PDF Vector vs Mistral OCR
Mistral OCR is Mistral AI's OCR model API. It converts PDFs, images and Office files to markdown and can return schema-based annotations in the same call.
Facts about Mistral OCR come from its public pricing and documentation pages, checked on November 11, 2026. Prices and features change, so confirm on their site before you decide.
Feature and pricing comparison
| PDF Vector | Mistral OCR | |
|---|---|---|
| Product type | Developer API, TypeScript SDK, MCP server, no-code actions | Developer API (model) |
| Input formats | 27 formats, including PDF, Office, images, CSV, HTML, EPUB | PDF, images, PPTX, DOCX |
| Output | Markdown (optionally per page), HTML on Max; JSON via Extract; answers via Ask | Markdown per page; tables in markdown or HTML; JSON annotations |
| Schema-based extraction | Yes, any JSON Schema per request | Yes, annotations with a JSON schema |
| Layout and coordinates | Tables kept in markdown; no bounding boxes | Yes: block and image bounding boxes, confidence scores |
| Integrations | Zapier, Make, n8n, MCP server, REST from any language | Python and TypeScript SDKs; REST; Batch API |
| Deployment and regions | Cloud (shared US instance); dedicated instances in UK, EU, US, Japan, Australia or Asia Pacific on Enterprise | Cloud (global, EU and US endpoints); self-hosted on enterprise terms |
| Pricing | Plans from $25/month; Document Parse $0.97 to $7.76 per 1,000 pages on Pro | $4 per 1,000 pages ($5 with annotations) on OCR 4.1 |
| Free tier | 100 credits, no credit card | No free API tier listed |
When Mistral OCR is a good choice
Developers who want the lowest per-page OCR price, rich layout blocks with bounding boxes, and are comfortable building the rest of the pipeline.
- Low list price: $4 per 1,000 pages on the latest model ($2 on OCR 3), with a batch discount.
- Labeled paragraph blocks with bounding boxes, HTML tables and word-level confidence on OCR 4.x.
- Schema-based annotations in the same request, an EU regional endpoint and a zero-data-retention option.
Things to consider
- It is a model API: invoice, ID or bank statement logic, integrations and workflows are up to you.
- No free API tier is listed on the pricing page.
- Zapier, Make and n8n integrations are not documented.
Why teams choose PDF Vector
- Specialized document APIs and Ask on top of parsing, so you do not build prompts and post-processing yourself.
- No-code Zapier, Make and n8n actions and a free plan with 100 credits.
- Academic search, citations and paper parsing included.