iText pdf2Data Alternative for Extracting PDF Tables to Excel
pdf2Data is no longer developed or sold, and its pages now send you to an Apryse SDK add-on priced by quote. If what you used it for was getting tables out of PDFs, drop one here and get the workbook. No template to draw.
Plans from $49 a month. REST API on Pro at $199 a month, OCR on every plan.
Drop your PDF here or click to browse
PDF files up to 50MB
Try a layout your pdf2Data template struggled with.
The short answer
iText pdf2Data stopped being developed and sold on July 7, 2024. Apryse, which owns iText, now points those customers to Smart Data Extraction, an add-on to its Server SDK with no public price. iText Core alone reads text positions but has no table detection and no Excel export. If you need PDF tables in Excel or CSV, PDFxlsx detects them without templates, reads scans and exposes a REST API for $199 a month.
What happened to iText pdf2Data
iText became part of Apryse, then called PDFTron, in 2022, and Apryse later folded the extraction product into its own SDK line. The notice in the pdf2Data documentation is short: no more development, no more sales, and two other Apryse products named as the way forward.
Your existing license still runs. What stops is everything around it: new releases, fixes for the next Java version, and templates for layouts your vendors introduce next quarter.
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Before 2024
pdf2Data sold by iText as a template based extraction product with its own Editor
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July 7, 2024
Apryse stops developing and selling pdf2Data, pointing customers to Apryse IDP and LEADTOOLS Recognition
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Today
itextpdf.com/products/pdf2data and the pdf2Data docs redirect to Apryse Smart Data Extraction, an SDK add-on sold by quote
GET itextpdf.com/products/pdf2data
301 apryse.com/capabilities/smart-data-extraction
One template per layout was the hidden cost
pdf2Data worked by matching each document to a template someone drew in its Editor. That is precise for a form you control. For bank statements, vendor invoices and broker reports it means a new template every time a sender changes its layout, and someone on the team whose job is keeping them current.
PDFxlsx does not use templates. It finds each table on the page, keeps the header once, joins rows that run across pages and writes amounts as numbers. A layout it has never seen converts the same way. The same engine runs the PDF table extractor and the OCR PDF to Excel converter for scans.
Four routes for a pdf2Data customer
Each one fits a different team. Pick by who runs the extraction and where the files are allowed to go.
Keep the old pdf2Data install
What you already paid
Good for. Templates that still match your documents
The catch. No new releases, so new layouts, Java updates and security fixes are on you
Apryse Smart Data Extraction
Quote, on top of an Apryse Server SDK license
Good for. Self hosted extraction inside your own product
The catch. SDK contract first. Third party data puts the median Apryse deal near $24,351 a year
iText Core plus your own table code
AGPL, or a commercial subscription by quote
Good for. Full control, PDF creation and signing in the same library
The catch. No table detection, so you write the column logic and an XLSX writer yourself
PDFxlsx converter and API
$49 to $199 a month, published
Good for. Tables detected and joined across pages, OCR included, no templates
The catch. Hosted service, Excel and CSV only
Apryse and iText do not publish prices. The $24,351 Apryse median and the $44,891 iText average are third party figures from Vendr buyer guides, not vendor quotes. Our prices are on the pricing page.
PDF to Excel with iText Core versus an API call
Without pdf2Data, the iText route starts from raw text with coordinates. Reading it takes three lines. Turning it into a table someone can open in Excel is the part that becomes a project.
PdfDocument pdf = new PdfDocument(
new PdfReader("statement.pdf"));
for (int i = 1; i <= pdf.getNumberOfPages(); i++) {
String text = PdfTextExtractor.getTextFromPage(
pdf.getPage(i),
new LocationTextExtractionStrategy());
}
// still yours to write:
// group text chunks into rows and columns
// OCR pass for scans (pdfOCR add-on)
// join tables across page breaks
// write XLSX with Apache POI# 1. upload, scans included
curl -X POST https://pdfxlsx.com/api/v1/conversions \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
-F "file=@statement.pdf"
# 2. poll until status is done
curl https://pdfxlsx.com/api/v1/conversions/123 \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN"
# 3. download the workbook
curl -OJ https://pdfxlsx.com/api/v1/conversions/123/download/xlsx \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN"Every table on its own sheet, numbers as numbers. Details on the PDF to Excel API page.
iText and Apryse vs PDFxlsx for PDF tables
The SDKs do far more than we do. Rows where they are the better pick are in bold.
| Question | iText Core or Apryse SDK | PDFxlsx |
|---|---|---|
| How you pay | AGPL, or an annual commercial subscription by quote | $49, $99 or $199 a month, or $588 and $1,188 a year for Plus and Pro |
| Runs inside your own network | Yes, files never leave your servers | No, hosted service |
| PDF creation, signing, redaction | Yes, the core of the library | No, conversion to Excel and CSV only |
| Form fields by name | Apryse extraction add-on handles key value fields | Tables and the text around them |
| Table detection | Not in iText Core, your own code | Built in, joined across pages |
| Templates per layout | pdf2Data needed them, now retired | None |
| Scanned PDFs | pdfOCR add-on and glue code | OCR on every plan, same pass |
| Who can run it | A developer | Anyone, 20 files per browser batch, or the API |
| Trying it | 30 day iText trial, Apryse trial on request | 3 whole files on a new account |
Licensing iText for PDF generation and wondering what the commercial license runs? Our iText license cost breakdown covers AGPL obligations, the volume subscription and the published third party figures.
Teams that moved off pdf2Data to a converter
Lenders reading statements
Hundreds of bank layouts, each a pdf2Data template. Bank statement PDF to Excel needs none.
AP teams with invoice tables
Line items from every vendor format into one sheet with the invoice PDF to Excel converter.
Internal tools teams
A Java service built on pdf2Data with nobody left to maintain it. Three REST calls replace it.
Month end report runs
A stack of PDFs once a month through the batch PDF to Excel converter, 20 at a time.
Testing the replacement before you rip out pdf2Data
Pull five files from your template list
Pick the layouts that broke pdf2Data most often: a two column statement, a scan, an invoice with a long line item table.
Convert them at the top of this page
No template to draw. The workbook you download is the same one the API returns.
Compare with your old output
Check row counts and column totals against what pdf2Data produced for the same file.
Wire the API or hand it to ops
Pro adds the REST API. Plus covers 500 files a month for a team that uploads in the browser.
Weighing the SDK route anyway? Apryse pricing for PDF to Excel covers the Server SDK and its add-ons, the Aspose PDF to Excel alternative prices a perpetual library license, and PDF.co pricing shows what a per page API costs at your volume.
iText pdf2Data questions
Yes. The pdf2Data documentation states that effective July 7, 2024, Apryse is no longer actively developing or selling pdf2Data. Existing installs keep running, but there are no new releases, and the old product pages on itextpdf.com now redirect to Apryse Smart Data Extraction.
Apryse named Apryse IDP and LEADTOOLS Recognition as the alternatives, and the pdf2Data pages now point to Apryse Smart Data Extraction, which is licensed as an add-on package to the Apryse Server SDK. Teams that only need tables in Excel can use a hosted converter and API instead of an SDK.
iText Core is free under the AGPLv3 license if you release your own application's source code. Commercial licenses are an annual subscription priced on the number of PDFs you process, or a custom OEM license, both by quote. Vendr reports an average iText contract of about $44,891 a year.
Not as finished tables. iText Core extracts text and its position on the page through PdfTextExtractor and a location strategy, but it has no table detection. You group characters into rows and columns in your own code and write the XLSX with a second library such as Apache POI.
No. iText creates, edits, signs and reads PDFs, and none of its add-ons export a PDF table to an Excel workbook. Converting PDF to Excel with iText means custom code for the table layout plus a spreadsheet library, which is why most finance teams use a dedicated converter.
If the extraction has to run inside software you ship and files cannot leave your servers, compare SDKs such as Apryse or Aspose. If staff or an internal service just need tables as XLSX or CSV, PDFxlsx Pro at $199 a month gives you the API without templates or a license contract.
Not for tables. pdf2Data needed a template per document layout, which broke whenever a bank or vendor changed its format. PDFxlsx finds each table on the page, joins it across pages and puts it on its own sheet, so a new layout needs no setup.
Stay with an SDK when documents must never leave your own network, when you need field level extraction from forms rather than tables, or when PDF extraction is a feature of a product you sell. A hosted converter does not solve those, and an SDK contract is a fair price for them.
Other PDF to Excel alternatives
Readiris Alternative for Converting Scanned PDFs to Excel Tables
Readiris costs $79 to $149 per computer. If you mainly need scanned PDF tables in Excel, compare it with a browser converter for teams, from $49 a month.
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AlternativesOmniPage Alternative for Turning Scanned PDFs into Excel Tables
OmniPage Ultimate is $499 per Windows PC and Standard $149. If you mainly need scanned PDF tables in Excel, compare a browser converter from $49 a month.
AlternativesSmallpdf Alternative for PDF to Excel and CSV Conversion
Smallpdf alternative focused on PDF to Excel and CSV for business. Auto-detects tables, OCR on scans on every plan, numbers kept numeric, no daily cap.
PDF tables in Excel without templates or an SDK contract
Convert a real file, check the rows, then buy by card. Pro includes the API at $199 a month, Plus covers 500 files and 5 seats at $99.