MarkItDown alternatives for coding agents.
If you want a MarkItDown alternative that keeps documents on your Mac, needs no API key and returns only the passages your agent needs, Metallurgy will offer on-device reading of PDFs, scans, logs, audio and video.
MarkItDown at a glance
MarkItDown is Microsoft’s free, open-source Python utility that converts many file types to Markdown for LLMs.
- Open source (MIT): Free
- Optional Azure Document Intelligence or Azure Content Understanding: Billable Azure API calls (amounts not stated in the README)
Metallurgy beside MarkItDown
MarkItDown is free and open source under the MIT licence. Its optional Azure Document Intelligence or Azure Content Understanding integrations make billable Azure API calls if you turn them on. Metallurgy will be sold as a one-time purchase with lifetime access; the price is not yet set.
| Feature | Metallurgy | MarkItDown |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Not set yet | Free (MIT) |
| Runs on Windows and Linux | No | Yes |
| Documents stay on your machine | Yes | Partlybuilt-in converters |
| No extra API key | Yes | PartlyOCR needs LLM |
| Reads scanned PDFs (OCR) | Yes | PartlyLLM plugin |
| Reads audio and video | Yes | Partlyaudio, via cloud |
| Returns only the part asked for | Yes | No |
| Ships an agent skill | Yes | PartlyMCP server |
Yes Yes Partly Partly No No
Other options
- Claude’s built-in PDF readingClaude’s built-in PDF reading converts each page into an image plus extracted text, at standard token pricing with no additional PDF fees.
- DoclingDocling is a free, open-source document parser that runs locally on macOS, Linux and Windows and outputs Markdown, JSON and more.
- LlamaParseLlamaParse is LlamaIndex’s cloud parsing service: $0 per month with 10,000 free credits each month, then $1.50 per 1,000 extra credits on Pay as you go.
- Mistral OCRMistral OCR is a cloud OCR API from Mistral AI at $4 per 1,000 pages, or $2 per 1,000 on OCR 3.
| Feature | Metallurgy | Claude’s built-in PDF reading | MarkItDown | Docling | LlamaParse | Mistral OCR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Not set yet | Tokens for every page | Free (MIT) | Free (MIT) | Credits; 10k/mo free | $4 per 1,000 pages |
| Runs on Windows and Linux | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Documents stay on your machine | Yes | No | Partlybuilt-in converters | Yes | Partlyenterprise self-hosting | Partlyenterprise self-hosting |
| No extra API key | Yes | Yes | PartlyOCR needs LLM | Yes | No | No |
| Reads scanned PDFs (OCR) | Yes | Yes | PartlyLLM plugin | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reads audio and video | Yes | No | Partlyaudio, via cloud | Yes | Partlyaudio formats | No |
| Returns only the part asked for | Yes | Partlypage ranges | No | Partlypage limits | Partlypage selection | Partlyannotations, QnA |
| Ships an agent skill | Yes | –built in | PartlyMCP server | Yes | Yes | No |
Yes Yes Partly Partly No No
Metallurgy is coming soon.
It will be sold like every Handy Tools app: one fee, lifetime access.
It will need macOS 27 or later, Apple silicon.
Sources
Checked against each product’s own website and documentation on 13 November 2026. If something here is out of date, tell us and we’ll correct it.
- PDF support - Claude API docs
- Vision - Claude API docs
- Tools reference - Claude Code docs
- Advanced setup - Claude Code docs
- microsoft/markitdown README
- markitdown-mcp package README
- markitdown on PyPI
- docling-project/docling README
- Supported formats - Docling
- Advanced options - Docling
- Installation - Docling
- Agent skills - Docling
- MCP server - Docling
- docling-project/docling-mcp README
- docling on PyPI
- Pricing - LlamaIndex
- Pricing - LlamaParse documentation
- Billing and usage - LlamaParse documentation
- FAQ - LlamaParse documentation
- Supported document types - LlamaParse documentation
- OCR and languages - LlamaParse documentation
- Limitations - LlamaParse documentation
- Parse overview - LlamaParse documentation
- run-llama/llamaparse-agent-skills
- OCR processor - Mistral AI documentation
- Document AI overview - Mistral AI documentation
- API pricing - Mistral AI documentation
- OCR 4.1 model card - Mistral AI documentation
- Mistral OCR 4 announcement
Claude and Claude Code are trademarks of their owner. MarkItDown is a trademark of its owner. Docling is a trademark of its owner. LlamaParse is a trademark of its owner. Mistral OCR is a trademark of its owner. Metallurgy is not affiliated with them.