The ChatDOC Insider’s Guide
Everything we know about ChatDOC in one document: what it costs, its grades, getting a refund, getting help and what else to look at. Read it here, or keep a copy.
ChatDOC
The Insider’s Guide
Chat with PDFs and documents, with answers traced to the source
Every plan, grade, refund rule and rival among AI research tools, read from ChatDOC’s own pages.
Made by ChatDOC · checked Oct 5, 2026 · toolgpa.com
Contents
- 01WelcomeWhat it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
- 02What it costsEvery plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
- 03What it doesIts main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
- 04Where it standsIts grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
- 05The alternativesThe tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
- 06Quick answersThe questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
- 07About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
ToolGPA put this guide together from ChatDOC’s own pages, its app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on ChatDOC’s page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Oct 5, 2026.
Part 01 · Overview
Welcome
What it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
2.6
GPA, above 15 of the 27 other AI research tools we grade
ChatDOC is a web tool for asking questions about documents. You upload a file, or a folder of files, and each answer comes with footnotes that jump to the passage, table or figure it was drawn from. It parses cross-page tables, formulas and scanned pages, translates whole documents, and lets users plug in their own API key for models from OpenAI, Gemini, DeepSeek and others. Chrome and Edge extensions and a developer API are also offered.
To get you started, here are 9 things to know about ChatDOC, taken from its own pages and our grades.
No store rating on record, so the B rests on the listing, and the listing shows nothing to set up: drop a file in, ask.
- 1
Best for PDFs full of tables, formulas and scans
ChatDOC answers questions about documents, including cross-page tables, formulas and scanned pages, with footnotes that jump to the passage, table or figure behind each answer.
- 2
Paid plans start at $7.49 a month when paid by the year
As its pricing page puts it: $89.9 per 360 days (a 30-day plan is also sold).
- 3
You can try it first
Free account, no card needed: 10 file uploads and 100 questions in total, at most 5 files and 20 questions a day.
- 4
It runs on Web
Web, with a browser extension too.
- 5
Cited answers with TapSource
Each answer carries footnotes that open the passage it came from, and figures quoted in an answer can be traced back to the table or data behind them.
- 6
Collections
Put files in a collection, or upload a folder, and ask questions across all of them. Free accounts can hold 30 files in a collection; Pro has no limit.
- 7
Tables, formulas and scans
Recognizes cross-page tables and formulas and reads scanned files with OCR. The changelog says OCR became free for all users in December 2025.
- 8
A 2.6 GPA, above 15 of 27
That is against the other AI research tools we grade, on value, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
- 9
Keep it
To replace ChatDOC you would be making an AI model, which you can rent by the request but not make. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
ChatDOC at a glance
- Pricing
- Free trial, from $89.9 per 360 days (a 30-day plan is also sold)
- Free plan
- No
- Free trial
- Free account, no card needed: 10 file uploads and 100 questions in total, at most 5 files and 20 questions a day.
- Runs on
- Web, Browser extension
- Made by
- ChatDOC
- Category
- AI Research Tools
- Our grade
- 2.6 GPA, good
The report card
Best for PDFs full of tables, formulas and scans
ChatDOC answers questions about documents, including cross-page tables, formulas and scanned pages, with footnotes that jump to the passage, table or figure behind each answer. There's no free plan, only a one-off 10 uploads and 100 questions on PDFs, and the web app tells phone users to find a computer. Image analysis and GPT-4o messages cost extra, it never searches for papers, and refunds close after 7 days or your first Pro feature.
| Subject | Grade | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | B | Pro is $89.9 for 360 days, about $7.50 a month, and paid plans in this category start at $10 in the cheaper quarter. For that you get 300 uploads per 30 days, 300 questions a day and no page limit. It misses an A because image analysis and GPT-4o messages are bought separately. |
| Free plan and trial | C | There's no free plan to settle on. A free account is a one-off 10 uploads and 100 questions, PDFs only, and no more than 5 files and 20 questions in a day. No card is asked for, so it counts as a card-free trial, but once it's spent it's spent. |
| Features | C | It does chat-with-your-document completely, awkward files included: footnotes that open the passage, table or figure behind an answer, cross-page tables, formulas, OCR scans, folder-wide questions, translation that holds its layout. That's the smaller half of research, though — it never goes looking for papers. |
| Ease of use | B | No store rating on record, so the B rests on the listing, and the listing shows nothing to set up: drop a file in, ask. One snag worth knowing first — the web app says it doesn't work on mobile and asks you to open it on a computer. |
| Platforms and integrations | B | Web with Chrome and Edge extensions, a developer API, and your own model key for OpenAI, Gemini, DeepSeek or Grok. But it only runs in one place, a desktop browser: no phone app, no desktop app, and the site says mobile isn't supported. |
An A is worth 4 points, a B 3, a C 2, a D 1 and an F nothing. The GPA is the average of the five.
Who ChatDOC is for
- Fits if your papers are full of tables, formulas or scanned pages
- Makes sense if you'd rather answer with your own OpenAI, Gemini, DeepSeek or Grok API key
Who it is not for
- Skip it if you read on your phone, as the web app says it doesn't work on mobile and there's no app
- Not for you if you want a free plan to stay on, since free is a one-off 10 uploads and 100 questions, PDFs only
- Watch out: image analysis is a paid add-on, and GPT-4o messages are sold as separate packages
- Tight if you might want a refund, which needs asking for within 7 days and before any Pro feature is used
- Too light for finding papers, since it only reads the files you give it
Good to know
Good for
- Checking each AI answer against the passage it came from
- Reading papers and reports full of tables, formulas or scanned pages
- Asking questions across a folder of documents
- Users who want to answer with their own model API key
Worth knowing
- The Free plan is a one-time allowance of 10 uploads and 100 questions, and it accepts PDF files only.
- The web app says it does not work on mobile and asks users to open it on a computer.
- Image analysis is a paid add-on, and GPT-4o messages are bought as separate question packages.
- Refunds must be requested within 7 days of purchase and only if Pro features have not been used.
Part 02 · Pricing
What it costs
Every plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
$7.49
A month to start, paid by the year
ChatDOC is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $89.9 per 360 days (a 30-day plan is also sold).
No card is asked for, so it counts as a card-free trial, but once it's spent it's spent.
Free
$0
A one-time allowance of 10 PDF uploads and 100 questions, at most 5 files and 20 questions a day, with files of up to 300 pages and 60 MB.
Pro
$89.9
per 360 days; the 30-day price sits behind a toggle
300 uploads per 30 days, 300 questions a day, no page limit, 200 MB files, and Word, EPUB, Markdown, text, scanned and website sources.
Trying it first
Free account, no card needed: 10 file uploads and 100 questions in total, at most 5 files and 20 questions a day.
Read from chatdoc.com on Oct 5, 2026.
Part 03 · Features
What it does
Its main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
2
Places it runs: Web and Browser extension
Chat with PDFs and documents, with answers traced to the source. Here is what it does, as its own site describes it, and what it covers: public API, chat assistant, research, citations.
That's the smaller half of research, though — it never goes looking for papers.
- Cited answers with TapSource
- Each answer carries footnotes that open the passage it came from, and figures quoted in an answer can be traced back to the table or data behind them.
- Collections
- Put files in a collection, or upload a folder, and ask questions across all of them. Free accounts can hold 30 files in a collection; Pro has no limit.
- Tables, formulas and scans
- Recognizes cross-page tables and formulas and reads scanned files with OCR. The changelog says OCR became free for all users in December 2025.
- Document translation
- Translates a whole PDF or Word file while keeping its layout. Free accounts can translate 3 pages per file; Pro is unlimited.
- Bring your own model
- Besides the built-in models, users can enter their own API key to answer with models from OpenAI, Gemini, DeepSeek, Grok and others.
- Browser extensions and API
- Chrome and Edge extensions open local files and web documents in ChatDOC. A separate API sells document parsing and question answering as prepaid packages.
Where it runs
- Web
- Browser extension
What it works with
- OpenAI
- OpenRouter
- Gemini
- DeepSeek
- Grok
- Chrome
- Microsoft Edge
ChatDOC is made by ChatDOC.
Part 04 · Standing
Where it stands
Its grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
15/27
Other AI research tools it is graded above
ChatDOC's GPA of 2.6 is higher than 15 of the 27 other AI research tools we grade, and level with 5.
It stands best on value for money (B, above 18 of 27) and worst on free plan and trial (C, above 1).
Its paid plans start at $7.49 a month when paid by the year, against a middle price of $10 for the category: 3 of the 20 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. 2 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 28 AI research tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. ChatDOC’s own letter is outlined.
- BValue for moneyAbove 18 of 27
- CFree plan and trialAbove 1 of 27
- CFeaturesAbove 1 of 27
- BEase of useAbove 13 of 27
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 8 of 27
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 25 AI research tools. Further left costs less; higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. ChatDOC is the marked dot.
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
Keep it, or make your own?
Whether this is something you could build for yourself with an AI app builder, and what you would give up.
Keep it
To replace ChatDOC you would be making an AI model, which you can rent by the request but not make. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
It costs $89.90 a year.
What you could not
- An AI model, which you can rent by the request but not make.
- A library of papers and sources to search.
- Citation records for millions of papers.
- It plugs into other products, OpenAI, OpenRouter and Gemini among them, and has an API.
What this rests on. ChatDOC’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
Part 05 · Alternatives
The alternatives
The tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
ChatPDF, AskYourPDF, Humata, Anara and Gemini Notebook
The 5 tools ChatDOC is most often weighed against, with where each one differs from it.
- 2.8GPA
ChatPDF
Free plan · from $89.99/yr
Ask questions about PDFs and get answers with citations.
- ChatPDF has a free plan. ChatDOC does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only ChatDOC lists a browser extension.
- Only ChatPDF lists macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps.
- 2.4GPA
AskYourPDF
Free plan · from $11.99/mo
Chat with PDFs and other documents and get cited answers.
- AskYourPDF has a free plan. ChatDOC does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only AskYourPDF lists iOS and Android apps.
- 2.2GPA
Humata
Free plan · from $9.99/mo
Document Q&A with cited answers across your uploaded files.
- Humata has a free plan. ChatDOC does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only ChatDOC lists a browser extension.
- 2.4GPA
Anara
Free plan · from $8/mo
AI research assistant that cites the exact source passage.
- Anara has a free plan. ChatDOC does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Anara lists macOS and iOS apps.
- Anara also covers AI search, web clipper and AI agents.
- 3.4GPA
Gemini Notebook
Free plan · from $4.99/mo
Google's AI research assistant that answers from your own sources.
- Gemini Notebook has a free plan. ChatDOC does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only ChatDOC lists a browser extension.
- Only Gemini Notebook lists iOS and Android apps.
Part 06 · Questions
Quick answers
The questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
13
Questions, each answered in a line or two
The short version of everything above, for when you only need the answer. Each one is told in full in its part of the guide.
Is ChatDOC free?
No, ChatDOC is a paid product, but you can try it first. Free account, no card needed: 10 file uploads and 100 questions in total, at most 5 files and 20 questions a day.
How much does ChatDOC cost?
ChatDOC lists 2 plans. Free: $0.
What platforms does ChatDOC work on?
ChatDOC is available on Web. It also has a browser extension.
Does ChatDOC have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 5, 2026. ChatDOC is listed for Web.
Does ChatDOC have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 5, 2026. ChatDOC is listed for Web.
Is ChatDOC open source?
ChatDOC is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Oct 5, 2026.
Does ChatDOC have an API?
Yes. ChatDOC offers a public API, according to its own site.
What does ChatDOC integrate with?
ChatDOC's listing names OpenAI, OpenRouter, Gemini, DeepSeek, Grok, Chrome and Microsoft Edge.
Who makes ChatDOC?
ChatDOC is made by a company of the same name.
What are the alternatives to ChatDOC?
The closest alternatives to ChatDOC in our directory are ChatPDF, AskYourPDF, Humata, Anara and Gemini Notebook.
How does ChatDOC compare with other AI research tools?
ChatDOC's GPA of 2.6 is higher than 15 of the 27 other AI research tools we grade, and level with 5.
Is ChatDOC good value for money?
ToolGPA grades ChatDOC B for value for money. Its paid plans start at $7.49 a month when paid by the year, against a middle price of $10 for the category: 3 of the 20 others that charge start lower.
Could I make my own version of ChatDOC?
To replace ChatDOC you would be making an AI model, which you can rent by the request but not make.
Where this guide comes from
The prices, plans, platforms and features were read from ChatDOC’s own pages on Oct 5, 2026, and the grades were given on Oct 10, 2026. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from ChatDOC's own pages on 5 October 2026. Also tested with a demo account on 2026-03-03.
Every tool we list gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. How each is decided is at toolgpa.com/grades. This guide is ToolGPA’s own work; it is not made, paid for or approved by ChatDOC. Prices change, so check chatdoc.com before you buy.
- chatdoc.com/
- chatdoc.com/guide/what-is-chatdoc/
- chatdoc.com/guide/getting-started/chatdoc-paid-membership-plan/
- chatdoc.com/guide/getting-started/refunds-and-payment-issues/
- chatdoc.com/guide/getting-started/browser-extension/chatdoc-browser-extension-seamless-document-analysis-on-chrome-and-edge/
- chatdoc.com/guide/getting-started/developer-resource/chatdoc-api/
- chatdoc.com/guide/getting-started/llms-and-configuration/how-to-use-openai-gpt-4-models-to-read-pdfs/
- chatdoc.com/log/
- chatdoc.com/privacy_policy.html
Part 07 · About
About ToolGPA
Who made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
3,189
Tools graded, in 94 categories
ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.
Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.
3,189
tools graded
94
categories
426
price changes on record
579
apps priced in 12 countries
What else is on toolgpa.com
- ChatDOC, kept up to dateEverything in this guide, with prices and grades as they are todaytoolgpa.com/tools/chatdoc
- How grades are givenThe rules behind every letter and every GPAtoolgpa.com/grades
- Value chartsWhat each tool costs against what it scores, for every categorytoolgpa.com/charts
- CompareAny two tools side by side, plan by plantoolgpa.com/compare
- Price changesEvery price rise and cut on record, each with its sourcetoolgpa.com/price-changes
- Prices by countryWhat apps cost on the App Store in 12 countriestoolgpa.com/prices-by-country
- Pay lessEvery public discount: yearly billing, students, nonprofitstoolgpa.com/save
- Keep or makeWhich tools are worth paying for, and which you could build yourselftoolgpa.com/keep-or-make
Scan for the live page
Prices and grades as they are today
Quoting this guide?
Please name ToolGPA and link to the live page, so readers can check the figures for themselves:
ToolGPA, "ChatDOC: The Insider's Guide", checked Oct 5, 2026. https://toolgpa.com/tools/chatdoc
Know someone choosing between AI research tools?
Send them this guide: toolgpa.com/tools/chatdoc/guide
ToolGPA elsewhere: youtube.com/@toolgpa
See our other guides
The best-graded AI research tools after ChatDOC, each with an Insider's Guide of its own.
- AI Research Tools Insider's GuideEvery one of the 28 AI research tools we grade, compared
- Ai2 Asta Insider's GuideAI research assistant for finding papers and analyzing data3.2 GPA
- Semantic Scholar Insider's GuideFree AI-powered search engine for scientific literature3.2 GPA
- ChatPDF Insider's GuideAsk questions about PDFs and get answers with citations2.8 GPA
Choosing software? Every tool graded, every price dated.
Compare tools at toolgpa.com ›Everything in this guide is ToolGPA’s own summary of what ChatDOC’s pages, its app-store listings and public reviews said on the dates shown. Grades are our judgement under the rules at toolgpa.com/grades. Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. ChatDOC is a trademark of its owner, and this guide is not made, paid for or approved by ChatDOC. Prices and plans change: check chatdoc.com before you buy.