Altair Monarch Alternative for Converting PDF Reports to Excel
Monarch is a full data preparation suite, now sold by Siemens as Rapidminer Monarch. If your team opens it mostly to get a PDF report into a spreadsheet, drop that report here and check the workbook.
Plans from $49 a month. Plus covers 5 seats, Pro adds the REST API.
Drop your PDF here or click to browse
PDF files up to 50MB
Use a report you already run through Monarch.
The short answer
Altair Monarch (formerly Datawatch Monarch, now Rapidminer Monarch at Siemens) is desktop data preparation software priced by quote, last publicly reported at $1,995 per user per year. It is the right tool when you need reusable models, joins across sources and scheduled server workflows. When the job is only turning PDF reports, statements and invoices into clean Excel tables, PDFxlsx does it in the browser with no model to build, from $49 a month, with 5 seats on the $99 plan.
Datawatch, Altair and now Siemens
The product you are renewing has changed owners twice. The altair.com Monarch address now redirects to siemens.com, where it is called Rapidminer Monarch. A renewal is a natural moment to ask which parts of the suite your team still uses.
1990s
Datawatch Monarch
Report mining on the desktop
2018
Altair Monarch
Altair buys Datawatch
2025
Altair joins Siemens
Acquisition completed
Now
Rapidminer Monarch
Listed on siemens.com
From a system report to rows you can total
In Monarch you open the report, mark a sample detail line, trap it with a template and save the model. That is time well spent on a layout you will run for years. For the report a client sent this morning, it is setup you do not need.
RUN 09/30/26 ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE AGING PAGE 1
CUST NAME CURRENT 31-60 61-90
10042 HARLOW SUPPLY 4,120.00 310.50 0.00
10077 PIKE & ALDER LLC 1,980.25 0.00 640.00
10113 NORTHGATE DENTAL 725.00 725.00 0.00
-------- ------- -------
PAGE TOTAL 6,825.25 1,035.50 640.00
Run date, page number and page totals repeat on all 12 pages.
| Cust | Name | Current | 31-60 | 61-90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10042 | HARLOW SUPPLY | 4120.00 | 310.50 | 0.00 |
| 10077 | PIKE & ALDER LLC | 1980.25 | 0.00 | 640.00 |
| 10113 | NORTHGATE DENTAL | 725.00 | 725.00 | 0.00 |
| =SUM(C2:C4) | 6825.25 | 1035.50 | 640.00 | |
One header row, amounts stored as numbers, the table carried across page breaks. The same engine runs the aging report PDF to Excel converter.
What a five person team pays per year
Siemens lists no price for Rapidminer Monarch, so your number comes from a quote. The last public figure, from a 2022 TechRepublic review, was $1,995 per user per year for the desktop product and from $10,000 for Monarch Server. Five analysts at that rate is $9,975 a year.
Our Plus plan covers 5 seats and 500 files a month for $588 billed yearly. The comparison is only fair if PDF to Excel is all those five people do in Monarch. The full breakdown is in our Altair Monarch pricing guide.
$1,995 per user per year, as reported in 2022
unlimited seats, REST API
5 seats, 500 files a month
Altair Monarch vs PDFxlsx for PDF to Excel
Monarch does far more than we do. Rows where it is the better pick are in bold.
| Question | Altair Monarch (Rapidminer Monarch) | PDFxlsx |
|---|---|---|
| How you pay | Quote. Last reported at $1,995 per user per year, Server from $10,000 | $49, $99 or $199 a month by card, half that per month on yearly billing |
| Setup per report layout | Build and maintain a model | None, tables are detected automatically |
| Text and mainframe spool reports | Yes, its original purpose | No, PDF input only |
| Multi level reports with group headers appended to each row | Yes, through append templates | Tables as printed, group fields are not appended |
| Joins, transforms, database outputs | Yes, full data preparation | No, Excel and CSV output |
| Scheduled, unattended workflows | Yes, Monarch Server Automator | REST API and batch webhook on Pro, you schedule the calls |
| Scanned PDFs | Test on your files | OCR to Excel converter built in, 25 languages |
| Where it runs | Installed desktop client, server for automation | Browser, nothing to install |
| Team use | Licensed per user | 5 seats on Plus, unlimited on Pro |
| Trying it | Ask the vendor or a reseller | 3 whole files on a new account, files up to 50 MB |
Many teams keep a few Monarch seats for the analysts who build models and move everyone else, the people who only need a report in Excel, to a converter.
Teams that only need the report in Excel
Audit and assurance staff
Client ledgers arrive in a different layout every engagement. PDF to Excel for auditors skips the model for one-off reports.
Controllers at month end
Trial balances and ledgers out of the accounting system with the trial balance PDF to Excel converter.
Credit and lending analysts
Borrower statements and financials from any bank or preparer, through financial report PDF to Excel.
Ops teams with a script
A nightly job posts PDFs to the PDF to Excel API and picks up workbooks, with no server to run.
How to move a report off Monarch
Export the report as PDF
The same trial balance, aging report or statement you would open in Monarch.
Drop it in the converter
No model to build. Tables are detected on every page, scans go through OCR first.
Check the totals
Sum a column in the workbook and compare it with the report footer.
Repeat it every month
Upload up to 20 files in one batch, or call the API on Pro.
Running many reports at once? The batch PDF to Excel converter takes 20 files per upload. If you are weighing template based parsers as well, see the Docparser alternative and the Readiris alternative for desktop OCR, or the best PDF to Excel converter roundup for prices side by side.
Altair Monarch alternative questions
It depends on which half of Monarch you use. For full data preparation with joins, scheduled workflows and database outputs, Alteryx and Power Query are the usual alternatives. If you use Monarch mainly to turn PDF reports and statements into Excel, a browser converter such as PDFxlsx does that job without models, from $49 a month.
Yes. Siemens acquired Altair, and the altair.com Monarch page now redirects to siemens.com, where the product is listed as Rapidminer Monarch. It is the same report mining and data preparation software that was sold as Datawatch Monarch until Altair bought Datawatch in 2018.
Siemens publishes no price for Rapidminer Monarch, so current pricing comes by quote. The last widely cited public figures, from a 2022 TechRepublic review, were $1,995 per user per year for the desktop product and from $10,000 for Monarch Server. Treat those as a reference point and confirm with a quote.
Yes. Monarch opens a PDF or text report, you define a model that tells it which lines are detail rows and which are headers, and it exports the result to Excel or another target. The model is reusable, which pays off on reports that keep the same layout every month.
Datawatch Monarch became Altair Monarch after Altair acquired Datawatch in 2018, and it is now listed by Siemens as Rapidminer Monarch. Existing models and the report mining approach carried over through each rename. Old Datawatch version numbers, such as Monarch 14 and 15, refer to the same product line.
No. PDFxlsx detects tables on each page automatically, joins a table that continues across pages and writes dates and amounts as real Excel values. There is nothing to configure per layout, so a report you have never seen before converts the same way as one you run every month.
Only the PDF to Excel part. PDFxlsx Pro has a REST API and batch conversion with a webhook, so a script can send PDFs and collect workbooks. It does not monitor folders, join data sources, load databases or process mainframe text spool files. Keep Monarch Server for those workflows.
PDFxlsx is cheaper for PDF to Excel work: $49, $99 or $199 a month, with 5 seats on Plus and unlimited seats on Pro. Monarch was last publicly reported at $1,995 per user per year. Monarch earns that price when you need its data preparation and automation, which we do not offer.
Other PDF to Excel alternatives
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PDF reports to Excel without a model
Convert a real report, check the totals, then buy by card. Plus covers 500 files a month and 5 seats at $99, Pro adds the API at $199.