Head to head

pdf-inspector vs OpenDataLoader PDF

Same fixture, different extraction paths. These results describe this adapter configuration and this small test set.

Configured adapter capabilities
Capability	pdf-inspector	OpenDataLoader PDF
Output	markdown	markdown
OCR	none	builtin
Licence	MIT	Apache-2.0
Parser charge	No parser API fee	No parser API fee

When to test pdf-inspector

Compare financial tables and headings in PDFs with an existing text layer.

This adapter does not OCR scanned pages. Native dependencies run in the parsing engine.

When to test OpenDataLoader PDF

Inspect how reading order, tables and page boundaries survive conversion.

A declared table capability is not a guarantee that every fixture will retain its cell layout.

Measured fixture results

How these checks work

Captured 2026-09-12 · darwin/arm64 · Node v22.21.1. Median of up to three sequential local samples. Timings will vary on other machines.

Measured parser results on synthetic fixtures
Fixture / parser	Status	Median	Aligned cells	Reading order
pdf-inspectortext-layer.pdf	ok	1.0 ms	Not scored	Not scored
OpenDataLoader PDFtext-layer.pdf	ok	182.0 ms	Not scored	Not scored
pdf-inspectortables.pdf	ok	2.0 ms	9/9 (100%)	Not scored
OpenDataLoader PDFtables.pdf	ok	180.0 ms	0/9 (0%)	Not scored
pdf-inspectorragged-table.pdf	ok	2.0 ms	20/20 (100%)	Not scored
OpenDataLoader PDFragged-table.pdf	ok	185.0 ms	0/20 (0%)	Not scored
pdf-inspectormulti-column.pdf	ok	3.0 ms	Not scored	Preserved · 40/40 lines
OpenDataLoader PDFmulti-column.pdf	ok	196.0 ms	Not scored	Changed · 40/40 lines

pdf-inspector · text-layer.pdf · raw output

Samples: 29.0 ms, 0.0 ms, 1.0 ms

<!-- Page 1 -->

# Quarterly Report

## Revenue grew 12% year over year.

OpenDataLoader PDF · text-layer.pdf · raw output

Samples: 332.0 ms, 182.0 ms, 178.0 ms

<!-- Page 1 -->

# Quarterly Report

Revenue grew 12% year over year.

pdf-inspector · tables.pdf · raw output

Samples: 2.0 ms, 1.0 ms, 2.0 ms

<!-- Page 1 -->

# Financial Summary

|Region|Q1|Q2|Q3|
|---|---|---|---|
|North|120|145|160|
|South|98|102|115|
|East|210|198|225|

OpenDataLoader PDF · tables.pdf · raw output

Samples: 207.0 ms, 180.0 ms, 180.0 ms

<!-- Page 1 -->

# Financial Summary

Region Q1 Q2 Q3 North 120 145 160 South 98 102 115 East 210 198 225

pdf-inspector · ragged-table.pdf · raw output

Samples: 4.0 ms, 1.0 ms, 2.0 ms

<!-- Page 1 -->

# Q3 Results by Region

|Region|Manager|Q1|Q2|Q3|Notes|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|North|Alice Chen|120|145|160|strong|
|South||98|102|115||
|East|Bob Lee|210|198|225|recovering|
|West|Dana|88||99|pending|

OpenDataLoader PDF · ragged-table.pdf · raw output

Samples: 186.0 ms, 185.0 ms, 183.0 ms

<!-- Page 1 -->

# Q3 Results by Region

Region Manager Q1 Q2 Q3 Notes North Alice Chen 120 145 160 strong South 98 102 115 East Bob Lee 210 198 225 recovering West Dana 88 99 pending

pdf-inspector · multi-column.pdf · raw output

Samples: 3.0 ms, 3.0 ms, 3.0 ms

<!-- Page 1 -->

# On Reading Order

Left column line 1. Left column line 2. Left column line 3. Left column line 4. Left column line 5. Left column line 6. Left column line 7. Left column line 8. Left column line 9. Left column line 10. Left column line 11. Left column line 12. Left column line 13. Left column line 14. Left column line 15. Left column line 16. Left column line 17. Left column line 18. Left column line 19. Left column line 20.

Right column line 1. Right column line 2. Right column line 3. Right column line 4. Right column line 5. Right column line 6. Right column line 7. Right column line 8. Right column line 9. Right column line 10. Right column line 11. Right column line 12. Right column line 13. Right column line 14. Right column line 15. Right column line 16. Right column line 17. Right column line 18. Right column line 19. Right column line 20.

OpenDataLoader PDF · multi-column.pdf · raw output

Samples: 197.0 ms, 196.0 ms, 192.0 ms

<!-- Page 1 -->

# On Reading Order

- Left column line 1. Right column line 1.
- Left column line 2. Right column line 2.
- Left column line 3. Right column line 3.
- Left column line 4. Right column line 4.
- Left column line 5. Right column line 5.
- Left column line 6. Right column line 6.
- Left column line 7. Right column line 7.
- Left column line 8. Right column line 8.
- Left column line 9. Right column line 9.
- Left column line 10. Right column line 10.
- Left column line 11. Right column line 11.
- Left column line 12. Right column line 12.
- Left column line 13. Right column line 13.
- Left column line 14. Right column line 14.
- Left column line 15. Right column line 15.
- Left column line 16. Right column line 16.
- Left column line 17. Right column line 17.
- Left column line 18. Right column line 18.
- Left column line 19. Right column line 19.
- Left column line 20. Right column line 20.

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