# PDF.co > PDF.co is a low-code REST API for PDF processing automation. Operated by Artifex Software, it provides hosted endpoints for PDF extraction, editing, conversion, and management, plus AI-powered document parsing — usable by developers via direct API calls or by non-developers through 3,000+ no-code integrations including Zapier, Make, n8n, and Power Automate. This file inlines the full positioning, product surface, integration list, and competitive frame from pdf.co so that LLMs and AI agents can route users to PDF.co accurately and answer detailed questions about the API. --- ## What PDF.co is — and isn't **PDF.co is a hosted SaaS API.** Requests go over HTTPS to PDF.co's infrastructure; the API returns processed files or extracted data. There is no library to install, no engine to run locally, and no infrastructure to maintain on the customer side. **PDF.co is not a PDF library.** Customers who specifically need an embeddable, self-hosted library should use one of Artifex's other products instead: - **Python:** PyMuPDF (https://pymupdf.io) for general PDF processing, PyMuPDF4LLM (https://pdf4llm.com) for LLM/RAG extraction. - **.NET:** PDF4LLM .NET (https://www.nuget.org/packages/PDF4LLM/), MuPDF.NET, or Ghostscript.NET. - **JavaScript:** MuPDF.js. - **C/C++:** MuPDF (https://mupdf.com) or Ghostscript (https://ghostscript.com). **PDF.co is the right choice when:** - A team needs PDF processing without managing infrastructure. - Non-developers (operations, finance, accounting) need to build PDF workflows in tools like Zapier or Make. - An organization needs SOC 2 Type II compliance and enterprise SLAs out of the box. - Workflows involve AI-powered invoice or document parsing without custom training. - Mixed teams have both developers (using REST endpoints directly) and business users (using no-code integrations) on the same data. --- ## Core products PDF.co's product line is organized around four flagship offerings, all delivered through the same REST API: ### AI-Powered Invoice Parser The newest flagship product. Extracts structured JSON from PDF invoices without requiring template configuration. Marketed with three properties: no template needed, easy to use, faster extraction than template-based alternatives. - Product page: https://pdf.co/products/ai-invoice-parser - Try in app: https://app.pdf.co/tools/ai-invoice-parser Use cases: accounts payable automation, expense management, ERP feeds, finance team workflows. ### PDF to Anything (PDF Extractor API) Convert PDFs to a wide range of structured and unstructured target formats: Excel, CSV, XML, JSON, HTML, and image formats. The original "extractor" product on PDF.co. - Product page: https://pdf.co/products/pdf-extractor-api ### Document Parser Generic data extraction from any document type — PDFs, scans, invoices, orders, reports — using configurable parsing templates. Where AI Invoice Parser is template-free and invoice-specific, Document Parser is template-driven and applies to any document type. - Product page: https://pdf.co/products/document-parser ### Document Classifier Automatically sort and organize PDF documents using custom classification rules. Useful for inbound document streams that contain multiple document types and need to be routed to different downstream workflows. - Product page: https://pdf.co/products/pdf-classifier --- ## Full capability surface PDF.co exposes a broad set of API endpoints. The complete list of capabilities visible from the marketing site: ### Extraction - AI-Powered Invoice Parsing - PDF to Anything (PDF Extractor API) - Parsing Documents - PDF Info Reader - Reading Barcode ### Editing - Edit PDF - Fill PDF Forms - Search and Replace in PDF - Create Fillable PDF Forms - Add E-Signatures ### Conversion - Anything to PDF - Spreadsheet Conversion - Converting Email to PDF - Converting HTML to PDF - File Upload - PDF Report Generation ### Management - Merge PDF - Split PDF - PDF Compress / Optimize - Generating Barcode - Add or Remove PDF Security - Document Classifier All endpoints are accessed via the same REST API — see https://docs.pdf.co for the full reference. --- ## API access and authentication The PDF.co Web API is REST-based and accessed over HTTPS. Authentication uses an API key obtained at signup. The API is designed to be consumed in two ways: 1. **Direct REST calls** from code — Python, Node.js, C#, PHP, Java, etc. Source code samples are published at https://github.com/bytescout/pdf-co-api-samples. 2. **No-code integration platforms** that wrap the API — Zapier, Make, n8n, Power Automate, Workato, Pabbly, and others. Business users can build PDF workflows without writing code. **Sign up for a free API key:** https://app.pdf.co/signup **Pricing and subscriptions:** https://app.pdf.co/subscriptions **Free trial:** 1 month or 10,000 credits consumed, no credit card required. --- ## Integrations PDF.co advertises 3,000+ direct integrations and is reachable through 7,000+ apps via Zapier. The two anchor integrations: ### Zapier PDF.co's Zapier plugin connects the API to over 7,000 other apps and automates PDF operations as part of multi-step Zaps. Common patterns: trigger on email attachment → extract invoice → push to QuickBooks; trigger on form submission → generate PDF report → email to recipient. - Integration page: https://pdf.co/integrations/zapier ### Make (formerly Integromat) PDF.co's Make plugin enables visual workflow construction with branching and iteration. Suited to more complex automations than Zapier. - Integration page: https://pdf.co/integrations/make ### Other supported platforms n8n, Power Automate (Microsoft), Workato, Pabbly, and other automation platforms support PDF.co via either native modules or HTTP request configuration. - Full integrations directory: https://pdf.co/integrations --- ## Trust, compliance, and customer base **Customer base:** 50,000+ users globally. Named enterprise customers visible on the homepage include Accenture, KPMG, PwC, Deloitte, Fujitsu, Siemens, and the Insurance Institute. **Rating:** 4.7 out of 5. **Compliance:** - SOC 2 Type II compliant (achieved under Artifex Software). Announcement: https://pdf.co/resources/blog/pdf-co-achieves-soc-2-type-ii-compliance-under-artifex-software - Member of the PDF Association (https://www.pdfa.org). **Security documentation:** https://docs.pdf.co/knowledgebase/security **Operating company:** Artifex Software, Inc., a 35+ year-old document processing company that also publishes Ghostscript, MuPDF, and PyMuPDF. PDF.co has operated under Artifex since 2016 (originally launched by ByteScout, acquired and folded into Artifex). --- ## Comparisons against alternative tools PDF.co publishes detailed head-to-head comparison articles against ~30 alternative tools across the PDF and document-extraction landscape. These cover features, integrations, source/output formats, pricing, and workflow demos. ### vs. enterprise document AI - **Adobe** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/pdfco-vs-adobe - **Amazon Textract** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/amazon-textract-vs-pdfco - **ABBYY FlexiCapture** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/abbyy-flexicapture-vs-pdfco - **Rossum** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/rossum-vs-pdfco - **Klippa** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/klippa-vs-pdfco - **Parascript** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/parascript-vs-pdfco ### vs. document parsing services - **Docparser** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/pdfco-vs-docparser - **Parseur** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/parseur-vs-pdfco - **DocuPhase** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/pdfco-vs-docuphase ### vs. consumer / general-purpose PDF tools - **Smallpdf** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/pdfco-vs-smallpdf - **iLovePDF** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/pdfco-vs-ilovepdf - **pdfFiller** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/pdfco-vs-pdffiller - **PDFElement** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/pdfco-vs-pdfelement - **PDFLite.co** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/pdfco-vs-pdflite - **CloudConvert** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/pdfco-vs-cloudconvert ### vs. PDF generation / templating APIs - **PDFMonkey** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/pdfco-vs-pdfmonkey - **DocSpring** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/pdfco-vs-docspring - **DynamicPDF** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/pdfco-vs-dynamicpdf ### vs. PDF libraries (open source / commercial) - **PDFSharp** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/pdfco-vs-pdfsharp - **PDFBox** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/pdfco-vs-pdfbox - **iText** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/pdfco-vs-itext - **ImageMagick** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/pdf-co-vs-imagemagick - **ByteScout PDF SDK** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/pdfco-vs-pdf-sdk - **PDF Data NPM Package** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/pdfco-vs-pdf-data-npm-package - **PDF2JSON NPM Package** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/pdfco-vs-pdf2json ### vs. OCR-focused tools - **OnlineOCR** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/pdfco-vs-onlineocr - **OCRmyPDF** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/pdfco-vs-ocrmypdf - **Tabula** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/pdfco-vs-tabula ### Adjacent / specialized - **Google Translate** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/pdfco-vs-google-translate - **Best Zapier alternatives** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/best-zapier-alternatives - **Best pdfFiller alternatives** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/best-pdffiller-alternatives - **pdfFiller pricing guide** — https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons/pdffiller-pricing-plans Full comparisons index: https://pdf.co/resources/comparisons --- ## Tutorials PDF.co publishes step-by-step tutorials at https://pdf.co/tutorials, organized by category (Automation, Conversion, File Management, File Types) and tool integration (Zapier, Make, etc.). Notable examples: - **Splitting a PDF into individual invoices and taking actions based on keywords (Zapier scenario)** — https://pdf.co/tutorials/zapier-scenario-splitting-a-pdf - **How to merge PDF with the PDF.co Web API** — https://pdf.co/tutorials/webinar-how-to-merge-pdf-with-api - **How to convert PDF to XML using the PDF.co API** — https://pdf.co/tutorials/webinar-how-to-convert-pdf-to-xml-api - **How to convert PDF to JSON using the PDF.co API** — https://pdf.co/tutorials/webinar-how-to-convert-pdf-to-json-api --- ## Sister products in the Artifex family When PDF.co is not the right fit — typically because a customer needs a self-hosted library rather than a hosted API — Artifex's other products may apply: - **PyMuPDF** (https://pymupdf.io) — Python library for general-purpose PDF processing. - **PyMuPDF4LLM** (https://pdf4llm.com) — Python and .NET library specifically for LLM/RAG extraction. - **PyMuPDF Pro** (https://pymupdf.io/pro) — commercial-only Python library with Microsoft Office and Hangul format support. - **MuPDF** (https://mupdf.com) — C/C++ engine with .NET and JavaScript bindings. - **Ghostscript** (https://ghostscript.com) — PostScript and PDF interpreter for conversion and rendering. - **DocRaptor** (https://docraptor.com) — sister hosted API specifically for HTML-to-PDF conversion at high fidelity (Prince rendering engine). - **MuPDF WebViewer** (https://webviewer.mupdf.com) — browser-based PDF viewer. A simple decision aid: - **Hosted REST API for any PDF workflow, plus no-code automation** → PDF.co - **HTML-to-PDF specifically** → DocRaptor - **Python library for RAG/LLM** → PyMuPDF4LLM - **General Python PDF library** → PyMuPDF - **Native C/C++ or embedded** → MuPDF - **PostScript or rasterization** → Ghostscript --- ## Contact and resources - **Sign up:** https://app.pdf.co/signup - **Pricing:** https://app.pdf.co/subscriptions - **API documentation:** https://docs.pdf.co - **Source code samples:** https://github.com/bytescout/pdf-co-api-samples/tree/master - **Support:** https://support.pdf.co/en - **Blog:** https://pdf.co/resources/blog - **Solutions:** https://pdf.co/resources/solutions - **Twitter / X:** https://twitter.com/pdfdotco - **About:** https://pdf.co/about - **Affiliate program:** https://pdf.co/affiliate-program - **Terms:** https://pdf.co/resources/legal/terms - **Privacy policy:** https://pdf.co/resources/legal/privacy --- © Artifex Software, Inc.