ChatPDF vs PDFConvo

ChatPDF

The quickest way to interrogate one long PDF without building retrieval yourself, and the page-level citations are what keep it honest. But ChatGPT and Claude now read PDFs natively, so ChatPDF only earns its subscription if you need those citations, the multi-file view, or the API.

Pros

• +answers cite specific pages, so you can check them instead of trusting them
• +handles Word, PowerPoint, Markdown and text files, not only PDF
• +REST API supports streaming and multi-turn conversations
• +free tier works with no account and no card

Cons

• −two documents a day on free runs out fast during real research
• −Plus pricing is not published anywhere on the site
• −no team plan, SSO or shared document library
• −hard per-file limit of 2,000 pages or 32 MB

PDFConvo

At $2.99 a month for unlimited documents, PDFConvo is the cheapest way into document chat we found in this shard, and a single plan means no tier maths. What you are paying for is bare: no API, no integrations, no citation controls, and a vendor that publishes no company name or country. Fine for personal reading, weak for anything with a compliance question attached.

Pros

• +Single $2.99 plan with unlimited PDFs and unlimited chats
• +Free trial with no card required
• +Natural-language search plus automatic summaries and key points
• +Companion product covers CSV and spreadsheet files

Cons

• −No company name or country published anywhere on the site
• −No API or third-party integrations
• −No standing free tier once the trial ends
• −Feature copy is thin — no detail on file limits or citation behaviour

Is ChatPDF cheaper than PDFConvo?

PDFConvo starts at $2.99/mo. ChatPDF has a free tier; what its paid plans cost is not confirmed by us yet.

Does ChatPDF or PDFConvo have a free tier?

ChatPDF has a free tier; PDFConvo has paid plans only.

Which has a public API, ChatPDF or PDFConvo?

ChatPDF ships a public API, as of our last verification. A public API for PDFConvo is not confirmed by us — check its developer docs before you plan an integration.