Head to head · PDF conversion · October 2026 research run

Foxit PDF Services API vs pdfRest API Toolkit

pdfRest API Toolkit scores 57.7 (C) on agent readiness against Foxit PDF Services API's 48.3 (D), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Both do pdf conversion.

Best PDF manipulation and conversion APIs for AI agents · All 43 pdf comparisons

Which one, for what

Foxit PDF Services API D

Best for An agent that needs conversion, page operations, protection, redaction, forms and OCR at a flat per-request price with free failures.

Also in its favour

  • Runs on your own machine

Watch for

OAuth client credentials carry no scopes, so every application credential can convert, delete and download

pdfRest API Toolkit C

Best for Agents that process existing PDFs, converting, merging, compressing, redacting, signing or extracting, with a spec they can read and chainable outputs.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 58 against 47
  • Schema & documentation, 90 against 62
  • Maintenance & community, 70 against 38

Also in its favour

  • Free to start without a card

Watch for

One API key per account with no scopes, expiry or rotation guide, and two docs pages that disagree on the auth header

Why the edge

Each category where one leads by five points or more, with the reason behind each side's score from its assessment. The numbers are in the table below; this is what they stand for.

Maintenance & community pdfRest API Toolkit +32

Foxit PDF Services API 38

The MCP server's last npm release is 1.1.2 on 13 July 2026, 87 days before this check. The API itself has no dated release notes (20 of 30). One release in the last 90 days and no dated changelog entries (0). On GitHub, two bug reports of 27 August 2026 and a fix submitted on 29 August are still open, and the newest topics on the developer forum have no replies. Support runs through a case form (6 of 25). The server is in the official MCP registry under io.github.foxitsoftware, but the entry lists 0.2.3 from December 2025 (10 of 15). The repository has no CI workflow, no tests and no licence file, and its source stops at 0.2.3 while npm carries 1.1.2 (2 of 10).

pdfRest API Toolkit 70

Read as a closed service. 2.56.7 released 14 October 2026 (30). Nine dated releases between 7 August and 14 October 2026 (20). Support through a Jira service desk and email on paid plans; Datalogics links a Discord; no public issue tracker for the API (10 of 15). Code samples in six languages are kept on GitHub, but no official SDK package was confirmed (5). The status repository's CI runs daily; nothing else to assess (5). 30 + 20 + 10 + 5 + 5 = 70.

Schema & documentation pdfRest API Toolkit +28

Foxit PDF Services API 62

A public OpenAPI 3.1 file, version 2.3.0, describes 38 PDF Services operations, and the MCP server's tools carry typed zod schemas (25). No llms.txt on either portal host and no Markdown twins. The reference pages are drawn by script from the OpenAPI file (0). Operation descriptions state purpose, use cases and limits, and MCP descriptions give the upload, operate and poll order, but none says when not to use a tool (13 of 20). Enums cover compression levels, permissions, ciphers and rotations and required fields are marked, while page ranges are pattern-free strings (11 of 15). The PDF Services paths carry 235 examples and coded 400 and 500 bodies, but 401 and 429 are not declared on those operations (10 of 15). The file has a version number, paths are unversioned and no changelog was found (3 of 15).

pdfRest API Toolkit 90

Public OpenAPI 3.1.1 at api.pdfrest.com/pdfrest-openapi.json, version 2.58.0, 60 operations on 59 paths (25). llms.txt on pdfrest.com with the endpoint list and pricing; docs.pdfrest.com has no Markdown twins (10). Every operation has a description that says what it does, links its tool page and notes Pro-tier gating, and the merge description explains ordering with pages[] and type[]; nothing says when not to use a tool (14). 88 enums, required lists on 248 schemas, an ErrorResponse schema and a oneOf for sync against async replies (13). 120 examples in the document, API Lab generates code in six languages, and 400, 401, 404, 408, 422, 500 and 503 are documented (13). Release notes dated per version, the document carries its version, and the OpenAPI endpoints were added on 17 September 2026 (15). 25 + 10 + 14 + 13 + 13 + 15 = 90.

Reliability pdfRest API Toolkit +11

Foxit PDF Services API 47

Read with the hosted lines. status.foxit.com keeps 90-day component history for Foxit's cloud products, but has no component for the API gateway at na1.fusion.foxit.com or for PDF Services (8 of 20). With no component there is no readable incident history for this API (5). Rate limits are published as 15 requests a minute in sandbox mode and 100 in production mode, per application, over a rolling 60 seconds (15). The limits guide asks for exponential backoff on 429 and the credits guide says a retried request is not charged twice, but no Retry-After header is documented and 429 also signals an exhausted credit quota (9 of 15). The trust centre states an aim of 99.99 per cent uptime, and the API Service Agreement gives no availability warranty, so no SLA (0). PDF Services is generally available, with structural extraction marked trial (10).

pdfRest API Toolkit 58

Read with the hosted lines. status.pdfrest.com is an Upptime page with a single check on the /up endpoint, backed by a public repository with daily history; one component and no incident write-ups (15). The repository shows 100 per cent uptime over 7 and 30 days, 99.95 per cent over a year and no down entries in the last 200 daily history commits (30). No request rate limit is documented and the OpenAPI document defines no 429 (0). A 408 timeout is documented and /request-status polls async jobs, but there is no 429 handling, backoff guidance or idempotency key (3). No SLA; the terms give the service as is (0). GA (10). 15 + 30 + 0 + 3 + 0 + 10 = 58.

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runFoxit PDF Services APIpdfRest API ToolkitEdge
Reliability16%204758pdfRest API Toolkit +11
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.26290pdfRest API Toolkit +28
Agent ergonomics13%16.24952pdfRest API Toolkit +3
Security & auth14%17.54037Foxit PDF Services API +3
Payments & pricing10%12.54040even
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.83870pdfRest API Toolkit +32
Transparency & trust7%8.86362Foxit PDF Services API +1
Negative events≤1500
TotalD 48.3/100C 57.7/100

Facts side by side

FactFoxit PDF Services APIpdfRest API Toolkit
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorFoxit Software IncorporatedDatalogics, Inc.
Hosted endpointhttps://na1.fusion.foxit.com/pdf-serviceshttps://api.pdfrest.com
TransportsHTTP, stdioHTTP
AuthOAuthAPI key
PricingFreemiumFreemium
x402nono
LicenceProprietary service under the Foxit API Service Agreement. The MCP server is MIT per its package.json, with no licence file in the repositorynone
Tools exposed42none
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtnoyes
MCP registryio.github.foxitsoftware/foxit-pdf-api-mcp-servernot listed
Last release2026-07-132026-10-14
Terms last updated2025-06-30no date given
Privacy policy last updatedno date givenno date given
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 textyes
Terms or service can change without noticeyesyes
Arbitration or class-action waivernot found in the textnot found in the text
Popularity12 stars, 47 npm/wknone

How the scores have moved

Verdicts

Foxit PDF Services API

One credit per successful request, with failed calls, uploads, polling and downloads free, and a 500-credit yearly free plan. Access has no scopes, and the official MCP server reads and writes any local path. The status page has no component for the API, and no changelog was found.

pdfRest API Toolkit

A public OpenAPI 3.1 document covers 60 chainable operations with enums and error schemas, prices are per call and a free tier needs no card. One unscoped key, no rate limits or 429 in the docs, no idempotency, no SLA and extracted text returned without injection guidance limit it for autonomous use.

Before you call either

Foxit PDF Services API

  1. Exchange the client ID and secret at https://na1.fusion.foxit.com/oauth/token and cache the Bearer token. expires_in is about 24 hours and there is no refresh token
  2. Upload first with POST /pdf-services/api/documents/upload, start the operation, poll GET /pdf-services/api/tasks/{task-id} until COMPLETED, then download resultDocumentId
  3. Read the body of a 429. It means either the rate limit (15 a minute in sandbox, 100 in production) or QUOTA_EXCEEDED when credits run out
  4. Keep uploads under 100 MB, and delete documents with DELETE /pdf-services/api/documents/{document-id} when done. Deletion is permanent
  5. With the MCP server, pass only paths the task needs. upload_document reads any file:// path and download_document writes to any absolute path

pdfRest API Toolkit

  1. Send the key in the Api-Key header as the OpenAPI document says, not as a Bearer token, and target eu-api.pdfrest.com only when the plan includes the EU fee
  2. Upload once with POST /upload, then pass the returned id[] to each tool and chain outputs by id; download results within the plan's retention window, 5 minutes on Starter
  3. Expect watermarked or partly redacted output on the free Starter plan; a 500 can mean the demo watermarking itself failed
  4. Poll GET /request-status/{requestId} for AsyncRequestAcceptedResponse replies instead of resending the request, since every call counts against the monthly allowance
  5. Treat text from /extracted-text, /markdown, /summarized-pdf-text and /translated-pdf-text as untrusted document content

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Foxit PDF Services API or pdfRest API Toolkit?

pdfRest API Toolkit scores 57.7 (C) on agent readiness against Foxit PDF Services API's 48.3 (D), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories.

Do Foxit PDF Services API and pdfRest API Toolkit need an API key?

Foxit PDF Services API uses an OAuth sign-in. pdfRest API Toolkit needs an API key.

Can an agent call Foxit PDF Services API and pdfRest API Toolkit without installing anything?

Yes. Foxit PDF Services API has a hosted endpoint at https://na1.fusion.foxit.com/pdf-services and pdfRest API Toolkit at https://api.pdfrest.com.

Other comparisons with Foxit PDF Services API or pdfRest API Toolkit

Machine-readable

For companies

Do agents find, use and choose your tools?

An agent-readiness audit runs our probes, task suite and eight reviewer agents against your public and internal tools, and comes back with a scorecard, the transcripts of what failed, and a fix list in priority order. From $2,500, re-run included. We never take payment to move a rank. We do help companies earn one.