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PDFs vary in length. Some contain just a few pages, while others have so many. Also, the titles of most PDFs give away what the document is about. It's not easy to determine whether or not a long PDF is worth reading if it's not aptly titled. But reading it to find out is time-consuming. Fortunately, we have PDF explainer AI tools now.

Tools like Wondershare PDFelement use artificial intelligence to read the PDF and explain what it's about to you. This allows you to quickly determine whether the PDF you have covers the topic you want to study or information you want to know. This article will cover the 10 best tools with this capability.

In this article
  1. Top 10 PDF Explainer AI Tools
    1. Wondershare PDFelement
    2. PDF.ai
    3. AskYourPDF
    4. Microsoft Edge
    5. Explainpaper
    6. ChatPDF
    7. SciSpace
    8. PDFPeer
    9. GeniusPDF
    10. LightPDF

Part 1. Top 10 PDF Explainer AI Tools

Here are the 10 AI PDF explainers that you should check.

Tool Name Pricing: Verdict
Wondershare PDFelement

Yearly - $79.99

Perpetual - $129.99

Wondershare PDFelement is the best AI PDF explainer because it's easy to use and cost-effective. PDFelement is also a competitive PDF editor.
PDF.ai

Pro - $10/month

Ultimate - $20/user/month

Enterprise - $30/user/month

If you think you'll ask many questions, choose PDF.ai. You can upload 1 PDF for free, and you can ask 500 questions per month.
AskYourPDF

Premium - $144.99/year

Pro - $179.99/year

AskYourPDF is a good free PDF explainer tool to use if you have only 1 PDF to process. You get 50 questions per day, which is more than enough to get an explanation.
Microsoft Edge Free Microsoft Edge is a great free AI PDF explainer for Windows 10 and above. There are no question limits, file size limits, and page count limits. It's also secure, as Microsoft Edge does not record conversations about private documents.
Explainpaper

Plus - $12/month

Pro - $20/month

Explainpaper is great for getting explanations that suit your level. I can explain using words 5 years 5-year-olds will easily get or using words that experts will easily understand.
ChatPDF

Monthly - $3.99

Annual - $27.99

ChatPDF is great for obtaining highly detailed explanations. It lists key points in bullet points.
SciSpace

Premium - $12/month

Labs & Universities - $192/year

SciSpace is a great tool for academics, as it can explain even PDFs covering complicated topics and research papers.
PDFPeer

Unlimited - $14.99/month

Enterprise - Please contact the PDFPeer team for a quote.

You can use PDFPeer to explain private documents. It does not display the PDF, hiding it from prying eyes.
GeniusPDF

650 Questions - $5/month

2500 Questions $15/month

GeniusPDF saves your conversation. It's a great AI PDF explainer to use if you have to look at the PDF for a bunch of days. You do not have to make it reexplain the file; just click your previous prompt.
LightPDF

Monthly - $19.99

Annually - $59.99

3 Years - $99.99

Weekly - $13.99

LightPDF is a time-saving AI PDF explainer because it immediately explains the PDF to you after opening it.

Part 2. What Each PDF Explainer AI Tool Offers

Here are more details about each tool listed above.

1. Wondershare PDFelement

Did you know that one of the most popular PDF editors, Wondershare PDFelement, has AI features? It has an AI Sidebar where you can access tools like the AI PDF explainer feature. Copy the text that you want Lumi, the AI assistant, to explain to you and enter it into the sidebar. It's that easy!

Pros
  • Wondershare PDFelement's AI tool can explain or summarize PDFs.
  • For everyone interested in programming out there, Wondershare PDFelement can also explain code.
  • The AI tool and PDFelement as a whole can do much more than just explain PDFs. It's very cost-effective.
Cons
  • There is a free trial, but it ends after 14 days. Then, you need to subscribe to access most features.

How To Use Wondershare PDFelement's AI Explainer:

  1. Open your PDF with Wondershare PDFelement.
  2. Click AI Sidebar on the right.
  3. Type #Explain.
activating wondershare pdfelement explain feature

  1. Copy and paste the text you want explained into the message box.
  2. Click Send.
  3. Read the explanation in the Response box.
explanation from wondershare pdfelement ai

2. PDF.ai

explanation from pdf ai

PDF.ai is an AI tool that can do many things. You can use it to open your PDF and ask any questions. That said, you can command PDF.ai to analyze and explain the PDF. We like that it tells you what page in the PDF where it got the answer from. Thus, you can confirm if the information given to you was correct.

Pros
  • You can use this PDF explainer AI tool for free.
  • PDF.ai shows you the reference to its answers.
Cons
  • You can only upload 1 PDF for free, and there is a file size limit.
  • The free version only has 500 questions per month.

3. AskYourPDF

explanation from askyourpdf ai

AskYourPDF is an online platform that lets you talk to your PDFs through AI. Simply open your PDF and ask it what its contents are about. That said, you can use AskYourPDF as an AI PDF explainer. AskYourPDF will give you a short answer. It also lists the sources of its answers, showing you the verbatim quotes from the PDF and page numbers.

Pros
  • AskYourPDF shows you the sources of its answers.
  • It gives you short and easy-to-understand explanations.
  • You can export the explanation as a new PDF.
  • It supports 9 languages.
Cons
  • There is a conversation limit for unregistered users.

4. Microsoft Edge

microsoft edge ai explaining the pdf

Users of Windows 10 and above don't need to look any further for an AI PDF explainer.

 Microsoft Edge, which is pre-installed in your devices, is integrated with an AI tool. You can utilize this to get an explanation of what your PDF is about. It also functions as a mini PDF editor, which you may also like.

Pros
  • Microsoft Edge is free.
  • There is no limit to how many questions you can ask.
  • Microsoft Edge has some PDF editing capabilities.
Cons
  • Microsoft Edge is available on Windows only.

5. Explainpaper

explanation from explanpaper for high schoolers

Explainpaper is an AI tool that's built to quickly explain academic papers to users. But you can also use it to analyze simpler PDFs. There is a slider that lets you adjust the level of the explanation. You can make Explainpaper explain the PDF like you're a five-year-old, a middle-schooler, a high-schooler, an undergrad, a graduate, or an expert.

Pros
  • You can adjust the simplicity of the explanation.
  • Explainpaper can quickly generate an abstract for the PDF.
Cons
  • You need to upgrade to the Pro plan to get more detailed explanations.

6. ChatPDF

explanation from chatpdf ai

ChatPDF is an online PDF explainer AI tool with many functionalities. You can use it to get quick explanations of what a PDF is about. The explanation is very detailed. It will list the key points in a bullet list. The best thing is that you can use it for free and without an account registration.

Pros
  • ChatPDF provides you with a detailed explanation.
  • You can use this PDF AI Explainer for free.
Cons
  • There is a file upload, questions, page, and file size limit for free users.

7. SciSpace

explanation from scispace ai

Find explanations backed by citations using SciSpace. You can click the numbers embedded in the explanation to get redirected to where the AI got the information from. This tool also suggests follow-up questions you can ask. If money is not an issue, you can upgrade to get explanations that are even more high-quality.

Pros
  • SciSpace is an AI PDF explainer built for explaining academic papers, meaning it's very powerful.
  • There are clickable buttons that take you to the parts where the AI got the information from.
  • It provides you with follow-up questions.
  • SciSpace can explain mathematical equations and formulas.
Cons
  • Citations from external sources and other features are locked behind a paywall.
  • Free users have limited questions.

8. PDFPeer

explanation from pdfpeer ai

Do you have a private document and you're worried about data security? You can use PDFPeer as your PDF explainer. It does not display non-public documents on the screen. But you can still use it to generate an explanation of what the PDF is about. The explanation is concise and easy to comprehend. PDFPeer also provides you with a clickable summarize button after explaining the PDF.

Pros
  • PDFPeer does not display private documents.
  • The explanations are short and easy to understand.
Cons
  • You can only upload 1 PDF in the free tier.
  • There is also a file size, page count, and questions per day limits.
  • Because private documents are hidden, you also can’t read the PDF.

9. GeniusPDF

explanation from geniuspdf ai

Sometimes, you'd forget what a PDF is about. That's a good reason to use GeniusPDF. It saves your chat history. Just reopen the PDF with it and click your "Explain this PDF" prompt, and it will show you the explanation again. The explanation is typically one paragraph long, so it's not difficult to read.

Pros
  • The explanations are short.
  • The chat history is saved, so you can come back to it a few days later and still find the explanation.
Cons
  • Free users only have 50 credits.
  • Free users can upload only 1 PDF.
  • PDFs are not displayed, so you can’t read them.

10. LightPDF

explanation from lightpdf ai

LightPDF automatically explains what a PDF is about after you upload it. It's very fast and convenient. Since you do not have to type a prompt, it's a huge time-saver.

Pros
  • LightPDF is an AI PDF explainer immediately explains the PDF after opening it.
  • It suggests questions you can ask.
Cons
  • The advanced settings are locked behind a paywall.

Conclusion

There are many PDF explainer AI tools that you can use to quickly find out what a PDF is about. You can also use these to clarify the text in the PDF that's a bit hard for you to understand. Among the tools that you can use, Wondershare PDFelement stands out. It has robust AI features that can explain PDFs and do more. Because Wondershare PDFelement is also a PDF editor, you'll find it more useful than dedicated AI PDF explainers.

Audrey Goodwin
Audrey Goodwin Apr 28, 24
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12 years of talent acquired in the software industry working with large publishers. Public speaker and author of several eBooks on technical writing and editing.