Receipt Extraction vs PDF Reader MCP

A side-by-side look at the Receipt Extraction and PDF Reader MCP MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.

Receipt Extraction logoReceipt ExtractionDeveloper Tools · Remote HTTP/SSEReceipts and invoices to structured, validated JSON with AU GST/ABN awareness. MCP + HTTPS API.53GoodAuth: not declaredPDF Reader MCP logoPDF Reader MCPSearch & Data ExtractionEvidence-first PDF MCP. Agent Document Twin with citeable page+bbox evidence.61GoodAuth: no auth required

Verdict: choose Receipt Extraction for developer tools work over a hosted endpoint; choose PDF Reader MCP for search & data extraction. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.

Which MCP server should you choose?

Receipt Extraction logoChoose Receipt Extraction when

  • You need dedicated capabilities in the Developer Tools domain.
  • You prefer a remote HTTP/SSE transport.
  • You want tools like extract_receipt.
Explore Receipt Extraction

PDF Reader MCP logoChoose PDF Reader MCP when

  • You need dedicated capabilities in the Search & Data Extraction domain.
  • Its auth model fits you: No auth required.
  • You want tools like inspect, outline, read.
Explore PDF Reader MCP

Feature & specification comparison

Rows where the two servers differ are marked.

SpecReceipt Extraction logoReceipt ExtractionPDF Reader MCP logoPDF Reader MCP
CategoryDeveloper ToolsSearch & Data Extraction
Quality signal53/100 · Good61/100 · Good
Install commandConfirmedNot confirmed yet
TransportRemote HTTP/SSE—
AuthNot declaredNo auth required
PricingNot declaredFree
Required env varsNone listedNone listed
Verified ownerCommunity listingCommunity listing
GitHub stars21,051
Directory activity 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes 9 views 0 installs 0 upvotes
Tools14

Tools & capabilities

Receipt Extraction tools 1

  • extract_receiptExtracts a structured Receipt (vendor, ABN-checked, GST-aware line items and totals) from a base64-encoded receipt or invoice image/PDF.

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 <!-- page N --> 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".

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.

Receipt Extraction

mcpServers (Claude Desktop / Cursor)
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "receipt-extraction": {
      "url": "https://receipt-extraction.acjlabs.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

PDF Reader MCP

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

Frequently asked questions

Receipt Extraction is categorized under Developer Tools and uses a remote HTTP/SSE transport. PDF Reader MCP belongs to Search & Data Extraction and uses an install path we have not confirmed yet. Pick Receipt Extraction for developer tools work and PDF Reader MCP for search & data extraction.

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. PDF Reader MCP has no confirmed install command yet — follow its own setup instructions.

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

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

On AllMCPs, Receipt Extraction has a quality signal of 53/100 (Good) with 1 views, 0 installs and 2 GitHub stars. PDF Reader MCP has 61/100 (Good) with 9 views, 0 installs and 1,051 GitHub stars.