Pick ChatPDF if
students and analysts who want Q&A on a PDF they already have.
Read the ChatPDF pageChatPDF vs PDF.ai
Our take
Pick ChatPDF if students and analysts who want Q&A on a PDF they already have. Pick PDF.ai if readers who will stay on Hobby $0 (1 PDF, 100 questions), then buy Pro at $10/month billed yearly when they need 100 uploads and 1,000 questions. Skip ChatPDF if people who need a citation graph (Connected Papers) or a paper-search agent (Elicit).
ChatPDF
signed-out PDF chat
Best for
ChatPDF Talk to one document in the browser without an account
PDF.ai PDFs metered in uploads and questions
Free plan
ChatPDF $0 · to start a chat; history save wants Sign up. Exact Free page/question caps are not printed on the modal
PDF.ai $0 · 1 PDF upload. 100 questions / month. OCR 2 pages/file. 10 MB. Basic model. Chrome extension. Basic web audio
Lowest paid
ChatPDF Plus (yearly) $6.42
PDF.ai Pro $10/mo yearly
Next step up
ChatPDF Plus (monthly) $15.99
PDF.ai Ultimate $20/user/mo yearly
Watch out
ChatPDF Dollars live on the Plus modal
PDF.ai Hobby is one PDF
Last checked
ChatPDF 2026-10-20 · chatpdf.com
PDF.ai 2026-10-22 · pdf.ai/pricing
Which one, then?
Pick PDF.ai if
readers who will stay on Hobby $0 (1 PDF, 100 questions), then buy Pro at $10/month billed yearly when they need 100 uploads and 1,000 questions.
Read the PDF.ai page