What is the main functional difference between PDF Reader MCP and SmartPDF?

PDF Reader MCP is categorized under Developer Tools and uses a local stdio subprocess. SmartPDF belongs to Developer Tools and uses an install path we have not confirmed yet. Pick PDF Reader MCP for developer tools work and SmartPDF for developer tools.

How do I install PDF Reader MCP or SmartPDF in Claude Desktop, Cursor, or Windsurf?

Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client. SmartPDF has no confirmed install command yet — follow its own setup instructions.

Are PDF Reader MCP and SmartPDF free to use, or do they require API keys?

PDF Reader MCP has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. SmartPDF has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Auth: api key required. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.

Can I run both PDF Reader MCP and SmartPDF at the same time in my AI client?

Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add pdf-reader-mcp and smartpdf as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.

Which MCP server has higher directory engagement and quality ratings?

On AllMCPs, PDF Reader MCP has a quality signal of 69/100 (Great) with 2 views, 0 installs and 1,040 GitHub stars. SmartPDF has 53/100 (Good) with 0 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars.

PDF Reader MCP vs SmartPDF — MCP Server Comparison

PDF Reader MCP vs SmartPDF — MCP Server Comparison | AllMCPs

Feature & specification comparison

Rows where the two servers differ are marked.

Spec	PDF Reader MCP	S SmartPDF
Category	Developer Tools	Developer Tools
Quality signal	69/100 · Great	53/100 · Good
Install command	Confirmed	Not confirmed yet
Transport	Local subprocess (stdio)	—
Auth	Not declared	API key required
Pricing	Not declared	Not declared
Required env vars	None listed	`SMARTPDF_API_KEY`
Verified owner	Community listing	Community listing
GitHub stars	1,040	0
Directory activity	2 views 0 installs 0 upvotes	0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes
Tools	4	48
Full listing	View PDF Reader MCP	View SmartPDF

Tools & capabilities

PDF Reader MCP tools 4

inspectDocument and media evidence when Markdown is not enough. video_timeline (bounded scene/cue timeline) and render_frame (actual decoded frames), and cite_check (quote/location support, not semantic truth), are anymd Pro; PDF operations: inspect (page facts, metadata), render_page (PNG images), extract_regions (crop bounding boxes), ocr_pages / analyze_regions (configured OCR or vision provider), structure (JSON with document map, elements, geometry; profile quality|research adds trust and accessibility reports), compare (page-level diff of sources[0] vs sources[1]).
outlineReturn a document heading tree with stable node ids, title paths, page/slide/chapter ranges and Markdown byte ranges. PDF bookmarks or detected headings, Word headings, PowerPoint slides, EPUB chapters and headings, HTML and Markdown. format json (default) or tree. Pass a node id to read to fetch that section.
readRead any document as clean Markdown: PDF, Word (DOCX), PowerPoint (PPTX), Excel (XLSX/XLS/ODS), CSV, EPUB, HTML or a web URL, Markdown/text, images (metadata + OCR), audio/video (metadata, chapters, subtitles). Pages/slides/sheets carry  style markers for citation. Long documents stop at max_tokens (default 20000) and end with a cursor to continue; choose pages with pages: "1-5,8". A directory returns its readable files.
searchSearch documents for text: one file, many files, whole directories (recursive, .gitignore aware), or URLs, across every format read supports. Returns each hit as file + page/slide/sheet + a snippet with the match in bold. mode auto (default) finds the exact phrase and falls back to BM25-ranked passages when there is none; literal or ranked force one. Narrow directories with glob, e.g. "*.pdf".

SmartPDF tools 48

pdf_to_wordКонвертирует PDF в редактируемый Word-документ (.docx). file_url: публичный URL PDF-файла. ocr: скан без текста — распознать текст (русский и английский); до 100 страниц, цена — как у ocr_pdf.
word_to_pdfКонвертирует Word-документ (.doc/.docx) в PDF. file_url: публичный URL Word-файла.
merge_pdfsОбъединяет несколько PDF в один. Порядок файлов = порядок страниц. file_urls: список публичных URL PDF-файлов (минимум 2).
compress_pdfСжимает PDF-файл. file_url: публичный URL PDF-файла. level: low | medium (по умолчанию) | high.
sign_pdfДобавляет визуальную текстовую подпись на страницу PDF. file_url: публичный URL PDF-файла. signature_text: текст подписи. page: номер страницы (с 1). x, y: координаты (0.0–1.0). width, height: размер блока (0.0–1.0).
jpg_to_pdfКонвертирует изображения (JPEG, PNG) в PDF. Каждое изображение — страница. file_urls: список публичных URL изображений.
pptx_to_pdfКонвертирует презентацию PowerPoint (.pptx/.ppt) в PDF. file_url: публичный URL PPTX-файла.
xlsx_to_pdfКонвертирует таблицу Excel (.xlsx/.xls) в PDF. file_url: публичный URL XLSX-файла.
html_to_pdfКонвертирует HTML-файл в PDF. file_url: публичный URL HTML-файла. page_size: A4 (по умолчанию) | A3 | Letter. orientation: portrait (по умолчанию) | landscape.
pdf_to_jpgКонвертирует страницы PDF в JPEG. Результат — ZIP-архив (page-1.jpg, page-2.jpg...). file_url: публичный URL PDF-файла. dpi: 72 | 150 (по умолчанию) | 300.
pdf_to_pptxКонвертирует PDF в PowerPoint (.pptx). Каждая страница — отдельный слайд. file_url: публичный URL PDF-файла.
pdf_to_excelИзвлекает таблицы из PDF и сохраняет в Excel (.xlsx). file_url: публичный URL PDF-файла. layout: per-table (по умолчанию) | single-sheet.
+36 more on the listing page

Ready-to-paste client configs

Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.

PDF Reader MCP

mcpServers (Claude Desktop / Cursor)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pdf-reader-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@sylphx/anymd"
      ]
    }
  }
}

SmartPDF

No confirmed install command for SmartPDF yet — follow the setup steps linked from its listing page rather than a guessed package name.

PDF Reader MCP vs SmartPDF

Which MCP server should you choose?

Choose PDF Reader MCP when

S
Choose SmartPDF when

Feature & specification comparison

Tools & capabilities

PDF Reader MCP tools 4

SmartPDF tools 48

Ready-to-paste client configs

PDF Reader MCP

SmartPDF

Frequently asked questions

Choose PDF Reader MCP when

SChoose SmartPDF when

PDF Reader MCP tools 4

SmartPDF tools 48

PDF Reader MCP

SmartPDF

Frequently asked questions

What is the main functional difference between PDF Reader MCP and SmartPDF?

How do I install PDF Reader MCP or SmartPDF in Claude Desktop, Cursor, or Windsurf?

Are PDF Reader MCP and SmartPDF free to use, or do they require API keys?

Can I run both PDF Reader MCP and SmartPDF at the same time in my AI client?

Which MCP server has higher directory engagement and quality ratings?

Popular comparisons with PDF Reader MCP

Popular comparisons with SmartPDF

S
Choose SmartPDF when