FAQ
General
Section titled “General”What is Pia?
Section titled “What is Pia?”Pia (Personal Intelligent Assistant) is a Windows desktop AI assistant that supports multiple AI providers, local speech processing, cloud sync with end-to-end encryption, and self-hosting.
Is Pia free?
Section titled “Is Pia free?”Pia has a free Community tier for self-hosted usage and a Free cloud tier with basic features. Pro and Enterprise plans offer additional features like E2E encryption and team management.
What platforms does Pia support?
Section titled “What platforms does Pia support?”Currently Pia is available for Windows 10+ (x64). macOS and Linux support is planned for the future.
AI & Privacy
Section titled “AI & Privacy”Which AI providers does Pia support?
Section titled “Which AI providers does Pia support?”OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral, and Pia Cloud (server-proxied). See the AI Providers Guide.
Are my conversations private?
Section titled “Are my conversations private?”Yes. When using a direct API key, conversations go straight from your device to the AI provider. With Pia Cloud + Pro plan, conversations are end-to-end encrypted before leaving your device.
Does Pia send data to your servers?
Section titled “Does Pia send data to your servers?”Only if you opt into Cloud Sync. Local-only mode sends nothing to Pia servers. Your API keys are always stored locally.
Technical
Section titled “Technical”Can I self-host Pia?
Section titled “Can I self-host Pia?”Yes. See the Self-Hosting Reference for Docker Compose setup instructions.
How do updates work?
Section titled “How do updates work?”Pia uses Velopack for auto-updates. It checks for new versions on startup and applies delta updates automatically.
Where is my data stored locally?
Section titled “Where is my data stored locally?”Pia stores data in %APPDATA%/Pia/ including your local database, settings, and Whisper models.
Features
Section titled “Features”Can I organize tasks in Pia?
Section titled “Can I organize tasks in Pia?”Yes. Pia has a built-in Kanban board with drag-and-drop reordering, columns, priority levels, and voice input. See the Todos & Kanban Guide.
What is the Memory feature?
Section titled “What is the Memory feature?”Memory lets you store structured personal knowledge — contacts, projects, notes — that the AI assistant can reference during conversations for more relevant responses. See the Memory Guide.
What are @ commands?
Section titled “What are @ commands?”In the Assistant chat, type @ followed by a domain like @Memory, @Todo, or @Reminder to reference specific items directly in your message. An autocomplete popup helps you find the right item. See the Memory Guide for details.