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What is Ask Your PDF?

Let’s be real—staring at a dense, 50-page PDF is a nightmare. Whether it’s a boring financial report or a complex academic paper, nobody wants to read every single word just to find one fact.

That’s where Ask Your PDF comes in.

Think of it as a smart assistant for your files. You upload a document (PDF, PowerPoint, or text file), and then you just… chat with it. You can ask, “Hey, what are the three main points on page 10?” and it answers you instantly.

The coolest part? It doesn’t just guess. It gives you a clickable page number to prove it’s telling the truth. For anyone afraid of AI making things up, this feature is a lifesaver.

Who is This Actually For?

I’ve tested a bunch of these AI tools, and Ask Your PDF isn’t for everyone. But if you fit into one of these groups, it’s going to save you hours:

  • Students: If you have to summarize a textbook chapter by tomorrow morning, this tool is your best friend.

  • Researchers: It has a special plugin for Zotero. If you know what that is, you know how huge that is. You can chat with your entire library of references.

  • Lawyers & Paralegals: Need to find a specific date in a 100-page contract? The AI finds it in seconds.

  • Non-Native English Speakers: It’s great at taking complex, fancy English text and explaining it simply in your own language.

Key Features (The Good Stuff)

Why pay for this when you could use free tools? Here’s what you’re actually paying for:

  • Trustworthy Citations: It points to the exact paragraph where it found the info. No hallucinations.

  • Zotero Plugin: A total game-changer for academics writing papers.

  • It Reads Images (OCR): Got a scanned document that’s just a picture of text? The paid plans can read those. Most free tools can’t.

  • Chrome Extension: You don’t have to download files. Just open a PDF in your browser and start chatting in the sidebar.

  • Knowledge Base: You can upload a whole folder of documents and ask questions that connect the dots between all of them.

Pricing Breakdown

Before you use the code, let’s look at the price tag. They have a free version, but it’s pretty limited (1 doc per day).

Here is what the paid plans look like with our 20% OFF code applied:

Plan Regular Monthly Cost Cost with Code AW20 Best For…
Free $0 $0 Testing it out
Premium ~$14.99 ~$11.99 Students
Pro ~$19.99 ~$15.99 Power Users

Quick math: If you grab the Premium Annual plan, the price drops even more (usually around $119/year). It’s basically the price of a couple of coffees a month.

Verified Coupon List [2026]

I check these codes personally to make sure they aren’t dead. Here is what is working right now:

Code Discount Status Notes
AW20 20% OFF ✅ Active Works on Premium & Pro.
KUMAR10 10% OFF ✅ Active Good backup code.
[Annual Billing] ~25% OFF ✅ Automatic Just select “Yearly” at checkout.
[Student] Special Rates 📧 Email Support Need a valid .edu email.

How to Redeem Your Coupon

The coupon box can be a little tricky to find if you’re moving fast. Here is how to do it without missing the step:

  1. Go to AskYourPDF.com and log in.

  2. Click the “Pricing” or “Upgrade” button (usually top right).

  3. Pick your plan (Premium or Pro).

    • Tip: Switch the toggle to “Annual” if you want the big yearly savings.

  4. Head to the checkout page.

  5. Look for a text link on the left that says “Add promotion code.”

  6. Type in AW20.

  7. Click Apply. Watch the price drop.

  8. Finish checking out. Easy.

Ask Your PDF vs. The Others

Is it actually the best? Here is how it stacks up against the main competitors.

Feature Ask Your PDF ChatPDF PDF.ai
Starts At ~$14.99 ~$19.99 ~$15.00
Has Zotero? Yes No No
Scanned Docs? Yes (OCR) Limited Yes
Best For Deep Research Quick Chats Simple Use

My take: If you need to write papers or do serious research, Ask Your PDF wins because of the Zotero integration. If you just want to chat with a PDF once for fun, the others are fine, but usually more expensive.

FAQs – Everything You Need to Know

1. Is Ask Your PDF free?

Yes, there is a “Forever Free” plan. But—and it’s a big but—you can only upload 1 document a day and ask about 50 questions. It’s good for testing, but not for real work.

2. What is the best discount code right now?

The best code is AW20. It gets you 20% off. It works for 2026 and usually applies to both monthly and annual plans.

3. How do I get the student discount?

It’s not always automatic. You usually need a valid .edu email address. Sometimes there’s a specific page for it, but if you can’t find it, just shoot their support team an email from your school account. They are usually super nice about upgrading students to the 25% off tier.

4. Is there an Ask Your PDF lifetime deal?

Right now? No.
I know everyone loves a “pay once, keep it forever” deal (like on AppSumo), but Ask Your PDF works on a monthly subscription. Be careful if you see someone selling a “lifetime account” on Reddit or eBay—it’s probably a scam or a cracked account that will get banned.

5. Can I stack a code with the Annual Discount?

Usually, yes! This is the smart way to do it.
If you select “Billed Yearly,” the price already drops by about 25%. If the checkout box is still there, type in AW20. You effectively get a double discount. It brings the monthly cost down to rock bottom.

6. Does the promo code work every month?

Typically, discount codes only apply to the first invoice.
So, if you pay monthly, you get 20% off the first month. If you pay yearly, you get 20% off the entire first year. That’s why I always tell people to go annual if they can afford the upfront cost—you save way more in the long run.

7. What’s the difference between Premium and Pro?

It mostly comes down to how much you use it.

  • Premium: Great for students. You get 50 docs a day.

  • Pro: For power users. You get unlimited documents, longer answers, and access to the API.
    If you’re just writing one thesis, Premium is plenty. If you are a business analyst crunching data all day, get Pro.

8. Is my data safe? (Can I delete it?)

Yes. Ask Your PDF is GDPR compliant. The best part is that you can manually delete your documents from their servers whenever you want.
Real talk though: As with any AI tool, I wouldn’t upload your bank passwords, social security number, or top-secret government files. Just to be safe.

9. Does it use GPT-4?

Yes, but usually only on the paid plans.
The free version runs on a lighter, faster model (like GPT-3.5). If you want the AI to be really smart—like understanding complex legal logic or subtle nuances—you need to upgrade to Premium or Pro to unlock GPT-4 or Claude.

10. Does it work with scanned PDFs?

Yes! This is a huge feature called OCR (Optical Character Recognition).
If you have an old PDF that is basically just a picture of text (like a scanned receipt or an old book), the paid version can “read” the text inside the image. The free version usually can’t do this.

11. Can I cancel easily?

Totally. There are no hidden hoops to jump through. You just go to your dashboard, click “Billing,” and hit cancel. You’ll keep access until the days you paid for run out.

12. Help! The code isn’t working.

Don’t panic. Check these three things:

  1. Spaces: Did you accidentally copy a blank space at the end of “AW20 “? Delete it.

  2. Plan: Are you trying to apply it to a specialized Enterprise plan? It might only work for Premium/Pro.

  3. Account: These codes are for new subscribers. If you’ve paid before, try using a different email address.

13. Is the Zotero plugin extra?

Nope. It’s included in the subscription. You don’t need a separate “Zotero coupon.” Just upgrade your main account, and the plugin will sync up perfectly.

14. How many pages can I upload?

  • Free: Usually capped around 100 pages per doc.

  • Premium: Jumps up to around 2,500 pages.

  • Pro: Basically unlimited.
    If you are trying to feed it a massive 500-page textbook, the free plan won’t cut it.

15. Is there a mobile app?

Yes, for both iPhone and Android. It’s actually pretty smooth. Your chat history syncs, so you can upload a paper on your laptop and finish reading the summary on your phone while on the bus.

16. Can it translate documents?

Surprisingly well. You can upload a PDF in English and ask the AI, “Summarize this in Spanish,” or vice versa. It uses the big language models (LLMs), so the translation is usually very natural.

17. How does it compare to ChatGPT Plus?

ChatGPT is a “Jack of all trades.” Ask Your PDF is a specialist.
Ask Your PDF is better at handling large files, gives you specific page citations (which ChatGPT sometimes struggles with), and organizes your files into a library. If you just want to chat, ChatGPT is fine. If you are doing research, Ask Your PDF is better.

18. Do they offer refunds?

They don’t have a strict “no questions asked” refund button. However, if the tool completely breaks on your specific file, their support is reasonable. But generally, assume that once you pay for the month, that money is spent.