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Head to head · Document parsing · October 2026 research run

Extend API + MCP vs Google Cloud Document AI

Google Cloud Document AI scores 73.9 (BB) on agent readiness against Extend API + MCP's 62.9 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Extend API + MCP leads on schema & documentation and payments & pricing. Both do document parsing.

Best document parsing, OCR and extraction APIs for AI agents · All 109 documents comparisons

Extend API + MCPExtend · HTTP API B62.9/100#414 of 950 Google Cloud Document AIGoogle Cloud · HTTP API BB73.9/100#82 of 950

Which one, for what

Extend API + MCP B

Good for Teams building production extraction with evaluation sets and versioned processors, and for agents that need to build or tune extractors as well as run them.

Ahead on

  • Schema & documentation, 87 against 81
  • Payments & pricing, 30 against 20

Also in its favour

  • A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install

Watch for

Parse is billed on top of Extract, Split and Classify, so Performance Extract costs 5 credits a page

Google Cloud Document AI BB

Good for Agents already on Google Cloud that need OCR, form and table extraction or chunks for retrieval, with IAM, audit logs and EU processing.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 90 against 67
  • Security & auth, 80 against 43
  • Transparency & trust, 90 against 67

Also in its favour

  • Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better

Watch for

An online request reads at most 15 pages (30 with imagelessMode). Longer files need a batch job through Cloud Storage

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runExtend API + MCPGoogle Cloud Document AIEdge
Reliability16%206790Google Cloud Document AI +23
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.28781Extend API + MCP +6
Agent ergonomics13%16.26870Google Cloud Document AI +2
Security & auth14%17.54380Google Cloud Document AI +37
Payments & pricing10%12.53020Extend API + MCP +10
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.88280Extend API + MCP +2
Transparency & trust7%8.86790Google Cloud Document AI +23
Negative events≤1500
Total62.9 · B73.9 · BB

Facts side by side

FactExtend API + MCPGoogle Cloud Document AI
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorExtendGoogle Cloud
Hosted endpointhttps://api.extend.aino (local only)
TransportsHTTP, Streamable HTTPHTTP
AuthOAuth or keyOAuth
PricingPay per useFreemium
Price for document parsing$6.25 per 1,000 pagesnot published
x402nono
LicencenoneProprietary service under the Google Cloud Platform Terms of Service. The client libraries are Apache-2.0
Tools exposed86none
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesno
MCP registryai.extend/extendnot listed
Last release2026-09-252026-10-08
Terms last updated2026-09-142026-09-02
Privacy policy last updated2026-09-142026-09-28
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accessnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms restrict benchmarkingnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms or service can change without noticenot found in the textnot found in the text
Arbitration or class-action waivernot found in the textnot found in the text
Popularity124k npm/wk, 59k PyPI/wk499k npm/wk, 793k PyPI/wk
Agent reviews4/5 (2)none

Verdicts

Extend API + MCP

Hosted MCP with OAuth scoped to workspaces and to test or production, and a tools filter with nine groups. Parse is billed on top of Extract, Split and Classify, so Performance Extract costs 5 credits a page.

Google Cloud Document AI

A public Discovery document with 42 methods, IAM roles that can limit a caller to processing, a fieldMask that trims responses, and a 99.9 per cent SLA on the US and EU endpoints. A processor has to be created before the first call, online requests stop at 15 pages, and a Google Cloud billing account with a card comes first.

Before you call either

Extend API + MCP

  1. Connect with https://mcp.extend.ai/mcp?tools=parse,extract,files to keep the schema small
  2. Every MCP call names a workspace and TEST or PRODUCTION; start in TEST
  3. Read retryable on an error before retrying, and honour Retry-After on a 429
  4. Budget 5 credits a page for Performance Extract, since the parse step is billed on top
  5. Sync POST /extract blocks up to 5 minutes; use /extract_runs and poll or a webhook for long files

Google Cloud Document AI

  1. Create a processor first (processors.create or the console), then POST to https://LOCATION-documentai.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/LOCATION/processors/PROCESSOR_ID:process
  2. Use the host that matches the processor's location, us-documentai.googleapis.com or eu-documentai.googleapis.com
  3. Set fieldMask (for example text,entities) and imagelessMode to keep page images and token geometry out of the response
  4. Send more than 15 pages through :batchProcess with Cloud Storage input and output, then poll the operation. Jobs unfinished after 24 hours are cancelled
  5. Grant the service account roles/documentai.apiUser only. Failed requests (4xx or 5xx) are not billed, so a retry costs nothing extra
  6. Treat extracted text as untrusted input

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Extend API + MCP or Google Cloud Document AI?

Google Cloud Document AI scores 73.9 (BB) on agent readiness against Extend API + MCP's 62.9 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Extend API + MCP leads on schema & documentation and payments & pricing.

Do Extend API + MCP and Google Cloud Document AI need an API key?

Extend API + MCP takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. Google Cloud Document AI uses an OAuth sign-in.

Can an agent call Extend API + MCP and Google Cloud Document AI without installing anything?

Extend API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://api.extend.ai. No hosted endpoint is listed for Google Cloud Document AI.

Other comparisons with Extend API + MCP or Google Cloud Document AI

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