PDF.co (by Bytescout) is a broad PDF API platform offering dozens of tools — merge, split, convert, fill forms, read barcodes, and more. It's a Swiss Army knife for PDFs, but if you specifically need clean Markdown output, the specialization matters. Here's the honest comparison.
General-purpose vs purpose-built — each has its place.
Try BlazeDocs Free — No Setup Required| Feature | BlazeDocs | PDF.co |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / $9.99 / $17.99 / $69.99 per mo | Credit-based (from ~$9.99/mo) |
| Primary Focus | PDF to Markdown conversion | General PDF operations toolkit |
| Markdown Output | Native — primary output | Not directly supported |
| OCR Accuracy | 99.9% (Mistral AI) | ~90-95% (built-in OCR) |
| Setup Required | None — instant | API key + credit management |
| Table Handling | CSV export only | |
| Formula / LaTeX Support | ||
| Developer API | REST API + MCP + CLI | REST API |
| Export Formats | GFM, Obsidian, Notion | Text, CSV, HTML, XML, JSON |
| Document AI Chat | ||
| Batch Processing | ||
| SOC2 Compliant | Check current status | |
| Support | Email + priority support | Email + documentation |
PDF.co can extract text from PDFs and convert to HTML or CSV, but it doesn't have a dedicated Markdown conversion endpoint. BlazeDocs produces clean, structured Markdown as its primary output — no workarounds needed.
PDF.co uses a credit system where different operations cost different amounts. This makes monthly costs hard to predict. BlazeDocs uses clear monthly tiers — you know exactly what you pay, with generous page allowances included.
PDF.co uses traditional OCR approaches that work well for simple documents but struggle with complex layouts, scanned content, and mixed formatting. BlazeDocs uses Mistral AI achieving 99.9% accuracy with deep document understanding.
PDF.co does not have a dedicated PDF to Markdown API. You can extract text or convert to HTML, then use another tool to produce Markdown. This multi-step process introduces formatting loss. BlazeDocs converts directly to clean Markdown in one step.
PDF.co charges credits per API call, with different operations consuming different amounts. Plans come with a monthly credit allowance (e.g., 5,000 credits on the basic plan). Complex operations like OCR consume more credits. This can make costs unpredictable compared to BlazeDocs' straightforward monthly pricing with page allowances.
Yes, PDF.co has built-in OCR for scanned documents. However, it uses traditional OCR approaches that typically achieve 90-95% accuracy. BlazeDocs uses Mistral AI OCR achieving 99.9% accuracy, which is significantly better for complex layouts, tables, and mixed-content documents.
You could use PDF.co for general PDF operations (merge, split, etc.) and BlazeDocs for the Markdown conversion step. They complement each other well. BlazeDocs' API-first design makes it easy to slot into existing document processing pipelines.
Try BlazeDocs free — not a general PDF toolkit, but the best tool for one job: converting PDFs to clean, agent-ready Markdown.