PDFjet vs ConvertAPI
ConvertAPI is a broad, 500+ format conversion engine. PDFjet is focused on turning PDFs into clean, cited, RAG-ready data.
ConvertAPI is genuinely broad: 500+ formats, PDF to JSON, Markdown and CSV, OCR, AI custom-field extraction with confidence, PDF to Word, plus merge/split/encrypt. If you need to convert almost anything to almost anything, its coverage is hard to beat.
PDFjet is narrower and deeper on the extraction side: RAG-ready Markdown and heading-aware chunks, per-element bounding boxes for citations, schema-guided fields, and zero data retention by default — optimised for feeding PDFs into AI pipelines rather than maximal format breadth.
ConvertAPI vs PDFjet, feature by feature
| Capability | PDFjet | ConvertAPI |
|---|---|---|
| PDF → CSV (tables) | ||
| PDF → Markdown (RAG-ready) | ||
| PDF → structured JSON | ||
| PDF → editable Word (.docx) | ||
| OCR of scans / searchable PDF | ||
| AI / vision-model extraction | ||
| RAG chunking (heading-aware) | ||
| Per-element bbox provenance | ||
| Schema-guided field extraction | Partial | |
| Convert files → PDF | ||
| Merge / split / encrypt | ||
| Files never stored | Partial |
Comparison reflects each vendor's public documentation as of July 2026. Capabilities change — check the source links below before relying on a specific detail.
When ConvertAPI may fit better
- •You need the widest possible format coverage — 500+ input/output formats through one universal endpoint.
- •Conversion is your main job (Office, images, HTML, PDF in every direction), with extraction as a secondary need.
- •You want mature SDKs across many languages for a general-purpose conversion workhorse.
When PDFjet is the better call
- •Your PDFs feed an LLM: PDFjet gives heading-aware chunks and per-element bounding boxes for citations — ConvertAPI doesn't advertise RAG chunking or bbox provenance.
- •You want zero data retention by default; ConvertAPI stores files up to ~3 hours unless you set StoreFile=false, and keeps conversion logs for months.
- •You prefer simple per-page pricing over per-conversion counting with low concurrency on standard plans.
- •You want an MCP server so Claude, Cursor and other assistants can call it directly.
Try PDFjet in one call
Point your PDF at one endpoint and pick the output — CSV, Markdown, JSON, editable Word, or a searchable PDF. No SDK required.
curl -X POST https://pdfjet.dev/extract/md \
-H "Authorization: Bearer pj_live_..." \
-F [email protected]FAQ
Is PDFjet a good alternative to ConvertAPI?
Yes if your focus is extracting PDFs into clean, cited, RAG-ready data with zero retention. ConvertAPI is the better pick when you need the broadest format-conversion coverage across 500+ formats.
What does PDFjet do that ConvertAPI doesn't?
Heading-aware RAG chunking, per-element bounding-box provenance, zero data retention by default, simple per-page pricing, and an MCP server for AI assistants. ConvertAPI wins on raw format breadth.
Does ConvertAPI store my files?
By default converted files can be retained for up to about three hours; setting StoreFile=false streams results in memory without disk persistence, though conversion logs are kept for months. PDFjet stores nothing.
Switching from ConvertAPI? Start free.
100 pages/month, every feature, zero data retention. No credit card.
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Sources: www.convertapi.com/pdf-to-json·www.convertapi.com/pricing·www.convertapi.com/compliance