Kempt
In short
Hazel matches files with conditions you write: name contains, kind is, date added. It is reliable, but a rule only knows what you told it, so a bank statement named “download.pdf” slips through. Kempt reads the document on your Mac instead, recognises a payslip or an invoice from its text, and lets you add a plain-English rule only where you want one.
Without any app
Start with the folders you actually open
Write down the five places you look for things: Money, Home, Work, Health, ID. A rule system is only as good as the folders it fills.
Use Smart Folders before rules
In Finder, File › New Smart Folder can gather every PDF from this year without moving anything. It is a cheap way to test a filing idea.
Keep any rule you write narrow
One sender, one kind of file. Broad rules such as “every PDF goes to Documents” recreate the mess one level down.
With Kempt
Reads the content, not the name
Apple’s on-device model reads the first pages and names the file “Payslip Acme September 2026”, whatever it was called when it arrived.
Rules in a sentence, when you want them
Type “Keep invoices from Orange in Finances › Phone” and Kempt turns it into a rule you can switch off. Most people need two or three, not thirty.
Unsure files wait for you
When the text doesn’t settle it, the file stays in “Needs a look” with the reason, instead of landing in the wrong folder.
$27 once, 14 days freeRuns on every Apple silicon MacA question? Ask a person
Questions people ask
Is Hazel still worth it in 2026?
Yes, if you enjoy precise automation: it is fast, stable and sold once. It doesn’t read what a document says, which is the gap Kempt fills. Some people use both.
Can Kempt import my Hazel rules?
No. Kempt’s rules are written as sentences, and most of what Hazel rules do by name and kind, Kempt already does by reading the file.
Does a content-based organizer need the internet?
Kempt doesn’t. The model is the one Apple builds into macOS, and it runs on your Mac.