon.

If your Mac has 16GB+ RAM, you can run larger model variants that produce higher-quality output. DeepSeek is another strong option, particularly for analytical and reasoning tasks.

All of these models run entirely on your Mac with no internet connection, making them ideal for travel, secure environments, or confidential client work.

Elephas works system-wide on your Mac, which means it can be invoked in any application — including Notion, Google Docs, Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, and any other app where you type.

Press Cmd+E to bring up Elephas anywhere. It is not a plugin or extension that needs to be installed per-app; it overlays on top of whatever application you are using. This makes it more flexible than tool-specific integrations.

For consultants who use multiple tools throughout the day, this system-wide approach means one AI assistant covers every workflow.

Yes — Elephas is a native Mac application that works system-wide via a keyboard shortcut (Cmd+E).

You can invoke it in Mail, Safari, Chrome, Notion, Google Docs, Slack, Microsoft Office, Terminal, and any other Mac application. Select text, press the shortcut, and Elephas can rewrite, summarize, translate, or query your Super Brain — all without leaving the app you are working in.

This is a core advantage of Elephas over browser-based AI tools that require you to copy-paste between tabs.

Uploading is straightforward — open Elephas, navigate to the Super Brain section, and drag and drop files or use the upload button.

You can add PDFs, Word docs, text files, PowerPoint files, and web pages. Documents are processed and indexed locally on your Mac. For most file sizes, indexing completes in seconds.

Once uploaded, you can immediately start querying the documents conversationally. There is no waiting period or processing queue.

Yes — proposal drafting from Super Brain is one of the most popular use cases among consultants.

Upload a client's RFP, your past proposals, and discovery notes to a Super Brain. Then ask Elephas to draft specific sections: “Draft an executive summary based on the client's stated challenges and our proposed approach.” The AI pulls from your uploaded materials to produce a grounded first draft.

This typically cuts proposal writing time by 60-70%. You edit and refine rather than starting from a blank page. For more on this workflow, see the Elephas for solo consultants guide.

Yes — Super Brain supports PDF, DOCX, PPTX, TXT, MD, and web page formats.

This covers the standard document types in consulting work: client RFPs (usually PDF), your proposals (Word), presentation decks (PowerPoint), research reports (PDF), and meeting notes (text or markdown).

You can upload a mix of formats into a single Super Brain and query across all of them. The system handles format conversion and indexing automatically.

Elephas starts at $9.99 per month — priced for individual professionals, not enterprise teams.

The base plan includes access to local AI models, Super Brain knowledge bases, and the system-wide Mac assistant. Higher tiers add cloud model access (GPT-4, Claude) and increased usage limits.

For solo consultants, even the base plan delivers significant value. At a typical consulting rate of $100-300/hour, the tool pays for itself in the first 10 minutes of time saved each month.

Yes — Elephas offers a free trial so you can test the full experience before committing. No credit card is required to start.

The trial includes Super Brain document upload, local model access, and the system-wide Cmd+E shortcut. You get enough time to upload a real client project and see whether the workflow fits your consulting practice.

We recommend uploading documents from one active client and running 5-10 queries to get a realistic sense of the tool's value.

Your subscription includes the Elephas Mac app, system-wide AI access (Cmd+E in any app), Super Brain knowledge bases, access to 20+ local AI models, and regular software updates.

Depending on your plan tier, you also get access to cloud models like GPT-4 and Claude with included usage credits. All plans support unlimited Super Brains and document uploads within reasonable storage limits.

For a full overview of what Elephas offers consultants, see our Elephas for solo consultants guide.

Yes — Elephas subscriptions can be canceled at any time with no cancellation fees or penalties.

If you cancel, you retain access through the end of your current billing period. Your documents and Super Brain data remain on your Mac — Elephas does not delete your local files when you cancel.

You can resubscribe later and pick up where you left off without needing to re-upload your documents.

Yes — Elephas offers discounted pricing for annual subscriptions, which typically saves you 30-40% compared to monthly billing.

For solo consultants who plan to use AI as a core part of their workflow — which most do after the first week — the annual plan is the best value.

Check the Elephas pricing page for current annual rates and plan comparisons.