--- title: "paper-qa vs PDFMathTranslate" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/future-house-paper-qa-vs-pdfmathtranslate-pdfmathtranslate" tools: ["future-house-paper-qa", "pdfmathtranslate-pdfmathtranslate"] --- # paper-qa vs PDFMathTranslate *GraphCanon updated Aug 25, 2026* ## Verdict Pick paper-qa if paperQA2 version 5 is a retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) system optimized for extracting information from scientific documents, enhancing user queries with citations; pick PDFMathTranslate if a specialized PDF translation tool for scientific papers that maintains original formatting, supporting multilingual translations via multiple services. [paper-qa](https://futurehouse.gitbook.io/futurehouse-cookbook) reports 9.0k GitHub stars, 907 forks, and 141 open issues, last pushed Aug 12, 2026. [PDFMathTranslate](https://pdf2zh.com) has 36k stars, 3.2k forks, and 147 open issues, last pushed Aug 25, 2026. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [paper-qa's repository](https://github.com/Future-House/paper-qa) and [PDFMathTranslate's repository](https://github.com/PDFMathTranslate/PDFMathTranslate). | | [paper-qa](/tools/future-house-paper-qa.md) | [PDFMathTranslate](/tools/pdfmathtranslate-pdfmathtranslate.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | High accuracy RAG for answering questions from scientific documents with citations | PDF scientific paper translation with preserved formats | | Stars | 9,048 | 36,353 | | Forks | 907 | 3,244 | | Open issues | 141 | 147 | | Language | Python | Python | | Adopt for | PaperQA2 version 5 is a retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) system optimized for extracting information from scientific documents, enhancing user queries with citations. | A specialized PDF translation tool for scientific papers that maintains original formatting, supporting multilingual translations via multiple services. | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | 'Apache-2.0' - Permissive free software license that allows for both non-commercial use and commercial exploitation of the package. | AGPL-3.0 | | Categories | Data & Retrieval, Model Training | Data & Retrieval, Developer Tools | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [paper-qa](/tools/future-house-paper-qa.md) | [PDFMathTranslate](/tools/pdfmathtranslate-pdfmathtranslate.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Days since push | 5d | 0d | | Open issues (now) | 141 | 147 | | Stars delta | +154 (30d) | +559 (30d) | | Open issues delta | 0 (30d) | +8 (30d) | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/future-house-paper-qa/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/pdfmathtranslate-pdfmathtranslate/trust.md) | ## Decision facts: paper-qa - **Requirements:** Min 4 GB RAM - **Adopt for:** PaperQA2 version 5 is a retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) system optimized for extracting information from scientific documents, enhancing user queries with citations. - **License detail:** 'Apache-2.0' - Permissive free software license that allows for both non-commercial use and commercial exploitation of the package. ## Decision facts: PDFMathTranslate - **Adopt for:** A specialized PDF translation tool for scientific papers that maintains original formatting, supporting multilingual translations via multiple services. ## Choose when ### Choose paper-qa if… - License: paper-qa is Apache-2.0, PDFMathTranslate is AGPL-3.0. - Requirements: Min 4 GB RAM. - Tags unique to paper-qa: ai, rag, science, search. - Also covers Model Training. - Your project specifically requires processing and querying scientific documents, as PaperQA2 offers specialized capabilities tuned for this domain. ### Choose PDFMathTranslate if… - License: PDFMathTranslate is AGPL-3.0, paper-qa is Apache-2.0. - Tags unique to PDFMathTranslate: chinese, document, edit, english. - Also covers Developer Tools. - PDFMathTranslate ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment. - You need to translate scientific papers in PDF format while preserving complex mathematical notation and layout integrity. ## When NOT to use paper-qa - If your use case does not involve scientific document processing, another RAG system better suited to your specific type of documents (e.g., legal, medical) might be more fitting. - In scenarios where real-time performance is critical and extensive indexing or access to external APIs for large-scale paper handling becomes a bottleneck. ## When NOT to use PDFMathTranslate - Your use case does not involve translating PDF documents with specific formatting preservation needs such as mathematical equations. - You require a solution that exclusively uses one type of license, incompatible with AGPL-3.0 licensing. ## Common questions ### What is the difference between paper-qa and PDFMathTranslate? paper-qa: High accuracy RAG for answering questions from scientific documents with citations. PDFMathTranslate: PDF scientific paper translation with preserved formats. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose paper-qa over PDFMathTranslate? Choose paper-qa over PDFMathTranslate when License: paper-qa is Apache-2.0, PDFMathTranslate is AGPL-3.0; Requirements: Min 4 GB RAM; Tags unique to paper-qa: ai, rag, science, search; Also covers Model Training; Your project specifically requires processing and querying scientific documents, as PaperQA2 offers specialized capabilities tuned for this domain. ### When should I choose PDFMathTranslate over paper-qa? Choose PDFMathTranslate over paper-qa when License: PDFMathTranslate is AGPL-3.0, paper-qa is Apache-2.0; Tags unique to PDFMathTranslate: chinese, document, edit, english; Also covers Developer Tools; PDFMathTranslate ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment; You need to translate scientific papers in PDF format while preserving complex mathematical notation and layout integrity. ### When should I avoid paper-qa? If your use case does not involve scientific document processing, another RAG system better suited to your specific type of documents (e.g., legal, medical) might be more fitting. In scenarios where real-time performance is critical and extensive indexing or access to external APIs for large-scale paper handling becomes a bottleneck. ### When should I avoid PDFMathTranslate? Your use case does not involve translating PDF documents with specific formatting preservation needs such as mathematical equations. You require a solution that exclusively uses one type of license, incompatible with AGPL-3.0 licensing. ### Is paper-qa or PDFMathTranslate more popular on GitHub? PDFMathTranslate has more GitHub stars (36,353 vs 9,048). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are paper-qa and PDFMathTranslate open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (paper-qa: Apache-2.0, PDFMathTranslate: AGPL-3.0). ### Where can I find alternatives to paper-qa or PDFMathTranslate? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [paper-qa alternatives](/tools/future-house-paper-qa/alternatives) and [PDFMathTranslate alternatives](/tools/pdfmathtranslate-pdfmathtranslate/alternatives) ([paper-qa markdown twin](/tools/future-house-paper-qa/alternatives.md), [PDFMathTranslate markdown twin](/tools/pdfmathtranslate-pdfmathtranslate/alternatives.md)), ranked by typed relationship edges rather than popularity votes. ### Is there a machine-readable version of this comparison? Yes. The markdown twin at [this comparison](/compare/future-house-paper-qa-vs-pdfmathtranslate-pdfmathtranslate.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, paper-qa or PDFMathTranslate? paper-qa: Very active. PDFMathTranslate: Very active. Compare maintenance labels, days since push, and release cadence in the trust section below - stars alone do not measure maintenance. ### Where are the full trust reports for paper-qa and PDFMathTranslate? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [paper-qa trust report](/tools/future-house-paper-qa/trust); [PDFMathTranslate trust report](/tools/pdfmathtranslate-pdfmathtranslate/trust). --- **Machine-readable endpoints** - JSON: [`/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=future-house-paper-qa`](/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=future-house-paper-qa) - LLM index: [/llms.txt](/llms.txt) - Full corpus: [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt) _GraphCanon - The knowledge graph for AI development. https://www.graphcanon.com/_