Processing tiers explained
Choose between the Standard and Pro processing tiers depending on your document complexity and accuracy needs.
Jul 15, 2026
When you upload documents, Vulgate offers two processing tiers that trade off between cost and extraction depth. You pick the tier in the Ingest mode selector on the Upload page.
Standard tier
Standard is the default. It uses fast optical character recognition (OCR) to extract text and images from your files, and it handles typical documents — including ones with tables, headings, and mixed layouts — very well.
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Credits | 1 per page |
| Max file size | 1 GB |
| Supported formats | All (PDF, images, audio, video, Office documents, HTML) |
| Best for | Typical documents, high volume, audio and video files |
Standard is the only tier that accepts non-PDF/image file types (audio, video, Office documents, HTML). Audio and video files are transcribed to text regardless of tier — see Uploading audio files.
Pro tier
Pro sends each page through a vision AI model instead of conventional OCR. Choose it when Standard's output falls short: degraded or low-contrast scans, dense multi-column layouts, heavy footnotes, or complex document structures that OCR mangles.
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Credits | 5 per page |
| Max file size | 1 GB |
| Supported formats | PDF and images only |
| Best for | Degraded scans, complex layouts, footnote-heavy manuscripts |
Because Pro reads pages visually, all files in a Pro upload must be PDFs or images — the uploader will ask you to switch tiers or remove other file types.
Choosing the right tier
| Scenario | Recommended tier |
|---|---|
| Plain text, letters, articles | Standard |
| Books with tables, headings, mixed layouts | Standard |
| Audio or video files | Standard |
| Office or HTML documents | Standard |
| Degraded, faint, or handwritten scans | Pro |
| Dense multi-column or footnote-heavy pages | Pro |
| Art catalogs and image-heavy manuscripts | Pro |
When in doubt, start with Standard. If the extracted text or structure is unsatisfactory, you can reprocess the document with Pro.
Changing the tier
Select the tier in the Ingest mode selector on the Upload page before submitting. Each tier card shows its credit cost per page and the file types it supports.
To change the tier after ingestion, open the job under Uploads → Processing and choose Reprocess — you can pick a different tier there without uploading the file again. Reprocessing consumes credits like a fresh ingest.
What happened to Basic, Plus, and Advanced?
Earlier versions of Vulgate offered Basic, Plus, and Advanced modes. These have been replaced by the Standard and Pro tiers. Documents ingested with a legacy mode remain fully usable; to update one, reprocess it with a current tier. Legacy modes are no longer available for new uploads.
Credit usage
Your plan includes a monthly allowance of ingest credits. Each page consumes credits according to the tier you choose:
- Standard: 1 credit/page
- Pro: 5 credits/page
The uploader shows a credits estimate before you submit. Check your remaining credits and usage history in Settings → Billing. See Adjusting your plan for upgrade options.
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