Spec

How it works

From AWS to a computer you own, in five steps.

Spec takes a full copy of your databases and files, checks it, keeps it up to date, and makes all of it searchable.

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  1. Connect

    Give Spec read-only access.

    • For a database: a read-only login to your PostgreSQL database (Amazon RDS, or any Postgres), or a Supabase or Postgres dump file.
    • For files: an S3 bucket, with permission to list and read, nothing more.
    • Spec never changes or deletes anything in your AWS account.

  2. Copy

    Spec copies everything to your own computer.

    • Every table and every file, exactly as it is.
    • Each file gets a fingerprint as it arrives, and the whole copy gets one too.
    • If the copy is interrupted, run it again: Spec carries on and fetches only what’s missing.

  3. Check

    Know the copy is complete.

    • Spec can re-check every file against its fingerprint at any time.
    • A missing or changed file is caught, and so is a changed list of files.

  4. Keep it fresh

    Only changes travel.

    • After the first copy, Spec fetches only what changed since the last one.
    • An admin can pause copies or set speed limits, for example on a backup line.

  5. Search

    Find anything, on your own computer.

    • Search your records and the text inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OpenDocument and PDF files.
    • The search model runs on the Spec computer, and search works with the internet switched off.
    • With Specbase, your tables and columns are explained and searchable too.

How much room does it take?

Here is a real example, measured on made-up data: Harbor & Pine, a made-up bakery.

All of it together is about 145 MB. A 1 TB disk holds that more than 6,800 times over.

Search needs extra room: the search copy is bigger than the raw rows, because it keeps what the search model needs for every record. The full copy is about the size your data is in AWS. Spec doesn’t compress it yet. The same database file zipped up is 483 KB instead of 2.5 MB; that is on our list, and we’ll only say so once Spec does it.

Large companies: we haven’t measured a large account yet, and the search copy grows with the number of records. We size it with you on a sample of your own data before you buy disks.

What it costs

Spec for AWS costs a fifth of what AWS charges each month to keep the same data in S3 Standard, in every country. For 1 TB, that’s $4.71 a month with Spec, where AWS charges $23.55. Early access is free: we don’t take payment yet.

Work out your price →Read the user guide →

Why the cloud, and why a copy of your own now

Why companies keep their data in the cloud

  • No hardware to buy or look after.
  • Staff and apps can reach it from anywhere.
  • Backups and uptime are someone else’s job.
  • It grows as the company grows.
  • The app was built there, so the data lives there too.

These are good reasons. The catch: your data sits in someone else’s systems, every download is billed, and finding something usually needs the app or a developer.

Why a copy of your own is practical now

  • Leaving got cheaper. AWS says it waives data-transfer fees for customers moving their data out, on request (AWS). In the EU, the Data Act bans switching charges from 12 January 2027.
  • Search runs on your own computer. Spec’s search model runs on the Spec computer itself, and search works with the internet switched off.
  • Only changes travel. After the first copy, Spec fetches only what changed.
  • Disks are cheap. A 2 TB SSD costs about $100, once. See how much room a copy takes below.

Your trade secrets stay yours

  • When Spec runs on your computer, you search your data without sending it to anyone else’s AI, or to us.
  • Your company’s data never passes through our servers.
  • Spec only reads from AWS. It never changes anything there.

Spec doesn’t encrypt the copy itself: turn on your computer’s disk encryption, and keep the computer and its backup disk locked away.

See it on made-up data

The demo shows a made-up bakery’s tables, what Specbase makes of them, and what Spec’s search finds.

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