Unstructured API
Unstructured API: A document-processing API for preparing PDFs and other files for AI and retrieval workflows. Ranked #9 of 60 in PDF Data Extraction Software by our editors (8.6/10); pricing: Free plan; best for teams preparing documents for AI workflows.
At a glance
- Editor score8.6 / 10
- PricingFree plan
- Best forTeams preparing documents for AI workflows
- Free planYes
- Paid from$0.01/unit usage-based
- Scanned-PDF OCRYes
- Facts checked23 Oct 2026
Where it wins
- OCR, table extraction, and multiple document partitioning strategies
- Chunking, metadata, entity extraction, and embedding support
- Free tier and pay-as-you-go pricing after 10,000 free pages
Where it doesn't
- Workflow is centered on cloud-hosted processing
- Business deployment options require a separate plan
- Form-field extraction is not yet available
Our verdict on Unstructured API
Unstructured API converts PDFs and other document and image files into structured data for downstream AI and retrieval-augmented generation workflows. It is aimed at teams that need to prepare business documents and other unstructured files for AI applications, with developers able to automate processing through REST endpoints or a Python SDK. The service supports cloud and self-hosted deployment, and its feature set spans OCR, tables, partitioning, chunking, enrichment, and embeddings rather than focusing on a single extraction task.
Document preparation is the product’s central strength. Scanned files can receive OCR enrichment, tables can be extracted and returned as HTML, and partitioning offers Auto, Fast, High-Res, and VLM strategies. Teams can chunk by character, title, page, similarity, or context, then add metadata and named-entity recognition. Embeddings can be generated and delivered to databases and vector stores, while batch processing handles files and data. Integrations include Amazon Bedrock, Anthropic Claude, Azure AI Studio, IBM watsonx, Gemini, OpenAI, NVIDIA, and Together.ai. This range suits teams building AI pipelines around varied documents; buyers looking primarily for form-field extraction should look elsewhere, as that capability is not yet available.
The Free plan includes 10,000 pages to start, all features, and no card requirement. Pay-As-You-Go also starts with 10,000 free pages, then charges $0.015 per page; the published rate is per page, not a stated recurring subscription fee. Business adds multi-user accounts, dedicated technical support, and a choice of dedicated instance, VPC, or multi-tenant SaaS. Choose Unstructured API when configurable document preparation and downstream AI delivery matter. Teams seeking a broader document automation product or a simpler form-oriented extraction workflow may prefer an alternative.
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Unstructured API pricing
All 3 Unstructured API plans and prices →
Unstructured API fact sheet
| Free plan | Yes |
|---|---|
| Paid from | $0.01/unit usage-based |
| Scanned-PDF OCR | Yes |
| Table extraction | Yes |
| Form and field extraction | Not verified |
| API access | Yes |
| Max pages per file | Not verified |
| Deployment | Cloud |
| Batch processing | Yes |
| Deployment | Cloud, Self-hosted |
| Platforms | Web |
| Compliance & security | SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, HIPAA |
| Support | Email, Community |
| Built for | Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise (editorial estimate) |
| Integrations | 40+ integrations: Amazon Bedrock, Anthropic Claude, Azure AI Studio, IBM watsonx, Gemini, OpenAI … |
| Pricing | Free plan (source) |
| Website | unstructured.io |
| Facts checked | 23 Oct 2026 |
Unstructured API integrations
Unstructured API lists 40+ integrations on its own site — the 8 named here are the ones its pages call out.
- Amazon Bedrock
- Anthropic Claude
- Azure AI Studio
- IBM watsonx
- Gemini
- OpenAI
- NVIDIA
- Together.ai
Alternatives to Unstructured API
- ABBYY VantageAn enterprise document-processing platform with AI extraction, review, routing, and workflow integrations.9.4
- UiPath Document UnderstandingA workflow-oriented option for teams that need document extraction with human review and routing.9.3
- Adobe PDF Services APIA broad cloud API for extracting PDF content and automating document workflows.9.2
See all Unstructured API alternatives →
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Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
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