pdfRest supports two types of API Calls – POST requests are used to process files with each of the API Tools, and GET requests are used to retrieve files back from the processing server. Only POST requests require your API Key and count towards your monthly total.

When you sign up with an account and select a plan, you will receive a unique API Key that will grant you access to send API Calls to any of the pdfRest API Tools. Each calendar month, your total number of API Calls will be tallied, and you will be billed for your base plan plus any overage you may accrue when your monthly API Calls are in excess of your monthly allotment. This count starts over at zero on the first day of each month.

The number of API Calls you may send as a Guest or with a Starter account are limited. When you reach your limit, all subsequent API Calls will fail. For Starter accounts, your allocated calls will reset at the start of the next month, allowing you to continue testing the service.

For all Premium, Pro, and Enterprise accounts, you may send an unlimited number of calls each month. API Call overages occur when you exceed the number of calls included in your monthly plan. pdfRest offers two options to flexibly meet your usage requirements: you can either pay a small overage fee for each call exceeding your limit (included in your invoice the following month) or upgrade to a higher tier plan with more included calls.

Your fee for each overage call is determined by your plan and can be found in the table above. Please note that upgrading from one paid plan to another will take effect at the start of the next month. Contact us if you would like the upgrade to take immediate effect for the current month.

Our upload file size limits consist of two important thresholds: a soft limit and a hard limit.

• Soft Limit: This is the maximum file size included within your chosen plan. You can upload files exceeding the soft limit, but a small fee of $0.008 per megabyte (MB) over the limit will be applied to each API call containing such files.
• Hard Limit: This is a strict limit that cannot be exceeded. Uploading files exceeding the hard limit will fail with an error response.

This structure allows for flexibility while ensuring efficient processing within your plan. Uploading within the soft limit avoids additional charges, while the hard limit safeguards against exceedingly large files that may disrupt your service.

API Lab is your one-stop shop for getting started with pdfRest. It's a web-based interface built directly into the pdfRest website that can be used with free or paid accounts. API Lab allows you to:

• Test and Validate Solutions: Experiment with pdfRest's functionality in real-time. Upload your own files and test different tools and options to see how they work before integrating them into your application.
• Learn by Doing: Explore the various features and parameters offered by pdfRest. API Lab provides a user-friendly interface to discover the potential of different tools.
• Generate Code: Save valuable development time! Once you've customized your processing options in API Lab, it can automatically generate code snippets in your preferred programming language. Simply copy and paste this code into your project to get started.

Think of API Lab as your personal pdfRest playground – a space to experiment, learn, and streamline your development process.

Guest and Starter accounts allow you to test and validate your solutions for free before upgrading to a paid plan. These free tiers produce output results that contain restrictions, including pdfRest watermarks for file outputs and redactions for text-based outputs.

Unrestricted output refers to a feature included in all Premium, Pro, and Enterprise plans that removes pdfRest watermarks, redactions, and other limiting factors in output results.

Pro Tools are powerful API Tools that require a Pro or Enterprise plan for unrestricted access. All plans may be used to test Pro Tools, but output will be watermarked, redacted, or otherwise limited with a Guest, Starter, or Premium account.

The current list of Pro Tools includes:

• Flatten Forms
• Import Form Data
• Export Form Data
• PDF to Word
• PDF to Excel
• PDF to PowerPoint

File persistence refers to the duration for which pdfRest stores the uploaded input files and processed output files after an API call completes. This allows you to access or download the converted documents for a specific period. After this amount of time, files are automatically and permanently deleted for your security. We cannot recover files after they are deleted, so be sure to retrieve them after processing completes. Please refer to the table above to look up the file persistence duration for each plan.

Standard pdfRest plans utilize a shared cloud infrastructure. While all files and data are protected and secured, processing takes place on shared servers. Dedicated cloud hosting is an optional upgrade available with Enterprise accounts for businesses requiring a higher level of customization and security. This service provides dedicated servers for your API usage, ensuring optimal performance and isolation from other users. With dedicated cloud hosting, many settings are configurable to meet your requirements, including choice of hosted region.

The best plan for you depends on several factors, including your anticipated usage volume and the features you require. Here's a general guide to help you find the best fit:

Choose to be our Guest if:

• You're just looking to send a few calls using the API Lab to quickly assess the results

Choose the Starter Plan if:

• You're ready to start sending calls programmatically from outside the API Lab
• You're still testing, validating, or prototyping your solution and prefer to work with the free service that produces watermarked or redacted output
• You're able to accomplish your testing and validation with a maximum of 300 API Calls / month

Choose the Premium Plan if:

• You're ready to remove watermarks and redactions for unrestricted output results
• You expect to send more than 300 but fewer than 2,000 API Calls / month
• You do not intend to use any of the Pro Tools

Choose the Pro Plan if:

• You're ready to remove watermarks and redactions for unrestricted output results
• You expect to send more than 2,000 but fewer than 10,000 API Calls / month
• You intend to use one or more of the Pro Tools

Choose the Enterprise Plan if:

• You're ready to remove watermarks and redactions for unrestricted output results
• You expect to send more than 10,000 API Calls / month
• You intend to use one or more of the Pro Tools
• You are interested in a dedicated cloud hosting package