specification: FinOps Framework
specificationVersion: '1.0'
schema: https://www.finops.org/framework/
provider: PDF.co
providerId: pdf-co
created: '2026-05-25'
modified: '2026-05-25'
reconciled: true
tags:
  - FinOps
  - Cost Management
  - FOCUS
  - PDF
  - Document Automation
description: FOCUS-aligned FinOps definition for the PDF.co Web API. Credit-based metering with a monthly
  recurring subscription envelope; per-operation credit consumption is the primary unit economic lever.
sources:
  - https://pdf.co/pricing
  - https://docs.pdf.co
alignedWith:
  framework: FinOps Foundation Framework
  frameworkUrl: https://www.finops.org/framework/
  dataSpec: FOCUS
  dataSpecVersion: '1.3'
  dataSpecUrl: https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
publisherName: PDF.co
serviceCategory: Document Automation and OCR
billingModel:
  pricingCategory: Subscription with included usage envelope
  billingFrequency: Monthly
  billingCurrency: USD
  chargeCategories:
    - Usage
    - Purchase
    - Tax
    - Credit
    - Adjustment
  primaryUnit: credit
  secondaryUnits:
    - page
    - file
    - api-call
focusColumns:
  ServiceName: PDF.co API
  ServiceCategory: Document Automation and OCR
  ProviderName: PDF.co
  PublisherName: Artifex Software, Inc.
  InvoiceIssuerName: PDF.co
  PricingCategory: Subscription
  PricingUnit: credits
  BillingCurrency: USD
meters:
  - name: credits_consumed
    unit: credit
    aggregation: sum
    dimensions:
      - endpoint
      - operation
      - async
      - ocr
      - page_count
  - name: credits_remaining
    unit: credit
    aggregation: last
    dimensions:
      - plan
  - name: api_calls
    unit: call
    aggregation: count
    dimensions:
      - endpoint
      - status_code
  - name: pages_processed
    unit: page
    aggregation: sum
    dimensions:
      - endpoint
      - ocr
  - name: jobs_async
    unit: job
    aggregation: count
    dimensions:
      - status
      - endpoint
discountModels:
  - name: Annual prepay
    discount: Annual billing yields ~12% effective discount vs paying monthly.
  - name: Volume / Enterprise
    discount: Custom pricing for 500,000+ monthly credits — contact sales.
unitEconomics:
  - name: Cost per credit (Business 1)
    metric: monthly_price / included_credits
    target: ~$0.00056/credit
  - name: Cost per credit (Business 3)
    metric: monthly_price / included_credits
    target: ~$0.00056/credit
  - name: Cost per parsed invoice
    metric: ai_invoice_parser_credits / 1 invoice * cost_per_credit
    target: track per-document unit cost
  - name: Async ratio
    metric: jobs_async / api_calls
    target: '>0.5 for heavy OCR/AI workflows'
principles:
  - name: Visibility
    description: Pull /v1/account/credit/balance into dashboards; tag requests by application/tenant for
      chargeback.
  - name: Allocation
    description: Tag each API call with workspace/customer/feature dimensions (in your client code; PDF.co
      does not provide native tagging).
  - name: Optimization
    description: Use async mode + presigned uploads for large files, batch operations where possible, and
      pick the lowest-credit endpoint variant (e.g. text-simple vs text-with-OCR).
  - name: Accountability
    description: Right-size to the smallest plan that covers peak monthly usage; upgrade tier mid-cycle if
      credits exhaust.