PDF.co vs pdfdata npm Package: Current Comparison

PDF.co vs the pdfdata npm Package: Which Should You Use?

PDF.co and the pdfdata npm package were both created to help applications extract information from PDFs. However, they should not be treated as equivalent current products.

The pdfdata package is a Node.js client for a separate service called PDFDATA.io. It does not parse PDFs locally inside a Node.js application. The package sends documents and extraction instructions to the PDFDATA.io API.

More importantly, the package appears to be a legacy project. At the time of review:

  • The latest listed version was 0.2.7.
  • Its last release was approximately nine years ago.
  • The GitHub repository contained only 36 commits, two stars, and no recent release history.
  • Its documentation still used examples and API responses from 2016.
  • The linked PDFDATA.io website, registration page, and API documentation could not be verified as active.
  • The package depended on an external API endpoint at api.pdfdata.io.

Because the service’s current availability, support, pricing, retention rules, and security practices could not be confirmed, the pdfdata package should not be selected for a new production application without direct verification from its operator.

PDF.co is an actively documented document-processing API offering text extraction, OCR, structured data extraction, invoice parsing, PDF conversion, editing, generation, and automation integrations.

The short answer:

  • Choose PDF.co for a new production document-processing workflow.
  • Treat pdfdata as legacy software unless its API operator can confirm that the service remains supported.
  • Do not assume that installing pdfdata processes documents locally—the package is only an API client.
  • Existing pdfdata users should prepare a migration plan before the external service or old dependency tree creates an operational problem.

What Is the pdfdata npm Package?

pdfdata is an MIT-licensed Node.js client library for the PDFDATA.io extraction API.

Its documentation describes PDFDATA.io as a hosted service for extracting:

  • Unstructured text
  • Form information
  • PDF metadata
  • Bitmap images
  • Tables
  • Data from named page regions

A developer installed the package with:

npm install pdfdata

The application then supplied a PDFDATA.io API key and configured an extraction process.

A basic text-extraction request looked like this:

const pdfdata = require("pdfdata")(
  process.env.PDFDATA_APIKEY
);

pdfdata.procs
  .configure()
  .operation({ op: "text" })
  .withFiles(["invoice.pdf"])
  .start()
  .then(console.log);

The package submitted the document to PDFDATA.io, waited for the extraction process, and returned the service’s result.

The original package description and examples remain available in the pdfdata-node GitHub repository.

The Package Is Not a Local PDF Parser

The most important technical distinction is that pdfdata does not contain the underlying PDF-extraction engine.

It is an HTTP client for PDFDATA.io.

Installing the package does not mean that:

  • Documents remain on the local machine.
  • Extraction happens inside the Node.js process.
  • The application can work without internet access.
  • The project can keep working if PDFDATA.io becomes unavailable.
  • The MIT license grants rights to the server-side extraction software.

The MIT license applies to the client library’s source code. The hosted service has its own availability, account, data-handling, usage, and commercial requirements.

This differs from a true local JavaScript parser, where the application directly processes PDF bytes through a library included in the project.

It also means that the real comparison is not simply PDF.co versus an npm package. It is:

  • PDF.co’s hosted API and supported integrations
  • The legacy pdfdata client plus the separate PDFDATA.io service

Is the pdfdata Package Still Maintained?

The available evidence suggests that pdfdata should be treated as a legacy package.

At the time of review:

  • Version 0.2.7 was the latest listed release.
  • The package had not been released in approximately nine years.
  • Usage appeared extremely low.
  • Its documentation referenced a service and examples from 2016.
  • The linked service documentation and registration experience could not be independently verified.
  • The package used older Node.js conventions and dependencies.

This does not prove that every existing installation has stopped working. A privately maintained or unchanged endpoint could still respond for some users.

However, a production team should not adopt it until it verifies:

  • The API endpoint is operational.
  • New API keys can still be created.
  • The provider has an active support channel.
  • Current pricing is documented.
  • Data retention and deletion policies are available.
  • Security and privacy documentation is current.
  • The service has a status page or availability commitment.
  • The package works with the organization’s supported Node.js version.
  • All dependencies pass the organization’s security review.

Without those confirmations, the package creates a substantial continuity risk.

What Is PDF.co?

PDF.co is a hosted API platform for extracting, converting, generating, and editing PDF documents.

Its current capabilities include:

  • PDF-to-text
  • PDF-to-JSON
  • PDF-to-CSV
  • PDF-to-XML
  • PDF-to-Excel
  • PDF-to-HTML
  • PDF-to-image
  • OCR for scanned PDFs and images
  • AI invoice parsing
  • Template-based document parsing
  • HTML-to-PDF
  • URL-to-PDF
  • Email-to-PDF
  • Document-to-PDF
  • Image-to-PDF
  • PDF merging and splitting
  • PDF compression
  • Form filling
  • Text and image addition
  • Text search, replacement, and deletion
  • Password addition and removal
  • Barcode and QR code reading and generation
  • Document classification
  • Page deletion and rotation

PDF.co can be called directly from Node.js using standard HTTP requests. It also offers documentation and integrations for platforms such as Zapier, Make, and n8n.

The current endpoint catalog is available in the PDF.co API documentation.

The Main Difference: Legacy Extraction Client vs Active Document API

The original pdfdata package focused on extracting information from PDFs through PDFDATA.io.

PDF.co covers extraction plus the operations surrounding it.

A pdfdata workflow was generally:

  • Load a PDF from a local file.
  • Configure an extraction operation.
  • Upload the file to PDFDATA.io.
  • Wait for the process.
  • Receive extracted text, metadata, form data, images, or regions.

A PDF.co workflow can:

  • Receive a PDF from an email attachment or URL.
  • Apply OCR if the document is scanned.
  • Classify the document.
  • Extract fields, tables, barcodes, or invoice data.
  • Return the results as JSON, CSV, XML, Excel, text, or HTML.
  • Add an approval stamp to the PDF.
  • Split or merge documents.
  • Compress the finished file.
  • Upload the result to another system.
  • Trigger downstream processing through a callback.

If the requirement is only basic text extraction from clean, digitally generated PDFs, an actively maintained local JavaScript library may also be worth considering.

If the application needs OCR, structured extraction, conversion, or PDF manipulation, PDF.co provides the broader managed service.

Node.js Integration

Both approaches can be used from Node.js, but the integration models differ.

Using pdfdata

The package uses a proprietary client interface:

const pdfdata = require("pdfdata")(
  process.env.PDFDATA_APIKEY
);

pdfdata.procs
  .configure()
  .operation({ op: "text" })
  .withFiles(["document.pdf"])
  .start()
  .then((result) => {
    console.log(result);
  });

This interface is tied to the PDFDATA.io process model.

Migrating away from it requires replacing:

  • Authentication
  • File upload
  • Operation configuration
  • Job status handling
  • Result parsing
  • Error handling
  • Document identifiers

Using PDF.co

PDF.co can be called using the standard fetch function available in current Node.js releases or another supported HTTP client.

For example:

import { readFile } from "node:fs/promises";

const fileBuffer = await readFile("document.pdf");

const uploadResponse = await fetch(
  "https://api.pdf.co/v1/file/upload",
  {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      "x-api-key": process.env.PDFCO_API_KEY,
      "Content-Type": "application/octet-stream"
    },
    body: fileBuffer
  }
);

const uploadedFile = await uploadResponse.json();

The resulting file URL can then be passed to the required extraction, conversion, or editing endpoint.

The exact request depends on the selected endpoint. Developers should use the latest examples in the PDF.co documentation rather than copying an old integration unchanged.

Using standard HTTP also avoids making the application dependent on a specialized, lightly maintained wrapper package.

Text Extraction

The original PDFDATA.io service supported extracting unstructured text from PDFs.

Its documented response placed extracted text inside an operations result associated with each uploaded document.

PDF.co provides PDF-to-text conversion through a dedicated API. It can also return more structured outputs when raw text is insufficient.

Text extraction works best when:

  • The PDF contains a real text layer.
  • Fonts and character mappings are correctly embedded.
  • Reading order is reasonably clear.
  • The file is not merely a collection of scanned page images.

For complicated PDFs, developers should test:

  • Multi-column layouts
  • Headers and footers
  • Tables
  • Ligatures
  • Custom font encodings
  • Right-to-left languages
  • Rotated text
  • Overlapping text
  • Scanned pages
  • Mixed scanned and digital pages

Raw text extraction does not automatically preserve the logical structure of a document. If the application needs named fields, rows, columns, or invoice line items, a structured extraction tool is more appropriate.

OCR for Scanned PDFs

The original pdfdata documentation described text, forms, metadata, images, tables, and named-region extraction. It did not provide enough current information to confirm the availability, supported languages, pricing, or accuracy of OCR for scanned documents.

PDF.co provides built-in OCR for scanned PDFs and images.

OCR is required when a PDF page contains pixels rather than encoded characters. Common examples include:

  • Scanned invoices
  • Faxed forms
  • Photographed receipts
  • Historical documents
  • Scanned contracts
  • Image-only statements
  • Printed forms returned by mail

A workflow can use PDF.co to:

  • Extract recognized text.
  • Convert a scan into a searchable PDF.
  • Run structured extraction after recognition.
  • Convert results into JSON, CSV, XML, or Excel.
  • Read barcodes from scanned pages.
  • Classify the recognized document.

If scanned documents are part of the workload, this requirement should be tested explicitly. A parser that works well on digital PDFs may return no useful text from a scan.

Structured Data Extraction

PDFDATA.io originally advertised structured options for:

  • Forms
  • Tables
  • Custom named regions
  • Other configured extraction targets

The old documentation indicates that developers could define a region of a page and extract information from that location.

PDF.co provides several structured extraction approaches.

Document Parser

PDF.co Document Parser can extract:

  • Named fields
  • Tables
  • Values
  • Barcodes
  • Repeated data
  • Data from PDF, JPG, and PNG input

Reusable templates are useful when documents have predictable layouts.

AI Invoice Parser

PDF.co’s AI Invoice Parser extracts structured invoice information without requiring a parsing template.

Potential output includes:

  • Vendor information
  • Invoice number
  • Dates
  • Currency
  • Purchase-order number
  • Subtotal
  • Taxes
  • Total
  • Line items

Format conversion

PDF.co can also convert PDF content into:

  • JSON
  • CSV
  • XML
  • Excel
  • HTML
  • Text

These are not interchangeable outputs. Choose based on how the receiving system will use the data.

Form Data

The original pdfdata service listed PDF forms as an extraction target. However, its currently available package documentation does not establish the exact field types, flattening behavior, or support for modern and unusual forms.

PDF.co can inspect supported PDF form fields and fill them through its API.

A form workflow may need to:

  • Read field names and current values.
  • Match fields to database records.
  • Fill text fields.
  • Select checkboxes or radio buttons.
  • Add text where no interactive field exists.
  • Add an image or signature image.
  • Flatten the finished appearance.
  • Merge the form with supporting records.

Teams should test AcroForms, XFA-based files, encrypted forms, unusual fonts, and already signed documents separately. PDF form formats vary, and no short feature statement guarantees compatibility with every form.

Metadata and Document Information

PDFDATA.io originally supported metadata extraction.

PDF.co’s PDF Info Reader can return document and form information useful for:

  • Identifying page count
  • Inspecting document properties
  • Finding form fields
  • Checking dimensions
  • Determining whether additional processing is required
  • Routing documents based on their characteristics

PDF.co also provides separate operations for OCR, conversion, and classification when metadata alone cannot identify the document.

Extracting Images and Converting Pages to Images

The legacy package documentation listed bitmap-image extraction. This generally refers to retrieving image objects embedded inside a PDF.

That is different from rendering an entire PDF page as an image.

PDF.co supports PDF-to-image conversion, allowing applications to turn pages into formats such as:

  • JPG
  • PNG
  • TIFF

Use PDF-to-image when the goal is to:

  • Create thumbnails
  • Display page previews
  • Send pages to a vision system
  • Prepare pages for OCR
  • Support applications that cannot display PDFs
  • Produce archival images

Use embedded-image extraction when the goal is to retrieve individual pictures stored within the PDF.

The page should not describe these as the same capability.

PDF Editing and Manipulation

The original pdfdata package was an extraction client. It was not designed as a general PDF editor.

PDF.co provides APIs for:

  • Adding text
  • Adding images
  • Adding links
  • Adding other PDFs
  • Filling forms
  • Searching and replacing text
  • Deleting selected text
  • Merging files
  • Splitting documents
  • Deleting pages
  • Rotating pages
  • Compressing PDFs
  • Adding or removing passwords

This allows one service to perform work both before and after extraction.

For example, a PDF.co workflow can:

  • Extract an invoice number.
  • Add that number to the original document.
  • Merge the invoice with its purchase order.
  • Compress the combined file.
  • Apply password protection.
  • Send the final package to storage.

The pdfdata package did not provide that broader workflow.

PDF Generation

The pdfdata package was not a PDF-generation library.

PDF.co can create PDFs from:

  • HTML
  • Website URLs
  • Word documents
  • Excel files
  • Images
  • Email
  • Email attachments
  • Supported document formats

This is useful when the same application receives and extracts documents but must also generate:

  • Invoices
  • Reports
  • Certificates
  • Confirmations
  • Account statements
  • Approval packages
  • Archived email records

If PDF generation is required, it should be included in the product comparison rather than evaluating extraction alone.

Barcode and QR Code Processing

The legacy pdfdata documentation did not position the package as a general barcode-reading or generation solution.

PDF.co can read and generate supported one-dimensional and two-dimensional barcodes.

Barcode-reading workflows include:

  • Separating document batches
  • Routing forms
  • Reading shipment identifiers
  • Matching files to database records
  • Processing cover sheets
  • Extracting QR-code values

Barcode generation can be used for:

  • Labels
  • Tracking documents
  • Cover sheets
  • Inventory records
  • Case-management files

Local Processing and Data Privacy

Neither the pdfdata package nor PDF.co should be described as local processing by default.

The pdfdata package uploaded files to PDFDATA.io. PDF.co sends documents to PDF.co’s hosted API.

If documents are not permitted to leave the organization’s infrastructure, evaluate a maintained local PDF or OCR library instead, or discuss private deployment options with the selected provider.

For hosted processing, review:

  • Data-retention periods
  • Temporary file storage
  • Output-link expiration
  • Processing locations
  • Encryption in transit and at rest
  • Authentication
  • Subprocessors
  • Logging
  • Deletion procedures
  • Security certifications
  • Incident-response commitments
  • Whether documents are used to train models
  • Contractual data-processing terms

The legacy PDFDATA.io links should not be relied upon for these questions unless the provider supplies current documentation.

Package Maintenance and Supply-Chain Risk

The age of the pdfdata package matters even if its API still responds.

Old Node.js packages may depend on:

  • Deprecated HTTP clients
  • Abandoned promise libraries
  • Unsupported Node.js behavior
  • Outdated transitive dependencies
  • Build or syntax conventions that no longer receive testing

A package being MIT-licensed does not mean it is maintained or secure.

Before keeping it in production:

  • Run npm audit.
  • Review the complete dependency tree.
  • Test it against the current supported Node.js releases.
  • Verify TLS and certificate compatibility.
  • Confirm that API keys are never exposed in browser code.
  • Pin dependency versions with a lockfile.
  • Scan packages through the organization’s software-composition tools.
  • Create a replacement plan for the external service.
  • Avoid sending sensitive production documents during initial testing.

Do not automatically run a forced dependency upgrade in a production project. A nine-year jump may change behavior and should be tested in a separate branch and environment.

Reliability and Support

The pdfdata package’s operational reliability depends on PDFDATA.io.

The client cannot compensate if:

  • The endpoint is unavailable.
  • Authentication stops working.
  • The provider changes its response format.
  • New accounts cannot be created.
  • API documentation disappears.
  • A job remains incomplete.
  • The service changes its retention policy.

No current public service-level agreement or support program could be verified during this review.

PDF.co provides current documentation, account access, pricing, support resources, asynchronous processing, job checks, and callbacks.

Production PDF.co integrations should still implement:

  • Request timeouts
  • Retry policies
  • Idempotency where appropriate
  • Error logging
  • Job-status monitoring
  • Callback validation
  • Usage alerts
  • Temporary-link handling
  • A process for failed documents

A maintained provider does not remove the need for resilient integration design.

Automation Integrations

The pdfdata package was built specifically for Node.js. Other platforms would need to call PDFDATA.io directly, assuming the service remains available.

PDF.co can be used through:

  • Node.js
  • Python
  • PHP
  • Java
  • C#
  • Other languages that support HTTP
  • Zapier
  • Make
  • n8n
  • Microsoft Power Automate
  • Google Apps Script
  • Bubble
  • RPA platforms

This is useful when document processing must be accessible to both developers and business automation teams.

Licensing

The pdfdata Node.js client is licensed under the MIT License.

That permits broad use of the client code, subject to the license terms. It does not provide:

  • Ownership of PDFDATA.io
  • Rights to its server-side extraction software
  • Guaranteed API availability
  • A service-level agreement
  • Free unlimited API processing
  • Permission to ignore the service’s separate terms

PDF.co is a commercial hosted service. Usage is governed by its account plan and service terms.

Teams comparing an open-source client with a commercial API should evaluate the complete service, not only the license attached to the wrapper.

Pricing

pdfdata pricing

No current, authoritative PDFDATA.io pricing page could be verified during this review.

Do not publish historical prices as though they remain current.

Before using the package, request confirmation of:

  • Whether new subscriptions are available
  • Included pages or jobs
  • Overage costs
  • Storage charges
  • Retention limits
  • Trial restrictions
  • Support
  • Refund and cancellation policies

If these details cannot be obtained, the package should not be considered a viable new-production option.

PDF.co pricing

PDF.co uses credits. Credit consumption depends on the endpoint, operation, and number of pages.

At the time of review, annual-billing prices include:

  • Basic: $8.99 per month with 16,500 credits
  • Personal: $22.49 per month with 37,000 credits
  • Business 1: $44.99 per month with 80,500 credits
  • Business 2: $89.99 per month with 159,850 credits
  • Business 3: $270 per month with 483,000 credits
  • Enterprise: Custom pricing

Confirm current prices and model the selected endpoints using the PDF.co pricing page.

Include OCR, parsing, conversion, retries, testing, and peak volume in the estimate.

Where the pdfdata Package May Still Be Relevant

The package may remain relevant when:

  • An existing application already uses it successfully.
  • The organization has a working PDFDATA.io account.
  • The API endpoint remains operational for that account.
  • The application processes non-sensitive documents.
  • The dependency tree has passed a security review.
  • A short-term legacy maintenance period is required.
  • Migration is already planned.

Even in these cases, new functionality should not be built around the package until current service support is confirmed.

Where PDF.co Is Stronger

PDF.co is likely the better choice when:

  • A new production integration is being created.
  • Current documentation and support are required.
  • Scanned documents need OCR.
  • Invoices need structured parsing.
  • PDFs must be converted to CSV, JSON, XML, Excel, HTML, or images.
  • PDFs need editing, merging, splitting, or compression.
  • Documents must be generated from HTML, URLs, email, or Office files.
  • Forms need to be filled through an API.
  • Barcodes must be read or generated.
  • Zapier, Make, or n8n will be used.
  • Asynchronous jobs and callbacks are required.
  • The organization needs a provider whose pricing and service are currently verifiable.

Migrating from pdfdata to PDF.co

A migration should begin by inventorying every pdfdata operation used in the application.

Record:

  • Operation name
  • Input format
  • Expected output
  • Required pages
  • Custom extraction regions
  • Form-field requirements
  • Metadata fields
  • Image requirements
  • Error behavior
  • Maximum file size
  • Document-retention assumptions

Then map each operation to PDF.co.

A typical mapping may be:

  • text extraction → PDF-to-Text
  • Named page regions → Document Parser template
  • Forms → PDF Info Reader and PDF Add/Edit
  • Tables → PDF-to-CSV, PDF-to-Excel, or Document Parser
  • Metadata → PDF Info Reader
  • Page images → PDF-to-Image
  • Invoice fields → AI Invoice Parser
  • Scanned text → OCR-enabled conversion or parsing

Migration steps should include:

  • Create a PDF.co test account.
  • Assemble representative production documents.
  • Run both systems against the same files where possible.
  • Compare field accuracy and reading order.
  • Define a new internal result schema.
  • Place provider-specific responses behind an adapter.
  • Add timeouts, retries, logging, and job monitoring.
  • Verify security and retention requirements.
  • Load-test expected volume.
  • Run both implementations in parallel during transition.
  • Remove the old package and unused credentials after cutover.

Avoid spreading PDF.co-specific response handling across the entire application. An internal document-service layer will make future changes easier.

Questions to Ask Before Choosing

Before choosing a PDF extraction approach, ask:

  • Is the package actively maintained?
  • Does it process documents locally or call a cloud API?
  • Is the underlying service still operating?
  • Can new accounts and API keys be created?
  • Are current pricing and support terms available?
  • Do our PDFs contain real text or scanned images?
  • Is OCR required?
  • Do we need raw text, tables, or named fields?
  • Must results be returned as JSON, CSV, XML, or Excel?
  • Do we need invoice-specific extraction?
  • Must PDF pages be converted into images?
  • Do documents need editing after extraction?
  • Are barcode reading or generation required?
  • Can documents leave our infrastructure?
  • What happens if the external service becomes unavailable?
  • What Node.js versions must be supported?
  • Has the dependency tree passed a security audit?
  • How will extraction accuracy be measured?
  • What is the complete monthly processing cost?

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the pdfdata npm package?

pdfdata is a Node.js client for the PDFDATA.io hosted extraction API. It is not the extraction engine itself.

Does pdfdata process PDFs locally?

No. Its documentation shows that it authenticates with a PDFDATA.io API key and sends extraction processes to the external service.

Is the pdfdata package actively maintained?

It does not appear to be actively maintained. Its latest listed release was approximately nine years old when this page was reviewed.

Is PDFDATA.io still available?

Its current service availability could not be reliably verified during this review. The linked website, registration path, and documentation should be confirmed before relying on it.

Is pdfdata open source?

The Node.js client is MIT-licensed. That license does not apply to or guarantee access to the separate server-side PDFDATA.io service.

Is pdfdata the same as npm?

No. npm is the package registry and package manager through which pdfdata was distributed.

Can PDF.co be used from Node.js?

Yes. Node.js applications can call PDF.co through standard HTTPS requests.

Which is better for OCR?

PDF.co provides documented OCR capabilities for scanned PDFs and images.

Current OCR capabilities for the legacy PDFDATA.io service could not be verified.

Which is better for invoice extraction?

PDF.co provides an AI Invoice Parser and template-based Document Parser.

The legacy pdfdata package documented general and region-based extraction, but its current service status and invoice capabilities could not be confirmed.

Which is better for PDF-to-JSON?

PDF.co provides PDF-to-JSON and structured extraction options.

The pdfdata package returned JavaScript objects describing PDFDATA.io jobs and results, but that is not necessarily equivalent to converting complete PDF content into a current, supported JSON schema.

Can pdfdata edit or generate PDFs?

The package was designed for extraction, not general PDF editing or generation.

PDF.co supports PDF generation, editing, merging, splitting, forms, and conversion.

Should an existing application immediately remove pdfdata?

Not without testing.

First determine whether the application still uses it, whether its endpoint remains operational, and what data depends on it. Then create and test a migration before removing the package or credentials.

Are there local alternatives?

Yes. Maintained local JavaScript and native libraries are available for basic PDF text extraction and other operations.

A local library may be preferable when documents cannot leave the application environment. Evaluate maintenance, licensing, OCR support, platform requirements, and extraction accuracy before selecting one.

Final Verdict

pdfdata is a legacy Node.js wrapper for the PDFDATA.io hosted extraction service. It was not a local parser, and its current API availability, support, security documentation, and pricing could not be verified.

It may remain temporarily relevant to an existing application with a functioning PDFDATA.io account, but it is not a strong choice for a new production deployment.

PDF.co is the more practical option for new applications that need current documentation, OCR, invoice parsing, structured extraction, conversion, PDF manipulation, and automation integrations.

Choose pdfdata only for short-term maintenance of a verified legacy workflow.

Choose PDF.co for a supported, broader document-processing API.

To evaluate PDF.co with your own Node.js application, create a PDF.co account and review the available endpoints in the PDF.co API documentation.