Plum vs ChatPDF
Updated · We make Plum, and have tried to be fair.
ChatPDF is the fastest way to ask a PDF a question. Plum is where you read the paper, with an assistant that answers inside it.
| Plum | ChatPDF | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Mac | Web, with desktop and mobile apps |
| A full reader for long papers | Yes | No |
| Citations that jump to the passage | Yes, highlighted in the reader | Yes |
| Questions across many documents | One paper at a time | Folders of files |
| Use your own AI provider | Yes | No |
| Where documents are processed | On your Mac | Uploaded to ChatPDF |
| Pricing | Subscription with a 7-day free trial | Free daily limit; Plus subscription |
Where ChatPDF is better
- Zero setup: open a web page, drop in a PDF, and ask.
- Works on any computer, not just a Mac.
- Accepts Word, PowerPoint, and text files as well as PDFs.
Where Plum is better
- A native, keyboard-first Mac reader built for long papers, with citation previews and equations that copy as LaTeX.
- The assistant works inside the reader: it turns to the page and highlights the exact lines it used, and only text it actually found.
- Your PDFs are processed on your Mac; only the passages the assistant reads go to the AI.
- Semantic, exact, and LaTeX math search within a paper.
- Bring your own key for any OpenAI-compatible provider, or connect Claude Code or Claude Desktop over MCP.
Which should you choose?
Choose ChatPDF for a quick question about a single document, on any device, with nothing to install.
Choose Plum if you read papers closely on a Mac, want answers you can verify on the page, and would rather not upload every file.
Weighing other tools too? See the best AI PDF readers.
Questions
Does ChatPDF upload my documents?
Yes. ChatPDF processes documents on its servers. Plum processes PDFs on your Mac and sends only the passages the assistant reads to the AI.
Is Plum a chat-with-PDF tool?
Plum is a PDF reader first. The assistant lives inside it and answers by turning to the page and highlighting the lines it used.