ChatPDF vs SciSpace
We give ChatPDF a 3.4 GPA and SciSpace a 3.2, out of 4.0. ChatPDF grades higher on value for money and platforms. SciSpace grades higher on features. They get the same grade on the free plan and ease of use.
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
SciSpace
AI research platform for literature review and reading papers
How we grade them
| 3.4GPAChatPDFVery good | 3.2GPASciSpaceVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | APlus is $89.99 a year on the US App Store, about $7.50 a month, or $14.99 monthly. That's unlimited questions and documents, with files of up to 2,000 pages, when tools like this usually start around $12. One wrinkle: the website sets its own prices per visitor, so web checkout may differ. | BPremium is $12 a month billed annually, or $20 monthly, which is typical here. It comes with 1,200 credits a month and up to 4 tasks at once. Need more and it's a big step: Advanced is $70 for 10,000 credits. These prices are from an archived copy of the pricing page, captured on September 30, 2026. |
| Free plan and trial | BYou can try it without even making an account, which we like. But it's 2 documents and 20 messages a day, with files capped at 120 pages or 10 MB. Enough for a paper or two. Not enough for a week of revision. | BA free tier is reported, but SciSpace's site turned automated readers away, so its limits couldn't be confirmed on a SciSpace page. We'd sign up and look before planning a project around it. |
| Features | BChat beside the document with clickable citations, folders for asking across files, YouTube and website links, flashcards, slides and an AI writer. The gap is the paper search: its summaries are built from abstracts, and chatting with a full paper works only for open-access ones. | ALiterature Review answers from more than 270 million papers with references, Chat with PDF explains a single paper, and Extract Data pulls the findings out of several PDFs so you can compare them. Add agents, an AI writer, a paraphraser and a citation generator with more than 2,300 styles. |
| Ease of use | BNo App Store rating on record, so B is as high as we go. It's hard to get simpler, mind: upload a file and start asking, with no account needed. Folders and saved history want a free account. | BNo App Store rating on record, so B is as high as we go. Ask in plain language, or highlight a bit of maths or a table and have it explained. The part to learn is credits, since the agents draw on a monthly allowance. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, plus a developer API. Flashcards go out to Anki, Quizlet and Brainscape, slides to PowerPoint, and writing to Word or Markdown. | BWeb, an iPhone and iPad app, and a Chrome extension that explains highlighted text on any page and replies in 13 languages. No Android app was found on Google Play in the US when checked, and the listing shows no integrations with other tools. |
| Best for | quick answers from a PDF, no sign-up | search, reading and writing in one place |
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 SciSpace. How we grade
Where they differ
- ChatPDF starts at $89.99 per year or $14.99 per month (US App Store in-app purchase). SciSpace starts at $12 per month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly).
- Only ChatPDF lists macOS, Windows and Android apps.
- Only SciSpace lists a browser extension.
- SciSpace also covers AI agents.
At a glance
| ChatPDF | SciSpace | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $89.99 per year or $14.99 per month (US App Store in-app purchase) | $12 per month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly) |
| 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. | Third-party listings report a free tier, but its current limits could not be read: SciSpace's site turned automated readers away, and the archived pricing data covers paid plans only. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | ChatPDF GmbH | PubGenius Inc. |
| Price read from | apps.apple.com | web.archive.org (not the vendor's own page) |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Who each one suits
ChatPDF
- Students and researchers who want quick answers from a paper or textbook chapter
- Asking questions across several files kept in one folder
- Trying a document chat tool without creating an account
- Turning course material into flashcards or slides
SciSpace
- Students and researchers who want search, reading and writing tools in one place
- Getting plain-language explanations of dense papers, equations and tables
- Research teams of 2 to 300 people billed per user
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.
SciSpace
- SciSpace's site blocked automated reading, so prices come from an Internet Archive copy of its pricing page captured on September 30, 2026.
- The limits of the free tier could not be confirmed on a SciSpace page.
- Paid plans meter usage in monthly credits: 1,200 on Premium, 10,000 on Advanced and 40,000 or more on Max.
- The mobile app is listed for iPhone and iPad; no Android app was found on Google Play (US) when checked.
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.
SciSpace
- Literature Review
- Ask a research question in plain language and get answers drawn from a repository of more than 270 million papers, each with references to its sources.
- Chat with PDF
- Ask questions about a paper or PDF and get answers backed by citations that point to where in the source they came from.
- SciSpace Agent and Biomedical Agent
- Agents take on research tasks and draw on the plan's monthly credits. Each plan also caps how many tasks run at once: 4 on Premium, 8 on Advanced and 16 on Max.
- Writing and citation tools
- AI Writer, Paraphraser and AI Detector sit beside a Citation Generator that formats references in APA, MLA and more than 2,300 other styles.
- Extract Data
- Pulls the summary, conclusions and findings out of several PDFs at once so papers can be compared side by side.
- Chrome extension
- Explains highlighted text, math and tables on any web page or PDF, answers follow-up questions with citations and replies in 13 languages.
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.
SciSpace
Premium$12
per month, billed annually ($144); $20 billed monthly
1,200 credits a month and up to 4 concurrent tasks.
Teams (Premium)$15
per user / month, billed annually ($180); $25 billed monthly
For 2 to 300 users, each with 1,200 credits a month and up to 4 concurrent tasks.
Advanced$70
per month, billed annually ($840); $90 billed monthly
10,000 credits a month and up to 8 concurrent tasks.
Teams (Advanced)$75
per user / month, billed annually ($900); $100 billed monthly
For 2 to 300 users, each with 10,000 credits a month and up to 8 concurrent tasks.
MaxFrom $160
per month, billed annually ($1,920); from $200 billed monthly
Priced by credit tier, from 40,000 credits a month up to 300,000, with up to 16 concurrent tasks.
Teams (Max)$175
per user / month, billed annually ($2,100); $220 billed monthly
For 2 to 300 users, each with 40,000 credits a month and up to 16 concurrent tasks.
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.
SciSpace
- Annual discount
Save 20% to 40% with annual billing
Annual billing brings Premium from $20 to $12 a month (40% off), Advanced from $90 to $70 (22% off) and the entry Max tier from $200 to $160 (20% off).
