PDFjet vs PDFShift
PDFShift generates PDFs from HTML. PDFjet extracts clean data out of existing PDFs — and also generates them. They solve opposite problems.
First, the honest framing: PDFShift and PDFjet mostly don't compete. PDFShift is an HTML/URL-to-PDF generation API — great for turning a web page or HTML template into a polished PDF invoice or report. It does not read data out of existing PDFs.
PDFjet is built for the opposite direction: extracting clean CSV, Markdown, JSON, editable Word or a searchable PDF out of PDFs and scans. It can also generate PDFs (HTML and Office files via /convert), so if you need both directions — or specifically need extraction — PDFjet covers it. If you only ever render HTML to PDF, PDFShift is a fine, focused choice.
PDFShift vs PDFjet, feature by feature
| Capability | PDFjet | PDFShift |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | ||
| HTML / URL → PDF | ||
| Convert Office / images → PDF | ||
| Files never stored |
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 PDFShift may fit better
- •Your only job is turning HTML or a URL into a clean PDF or image — PDFShift does that with minimal integration effort.
- •You want a simple, focused generation API with a free 50-credits/month tier.
- •You value that it doesn't store requests or generated documents by default.
When PDFjet is the better call
- •You need to extract data OUT of PDFs — CSV, Markdown, JSON, editable Word, searchable PDF — which PDFShift doesn't do at all.
- •You want both directions in one API: convert HTML and Office files to PDF and extract from PDFs.
- •You're feeding PDFs into an LLM and need RAG chunks and per-element provenance.
- •You also want merge, split and encrypt alongside extraction.
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
Can PDFShift extract data from a PDF?
No. Per its documentation, PDFShift converts HTML or a URL into a PDF or image; it does not extract data out of existing PDFs and has no OCR. For extraction you'd use a tool like PDFjet.
Is PDFjet an alternative to PDFShift?
Only partly — they solve different problems. PDFjet can generate PDFs from HTML and Office files, so it can replace PDFShift for generation, and it adds full extraction. If you only ever render HTML to PDF, PDFShift is a focused option.
Does PDFShift store my documents?
By default PDFShift states it does not store requests or generated documents, with temporary S3 storage only when you use webhooks or the filename parameter. PDFjet also stores nothing.
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Sources: pdfshift.io/faq/·docs.pdfshift.io/·docs.pdfshift.io/docs/webhook-events