ChatDOC vs Explainpaper

ChatDOC is a web document assistant that lets you converse with uploaded files in natural language. It can summarize, extract, locate, analyze, and rewrite content from PDFs, Word files, Markdown, ePub, TXT, and scanned documents. A folder upload supports questions spanning multiple documents. Responses include page and reference citations, links that highlight source passages, and highlighted numerical values for checking answers. ChatDOC provides an API for embedding document processing and generated responses in other applications. Its PDF Parser API recognizes text, tables, and images and converts PDF material into formats such as JSON. Processing requires an internet connection. The service runs on the web, through a browser extension, and via API. A free plan is available; Pro costs $8.99 a month or $89.90 a year, with larger limits.

Explainpaper is a web-based AI reader for research papers. Readers highlight confusing passages to get explanations with adjustable complexity, support for more than 50 languages, and context from the full paper. Paper chat answers questions using the paper’s content, allows follow-ups, and can summarize findings; answers can cite sections so readers can locate relevant material. The product also generates outlines, extracts key points, and shows relationships between concepts. Its free plan is available indefinitely and includes unlimited highlight explanations, follow-up questions, Zotero library import, and basic AI models. Pro costs $16 a month and adds Math Explain for formulas and figures, advanced AI models, whole-paper summaries, saved highlights and explanations, and paper questions. The Pro trial lasts seven days and requires a card. Explainpaper says subscriptions are billed monthly or annually according to the selected plan and payments are processed through Stripe. The product describes its audience as researchers.