PDF.co review
Low-cost OCR for PDF automation, with broad conversion and workflow tools.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
PDF.co is a hosted REST API platform for developers and organizations automating PDF processing and document workflows. Its capabilities cover OCR, structured parsing, document extraction, AI-powered invoice parsing, conversion, compression, editing, encryption, form filling, merging, splitting, and barcode processing. It supports web, API, and self-hosted deployments, making it suitable for teams embedding document operations into applications or connecting them to no-code workflows. It is a strong fit when OCR is one part of a wider PDF automation process rather than the only requirement.
Pricing is organized around credits and annual billing. The Basic plan costs $8.99 per month and includes 16,500 credits, full API access, unlimited output, secured data, advanced security, and 60-minute link expiry. Personal costs $22.49 per month for 37,000 credits, while Business 1 costs $44.99 for 80,500 credits. Business 2 costs $89.99 for 159,850 credits and extends link expiry to 1,440 minutes; Business 3 costs $270 for 483,000 credits with the same expiry period. Enterprise provides more than 500,000 credits per month, customized advanced features, and priority support. A 30-day free trial is available, but there is no free plan.
The platform’s breadth is its main distinction. PDF.co can convert PDFs to and from HTML, Excel, CSV, XML, JSON, and images, process long-running documents asynchronously with job-status checking, and connect workflows through Zapier, Make, n8n, Microsoft Power Automate, Salesforce, SharePoint, UiPath, Blue Prism, and other integrations. Compression includes low, medium, high, and aggressive presets, plus controls for images, fonts, resolution, and quality. Choose PDF.co when OCR needs to sit inside a larger PDF workflow; choose a narrower OCR product if specialized text recognition is the primary requirement.
PDF.co pros and cons
- Where it wins
- OCR and structured parsing within a broad PDF API
- Starts at $8.99/month with annual billing
- Works with Zapier, Make, n8n, and other platforms
- Where it doesn't
- No free plan
- OCR sits within a broader PDF-processing platform
- Annual billing applies to the displayed monthly-equivalent prices
PDF.co fact sheet, pricing and score →
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