Head to head · PDF conversion · October 2026 research run
iLoveAPI vs PDF.co API + MCP
iLoveAPI scores 42 (E) on agent readiness against PDF.co API + MCP's 37.9 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. PDF.co API + MCP leads on schema & documentation. Both do pdf conversion.
Best PDF manipulation and conversion APIs for AI agents · All 24 pdf comparisons
Best document parsing, OCR and extraction APIs for AI agents · All 109 documents comparisons
Which one, for what
iLoveAPI E
Good for An agent that needs common PDF and image operations with a monthly free allowance and a choice of processing region.
Ahead on
- Reliability, 26 against 20
- Agent ergonomics, 61 against 49
- Security & auth, 41 against 23
- Payments & pricing, 30 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 62 against 34
Watch for
No OpenAPI file, llms.txt or Markdown docs. The reference is one HTML page
Good for An agent that needs many PDF operations from one vendor and can handle files by URL.
Ahead on
- Schema & documentation, 74 against 37
Also in its favour
- Runs on your own machine
Watch for
No status page. status.pdf.co redirects to betterstack.com/uptime
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | iLoveAPI | PDF.co API + MCP | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 26 | 20 | iLoveAPI +6 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 37 | 74 | PDF.co API + MCP +37 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 61 | 49 | iLoveAPI +12 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 41 | 23 | iLoveAPI +18 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 30 | 20 | iLoveAPI +10 |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 62 | 34 | iLoveAPI +28 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 52 | 51 | iLoveAPI +1 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 42 · E | 37.9 · F |
Facts side by side
| Fact | iLoveAPI | PDF.co API + MCP |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | iLovePDF S.L. | PDF.co (Artifex Software) |
| Hosted endpoint | https://api.ilovepdf.com/v1 | https://api.pdf.co/v1 |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under the iLovePDF API terms. The client libraries are MIT | MIT (MCP server) |
| Tools exposed | none | 38 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-09-03 | 2026-07-28 |
| Terms last updated | 2017-02-14 | 2026-03-24 |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | no date given |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | yes |
| Popularity | 9.6k npm/wk | 9 stars, 20 PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 3/5 (2) |
Verdicts
iLoveAPI
Per-tool credit costs are public, 2,500 free credits arrive each month on a sign-up that asks for no card, and five official libraries are MIT. No OpenAPI file, status page or published rate-limit numbers were found, and the governing terms date from 14 February 2017.
PDF.co API + MCP
OpenAPI 3.0.1 document with structured error bodies for 400 to 454, plus llms.txt and Markdown docs. No status page. status.pdf.co redirects to betterstack.com/uptime.
Before you call either
iLoveAPI
- Run four calls per job.
GET /v1/start/{tool}/{region}returns aserverand atask, then send upload, process and download to that server - Sign a JWT with the project secret key and send it as
Authorization: Bearer. Tokens expire after one hour - Download results promptly. The reference says files are deleted one to two hours after processing, depending on tier
- Back off exponentially on 429 and read the rate-limit headers on each response. No limit numbers are published
- Add
debug=trueto any request to have the server echo the parameters without processing or spending credits
PDF.co API + MCP
- Upload local files with
upload_fileor the presigned upload first, then pass the returned URL - Read the
contentfield, notstatus. The MCP server saysworkingeven when the API returned an error - Call
wait_job_completionafter each job. Every MCP call runs async and returns a job id - Download results within the hour. Output links expire after 60 minutes by default
- Keep the key in
X_API_KEYand leave theapi_keyargument empty
Questions
Which is better for AI agents, iLoveAPI or PDF.co API + MCP?
iLoveAPI scores 42 (E) on agent readiness against PDF.co API + MCP's 37.9 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. PDF.co API + MCP leads on schema & documentation.
Do iLoveAPI and PDF.co API + MCP need an API key?
Both need an API key.
Can an agent call iLoveAPI and PDF.co API + MCP without installing anything?
Yes. iLoveAPI has a hosted endpoint at https://api.ilovepdf.com/v1 and PDF.co API + MCP at https://api.pdf.co/v1.
Other comparisons with iLoveAPI or PDF.co API + MCP
Machine-readable
- This page as Markdown
/compare/iloveapi-vs-pdf-co.md· slim.min.md· JSON.json(or sendAccept: text/markdown) - Each listing in full
/api/v1/tools/iloveapi.json·/api/v1/tools/pdf-co.json - From a terminal
anchor compare iloveapi pdf-co(the CLI) - Over MCP
compare_tools {"a": "iloveapi", "b": "pdf-co"}at/mcp, no key