# ChatPDF

> Ask questions about PDFs and get answers with citations

ChatPDF is an AI tool for asking questions about documents. You upload a PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Markdown or text file, or paste a YouTube or website link, and chat with it in a view that shows the answer beside the source, with clickable citations. It also includes a paper search with cited summaries, flashcard and slide generators, an AI writer and an AI detector, and it has mobile and desktop apps.

- **Category:** AI Research Tools
- **Made by:** ChatPDF GmbH
- **Website:** https://www.chatpdf.com
- **Runs on:** Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android
- **Facts last checked:** Oct 5, 2026

## Pricing

ChatPDF has a free plan. Paid plans start at $89.99 per year or $14.99 per month (US App Store in-app purchase).

- **Pricing model:** Free plan
- **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.
- **Free trial:** None listed.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 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. |

Read from https://apps.apple.com/us/app/chatpdf-chat-pdf-ai/id6742454061 on Oct 5, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with ChatPDF before buying.

## Ways to pay less

- **About 50% off with the yearly plan** (Annual discount): 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. Source: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/chatpdf-chat-pdf-ai/id6742454061

## Key features

- **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.

## Good for

- 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

## Worth knowing

- 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.

## Works with

YouTube, Anki, Quizlet, Brainscape

**Tags:** Chat assistant, Research, Citations, AI search, Public API

## Alternatives

- [AskYourPDF](https://toolgpa.com/tools/askyourpdf): Chat with PDFs and other documents and get cited answers. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/askyourpdf-vs-chatpdf)
- [Humata](https://toolgpa.com/tools/humata): Document Q&A with cited answers across your uploaded files. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/chatpdf-vs-humata)
- [ChatDOC](https://toolgpa.com/tools/chatdoc): Chat with PDFs and documents, with answers traced to the source. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/chatdoc-vs-chatpdf)
- [Gemini Notebook](https://toolgpa.com/tools/notebooklm): Google's AI research assistant that answers from your own sources. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/chatpdf-vs-notebooklm)
- [SciSpace](https://toolgpa.com/tools/scispace): AI research platform for literature review and reading papers. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/chatpdf-vs-scispace)

## Sources

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 5, 2026:

- https://apps.apple.com/us/app/chatpdf-chat-pdf-ai/id6742454061
- https://www.chatpdf.com
- https://www.chatpdf.com/scholar
- https://www.chatpdf.com/youtube
- https://www.chatpdf.com/ai-flashcards
- https://www.chatpdf.com/ai-slides
- https://www.chatpdf.com/ai-writer
- https://www.chatpdf.com/docs/api/backend
- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chatpdf.android&gl=US

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/chatpdf
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).