DocTable
Smallpdf alternative — for turning documents into Excel or Word data
Smallpdf is a general-purpose PDF toolkit — merge, compress, split, e-sign, and convert PDF, Word and Excel files. If what you actually need is to turn a photo, scan or PDF into structured Excel or Word data, that's the one thing DocTable does. Sign in for 10 free scans.
Start — upload a documentHow DocTable compares
| Task | Smallpdf | DocTable |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | quick, everyday PDF housekeeping: shrinking a file, merging a few PDFs, or getting a signature | Turning a document into structured Excel/Word data |
| PDF file operations (merge, split, compress, sign) | Yes — core of the product | No |
| Table & field extraction from scans and photos | Not the main focus | Yes — rows, columns and label/value fields |
| What you get back | A PDF, or a converted copy of the file | Excel, Word or CSV with real cells |
| Pricing | See their site | 10 free scans, then credit packs from $9 |
Why DocTable
- Vision OCR reads tables and fields, not just characters
- Exports to Excel, Word or CSV
- 10 free scans after sign-in; downloads cost nothing extra
- Same OCR model across all 10 UI languages
Why people look for a Smallpdf alternative
Smallpdf is built around operations on a file: make it smaller, merge it, sign it, convert it to another format. Its PDF-to-Excel step converts a PDF that already contains a real table. The moment the input is a scan or a phone photo, there is no table in the file to convert — the page is just pixels, and a file converter has nothing to work with.
That is the gap DocTable fills. A vision model reads the page the way a person does, finds the rows and columns visually, and writes them into spreadsheet cells. If your input is a clean digital PDF and you only need a format change, Smallpdf already does that well and you do not need to switch.
Be honest about the fit
Smallpdf covers a much wider range of file operations than DocTable does; if you need to merge, split or e-sign PDFs, it — or a similar all-purpose toolkit — is the better fit.
If your actual task is "I have a photo or PDF of a table, invoice, receipt or form and I need the data in a spreadsheet or a document I can edit" — that is the one job DocTable is built around, using a vision-language model rather than character-level OCR. If your task is something Smallpdf does and DocTable does not (see the table above), Smallpdf is the right tool.
What DocTable does not claim
No SOC 2 report, no guaranteed uptime SLA, no custom-trained models, no workflow builder. Full detail on what DocTable does and does not do with your data is on the security page — including the parts we don't do.
Try it before switching anything
Sign in and run 10 scans free before deciding. If DocTable's extraction isn't accurate enough for your documents, you've lost nothing by checking.
Frequently asked questions
Is DocTable a replacement for Smallpdf?
Not entirely. Smallpdf is a general-purpose PDF toolkit — merge, compress, split, e-sign, and convert PDF, Word and Excel files. DocTable does one narrower thing: it reads a document with AI vision OCR and outputs structured Excel or Word data. Smallpdf covers a much wider range of file operations than DocTable does; if you need to merge, split or e-sign PDFs, it — or a similar all-purpose toolkit — is the better fit.
What does DocTable actually do differently?
DocTable focuses on one step: turning a photo, scan or PDF into real spreadsheet rows or an editable Word document, using a vision-language model that reads tables and fields rather than just characters.
Is DocTable free?
Sign-in is required before the first scan. Sign-in gives 10 free scans, then scans use paid credits. Downloading a result is free.
Does DocTable have a mobile app or API?
DocTable is browser-based with no mobile app. There is no public API for third-party integration at this time.
Related pages
Temporary processing — files are not archived. Always verify OCR output before financial or legal use. See Privacy in the app.