ChatPDF vs genei (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick ChatPDF: it is second in our ranking of AI research tools, and it grades higher too, 2.8 against 2.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
ChatPDF grades higher on value for money, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan and features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
ChatPDF
Ask questions about PDFs and get answers with citations
genei
Summarizes PDFs and web pages and keeps research organized
Which one is for you
Pick ChatPDF if
- Fits if you want quick answers from a paper or a textbook chapter, with no sign-up
- Works for students turning course notes into flashcards for Anki or Quizlet
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you're staying free, at 2 documents and 20 messages a day, files of 120 pages and folders of 5
- Skip it if you want a full literature search, as its paper summaries are built from abstracts only
- Watch out: chatting with a full paper works only for open-access papers
- Not for you if you want the price in writing first, since the website sets Plus prices per visitor
- Pricey if you pay monthly, at $14.99 on the US App Store against $89.99 for the year
Pick genei if
- Fits if you're a student who wants summaries and references in one place
- Works for someone who builds essay notes from many PDFs and pages
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free plan, as there's only a 14-day trial
- Pricey if you need multi-document analysis or paraphrasing, which sit on Pro at £24.99 a month yearly
- Watch out: prices are in pounds, so the dollar cost moves with the rate
- Watch out: the homepage promotes a separate tool, CoLoop, for qualitative analysis
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAChatPDFGood | 2.0GPAgeneiFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BPlus is $89.99 a year on the US App Store, about $7.50 a month, the low end of this category, and it lifts the caps on questions, documents and file size altogether. Pay monthly and it's $14.99. The wrinkle: the website sets Plus prices per visitor, so web checkout may not match. | CBasic is £7.99 a month billed yearly (£9.99 monthly), about the category's $10 middle. Pro is £24.99. The academic discount drops Basic to £3.99, but only for those who qualify. |
| Free plan and trial | CYou can use it without making an account at all. The caps are the ordinary sort, though: 2 documents and 20 messages a day, files of 120 pages or 10 MB, folders of 5 files. One evening of reading and you're done. The better model is kept for Plus. | CNo free plan, just a 14-day trial. The listing does not say whether a card is needed. |
| Features | CChat beside the page with clickable citations, folders to ask across files, YouTube and website links, flashcards, slides, a writer. The gaps are the listing's own, and they sit in the research half: paper summaries are built from abstracts, and full-paper chat only works on open-access papers. | CSummaries, questions, folders, notes, references and figure extraction. The listing shows multi-document analysis and AI paraphrasing as Pro-only. |
| Ease of use | BNo store rating on record, so the B rests on the listing: open the site, drop in a PDF, start asking, no account needed. Folders and saved history are the only parts that want you signed in. | CNo store rating on record. You set up projects and folders before the notes pile up usefully. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, plus a developer API. Flashcards export to Anki, Quizlet and Brainscape, slides to PowerPoint, writing to Word or Markdown. | CWeb only, with no apps or integrations listed. |
| Best for | quick answers from a PDF, no sign-up | summarizing PDFs and web pages for essays |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: ChatPDF and genei. How we grade
Price against what you get
ChatPDF starts at $7.50 a month when paid by the year and scores 3.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. genei starts at about $5.35 a month and scores 2.0.
ChatPDF scores higher, and starts $2.15 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other AI research tools on the chart, none scores higher than ChatPDF for less, and 4 score higher than genei for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- ChatPDF also covers chat assistant and AI search.
- genei also covers notes and documents.
At a glance
| ChatPDF | genei | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $89.99 per year or $14.99 per month (US App Store in-app purchase) | £3.99 per month, billed annually (Academic Basic) |
| Free plan | 2 documents a day, usable without an account. A free account adds saved history and multi-file folders. Free files are capped at 120 pages or 10 MB. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 14-day free trial |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | ChatPDF GmbH | genei |
| Price read from | apps.apple.com | genei.io |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
ChatPDF
- The website shows Plus prices only in an upgrade dialog and sets them per visitor; the prices here are US App Store in-app purchases, and web checkout may differ.
- The free plan covers 2 documents a day, and the site's limits cap free use at 20 messages a day and files of 120 pages or 10 MB.
- AI Research summaries are built from abstracts, and chatting with a full paper works only for open-access papers.
- The best model is reserved for Plus; ChatPDF says it routes queries between GPT-4o and GPT-4o-mini.
genei
- Prices are shown in pounds sterling.
- Multidocument analysis and AI paraphrasing are Pro only.
- The homepage promotes a separate qualitative analysis tool, CoLoop.
Key features
ChatPDF
- Chat with documents
- Ask questions about a PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Markdown or text file with the chat and the document side by side. Clickable citations scroll to the passage an answer came from.
- Multi-file folders
- Put files in a folder to ask questions across all of them in one conversation. Folders and saved chat history need a free account.
- AI Research
- Ask a question to find academic papers and get a summary with citations, built from the papers' abstracts. Filters narrow results to recent or influential work.
- YouTube and website chat
- Paste a YouTube or website link to ask questions about it. Video answers include clickable timestamps and an interactive transcript.
- Flashcards, slides and writing
- Makes flashcards that export to Anki, Quizlet, Brainscape or CSV, and slides that export to PowerPoint. The AI Writer drafts text with citations and exports to Word or Markdown.
- Developer API
- A backend API adds PDFs by URL or file upload and answers questions about them, with optional page references. API files are limited to 2,000 pages or 32 MB.
genei
- AI summaries
- Summarizes documents and web pages and extracts keywords to speed up background reading.
- Question mode
- Ask questions and have the AI find answers across your documents; GPT-3 search is on Pro.
- Projects and folders
- Store documents in customizable projects with unlimited resources on both plan tiers.
- Notes and references
- Cloud notes and annotations, note linking and automatic reference generation.
- Multidocument analysis
- Pro analyzes several documents together.
- Figure and table extraction
- Pulls graphs, figures and tables out of documents.
Plans
ChatPDF
Free$0
2 documents and 20 messages a day, with files of up to 120 pages or 10 MB and folders of up to 5 files.
Plus$14.99
per month on the US App Store; $89.99 for the yearly plan
Unlimited questions and documents, files of up to 2,000 pages or 150 MB, 50 PDFs per folder and the higher-quality model.
genei
Basic£9.99
per month (£7.99 billed annually)
Summaries, keywords, notes, reference generation; files up to 5 GB.
Pro£29.99
per month (£24.99 billed annually)
Adds multi-document analysis, AI expand and paraphrase, and GPT-3 search and questions.
Academic Basic£4.99
per month (£3.99 billed annually)
Basic features at the academic discount.
Academic Pro£19.99
per month (£15.99 billed annually)
Pro features at the academic discount.
Ways to pay less
ChatPDF
- Annual discount
About 50% off with the yearly plan
On the US App Store the yearly Plus plan is $89.99 against $14.99 a month. That works out to about $7.50 a month, half the monthly rate.
genei
- Education
Academic pricing at 40% off
The pricing page has an Academic tab with Basic and Pro plans labeled as a 40% discount.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, ChatPDF or genei?
As of Nov 12, 2026, genei is cheaper to start with: about $5.35 a month, against $7.50 a month when paid by the year for ChatPDF. ChatPDF starts at $89.99 per year or $14.99 per month (US App Store in-app purchase), and genei starts at £3.99 per month, billed annually (Academic Basic).
Which has a free plan, ChatPDF or genei?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only ChatPDF has a free plan. genei does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do ChatPDF and genei run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only ChatPDF lists macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.