Show HN: ThinkTotem – turn boring books into engaging conversations

4 months ago 5

Upload any book, PDF, document or YouTube video. Get

guided conversations that keep you engaged through active learning—no more struggling through dense material alone.

Drop in your material

PDF, EPUB, article or YouTube link.

AI maps the key ideas

Extracts important concepts and trims filler.

Chat through the insights

Get questions, examples and “explain-it-back” prompts.

Track mastery & move on

Skip, revisit or finish when you’re satisfied.

Try a book—free

Passive reading loses focus fast. ThinkTotem transforms reading into an active dialog that cements understanding and retention.

Problem with passive reading
Pages blur after ten minutes
Hard to know what matters
No feedback

vs

How ThinkTotem helps
Short conversational loops keep attention
Focus on key ideas, skipping the fluff
Built-in recall questions test retention

Try a book—free

I finished “The Art of War” on the train to work—never thought that was possible.— Andy, software engineer
Finally, a way to get through books I actually need to read.— Laura, marketing manager

Watch ThinkTotem in action

Watch a 5 minutes demo of a guided conversation with our founder.

Choose Your Learning Plan

Transparent pricing

standard_subscription

Standard plan

Best for:

Curious learners.

Try a book—free

This includes:

  • Upload 10 new books
  • 15 hours of conversation
  • 1,000 chat turns

Most Popular

pro_subscription

Pro plan

Best for:

Serious learners.

Try a book—free

This includes:

  • Upload 25 new books
  • 40 hours of conversation
  • 2,500 chat turns
  • Unlimited conversations
  • Faster support

ultra_subscription

Ultra plan

Best for:

Teams and power users.

Try a book—free

This includes:

  • Upload 100 new books
  • 160 hours of conversation
  • 10,000 chat turns
  • Unlimited conversations
  • Unlimited images
  • New features previews
  • Priority support

Free plan available to all new users

Try ThinkTotem with a curated selection of fiction classics and academic papers.

  • Upload 3 new books
  • 1 hour of conversation
  • 50 messages

Try a book—free

Start with a free trial—no credit card required. Upgrade when you're ready to accelerate your professional learning.Try a book—free

How is ThinkTotem different from ChatGPT or Claude?

ChatGPT and Claude are general-purpose products that can hold a conversation on almost any topic, but they wait for you to decide what to ask. ThinkTotem is purpose-built for being engaging, keeping you focused, finishing and retaining tough books.

What file formats and content types are supported?

Upload PDFs, EPUBs, Word docs or txt files. Paste URLs for web articles, GitHub READMEs or YouTube videos and we’ll fetch the transcript automatically. Need support for a different format? Contact us and we’ll prioritize adding it to our platform.

4 MB limit today; need more? Ping support.

Can it handle technical docs, code or academic papers?

Yes. Our models are tuned on scientific literature and code, so ThinkTotem can untangle RFCs, white-papers or dense proofs without dumbing them down. The free plan ships with sample papers so you can try before you buy.

What teaching methods are built in?

Active-recall questions, spaced repetition, Socratic prompts and personalised analogies. All sequenced automatically so knowledge sticks.

How do you keep me engaged in long sessions?

Short conversational loops, energy-matched tone, frequent “explain-it-back” moments and a visible progress bar give you constant momentum.

How long does one business book take?

Most users master a 300-page business book in 1–2 hours of chat. Totem strips filler, focuses on the important insights and verifies you actually got it.

Can I upgrade or downgrade anytime?

Absolutely. Head to Settings → Subscription. Upgrades are prorated; downgrades take effect next cycle.

What happens if I hit my monthly caps?

We’ll warn you in-app. New uploads pause and fresh messages are blocked until the cycle resets or you upgrade—existing chats stay readable.

Do you give refunds?

Every new subscription comes with a 7-day, no-questions-asked prorated refund. Just Contact us.

Can my team learn together?

Yes—grab the Ultra plan and share the account with your team. Soon, we will add an organisation account with multiple seats. Contact us if you need this feature now.

What happens to uploaded documents and conversations?

Your privacy is paramount. We don't store your original document content—only the processed content, insights, summaries, and metadata needed to power your learning conversations.

All conversation transcripts remain secure and are never sold or shared with third parties for profit. We only share data with essential service providers required to operate the platform.

Do you train your models on my content?

Never. Your documents are used only for tutoring, and purged on request. Nothing is fed back into model training.

Can I delete my data?

You control your data. Delete conversation history anytime directly from your account, or contact us to remove all content associated with your account.

Active Learning,
Not Passive Reading

Join professionals using ThinkTotem to master complex content through interactive conversations. Upload any document or explore our library—no credit card required.

Try a book—free

Read Entire Article