Humata vs PDF.ai (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, PDF.ai grades higher than Humata: 2.4 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
PDF.ai grades higher on platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Humata
Document Q&A with cited answers across your uploaded files
Which one is for you
Pick Humata if
- Fits if two or three of you want to share one $9.99 plan
- Works for companies that want document Q&A on their own website through the embed or API
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you read a lot, since Expert has 500 pages a month and each extra page is $0.02
- Skip it if your files are scans, because OCR needs the Team plan at $49 a user a month
- Not for you if you want a tool that finds papers, as this only answers from what you upload
- Too light for real work on the free plan: 1 user, 60 pages a month and, going by the homepage, 10 answers
- Watch out: the billing FAQ mentions a Student plan, but the pricing page doesn't list it or a price
Pick PDF.ai if
- Fits if you ask questions of one PDF at a time
- Works for developers who want a PDF parsing API
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: 1 PDF and OCR on 2 pages per file
- Watch out: the Ultimate plan's API is non-commercial only, and commercial use needs the credit add-on
- Watch out: the chatbot widget is a separate paid plan
- Watch out: monthly-billing prices weren't readable, and the pricing page would not load for us
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAHumataFair | 2.4GPAPDF.aiFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CExpert is $9.99 a month and up to 3 of you can share it, the low end here. But it's metered at 500 pages a month, then $0.02 a page, and OCR for scans, folder permissions and personalized answers all wait for Team at $49 a user. Low to start, dear once you need those. | CPro is $10 a month billed yearly, the research middle. Ultimate is $20 per user, which is where the dearest tenth begins. |
| Free plan and trial | CFree is 1 user, 60 pages a month and, going by the homepage, 10 answers. That's a paper or two and you've seen how the citations work. A cap you'll hit in an afternoon, in other words. | CThe Hobby plan is $0 for 1 PDF and 100 questions a month. That's one document at a time, so a normal reader outgrows it quickly. |
| Features | CIt does chat-with-your-documents fully: cited answers that link to the passage, Ask All to put one question to a whole folder, website import, and Grounded, Balanced and Creative modes. That's a smaller job than this category's, though. It only answers from what you upload. | CChat with a PDF, OCR, chat with all PDFs, capture and ask, an API and a chatbot widget. The listing shows only 1 PDF on Hobby and OCR capped at 2 pages per file, but the core chat job is covered. |
| Ease of use | BNo App Store rating on record, so this rests on the listing: a web app where you upload a folder, tick the files and ask, with nothing to install or connect. The one thing to watch is the page meter, since anything over your allowance is billed per page. | BNo store rating on record. Upload a PDF and ask: nothing to set up. |
| Platforms and integrations | CA browser tab and nothing else: no phone app, no desktop app, no extension, and the listing names no integrations with other apps at all. There is an API for importing documents and asking questions, and an embed for your own page, but neither gets Humata off the one place it runs. | BWeb and a browser extension, with an API. |
| Best for | small teams asking questions of shared files | asking questions of PDFs |
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: Humata and PDF.ai. How we grade
Price against what you get
Humata starts at $9.99 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. PDF.ai starts at $10 a month and scores 2.7.
PDF.ai scores higher, and starts $0.01 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other AI research tools on the chart, 10 score higher than Humata for less, and 3 score higher than PDF.ai 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
- Humata also covers citations.
- PDF.ai also covers documents.
At a glance
| Humata | PDF.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $9.99 per month, billed monthly (covers up to 3 users) | $10 per month, billed yearly |
| Free plan | 1 user and 60 free pages a month with basic features. The homepage also limits it to 10 answers. | Hobby: 1 PDF, 100 questions a month, 10 MB files and OCR on 2 pages per file. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Tilda Technologies Inc. | PDF.ai |
| Price read from | humata.ai | pdf.ai |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Humata
- The Free plan is limited to 1 user and 60 pages a month, and the homepage also caps it at 10 answers.
- Pages beyond a plan's monthly allowance are billed per page: $0.02 on Expert and $0.01 on Team.
- OCR for scanned text, department and folder permissions and response personalization need the Team plan.
- The billing FAQ mentions a Student plan, but the pricing page does not list it or show a price.
PDF.ai
- Monthly-billing prices were not readable; the prices shown are those billed yearly.
- The Ultimate plan's API is for non-commercial use only; commercial use needs the credit add-on.
- The chatbot widget is a separate paid plan.
Key features
Humata
- Chat with your files
- Upload files or whole folders and ask questions about them. Each answer cites the relevant sections of the source documents, with highlighted links back into the file.
- Ask All across files
- Tick several files or a folder and use Ask All to put one question to all of them at once, for example to compare documents.
- Website import
- The From URL option in the upload dialog imports a website so that questions can be asked about its pages.
- Answer modes and custom prompts
- Grounded, Balanced and Creative modes set how closely answers stick to the documents, and a custom prompt can be sent along with every question.
- Team roles and permissions
- Admins invite members, assign admin or member roles, group people into teams and restrict access to folders. Department and folder permissions start at the Team plan.
- Embeds and API
- A chat view for a file or folder can be embedded in a web page, with white labeling on Enterprise. An API covers document import, conversations and questions.
PDF.ai
- Chat with PDFs
- Ask questions about an uploaded PDF; limits on uploads and questions depend on the plan.
- OCR
- AI-powered OCR for scanned files, from 2 pages per file on Hobby up to 100 on Enterprise.
- Chat with all PDFs
- Ultimate and above can question the whole library at once.
- Capture and ask
- Ultimate and above can capture a screenshot and ask about it.
- API
- Parsing, extraction and splitting API; commercial use is an add-on from $50 a month for 1,000 credits.
- Chatbot widget
- Ultimate users can add a paid widget so visitors chat with PDFs hosted on a site.
Plans
Humata
Free$0
1 user and 60 free pages a month, with basic features and up to 10 answers.
Expert$9.99
per month, billed monthly
Up to 3 users and 500 free pages a month, then $0.02 per additional page, with chat support.
Team$49
per user / month, billed monthly
For teams of up to 10: 5,000 free pages a month, then $0.01 per page, plus department and folder permissions, OCR and response personalization.
EnterpriseCustom
Unlimited users and custom page allowances, with a SOC-2 certificate, uptime SLA and early access to new features.
PDF.ai
Hobby$0
1 PDF, 100 questions a month, 10 MB max file, OCR on 2 pages per file.
Pro$10
per month, billed yearly
100 PDFs, 1,000 questions a month, 50 MB files, OCR on 10 pages per file.
Ultimate$20
per user / month, billed yearly
Unlimited PDFs and questions, advanced AI model, chat with all PDFs, team members.
Enterprise$30
per user / month, billed yearly
Unlimited use, 100 MB files, OCR on 100 pages per file, white-labeled PDF embed.
Ways to pay less
Humata
No public discounts listed.
PDF.ai
- Annual discount
Save 25% with yearly billing
The pricing page shows a Payment frequency toggle with Annually labeled as saving 25%.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Humata or PDF.ai?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Humata is cheaper to start with: $9.99 a month, against $10 a month for PDF.ai. Humata starts at $9.99 per month, billed monthly (covers up to 3 users), and PDF.ai starts at $10 per month, billed yearly.
Which has a free plan, Humata or PDF.ai?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Humata and PDF.ai have a free plan.
Which platforms do Humata and PDF.ai run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only PDF.ai lists a browser extension. 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.