ForwardThis vs Docparser
Docparser and ForwardThis read opposite halves of the same message. Docparser reads the attachment: zones are drawn on a sample PDF, anchor keywords and parsing rules are set, and every matching document that lands is turned into fields for a spreadsheet or an integration. Its own guidance sends anyone who needs the email body or subject to a different product. ForwardThis reads the email and not the file. ForwardThis reads the email and the name of the attachment, never what is inside the file. It can file a PDF by name; it cannot read a figure off page two. Pulling fields out of documents favours Docparser; carrying out an instruction written in an email favours ForwardThis.
ForwardThis and Docparser, side by side
How it works
What it reads
What comes out
Layouts per parser
Runs without you
Pricing unit
Free plan
Paid from
Apps
Undo
Docparser pricing and limits checked 5 September 2026.
Which one fits how you work?
Choose Docparser if
The numbers are inside the PDF. Zonal OCR, anchor keywords and drag-and-drop table extraction lift them out of invoices, purchase orders, bank statements and delivery notes, which is precisely the job ForwardThis has no way of doing.
The documents look the same each time. A parser is drawn once against a layout and then runs, and the entry plan allows fifteen of them for different document types.
An explicit rule beats a judgement call. A zone is a rectangle and a rule is written down, so the same document gives the same answer every time and a wrong field traces back to the rule that produced it.
The output belongs in a spreadsheet. Docparser hands back Excel, CSV, JSON, XML or a Google Sheet directly, and pushes fields onward through Zapier, Workato and Power Automate.
Somebody else can do the setup. A Parsing Assistant add-on builds a layout for you at a fixed price per layout, which is worth it for an awkward document nobody wants to map by hand.
Choose ForwardThis if
The instruction is in the email, not the file. A sentence saying which client this belongs to and what to do about it is exactly the thing a zone cannot be drawn around.
Every message looks different. Zones need a stable layout to sit on, and a forwarded email carries its own instruction, so the next one can look nothing like the last.
The result wanted is the work done. Docparser returns fields and stops there by design; creating the record, filing the document and setting the reminder all happen afterwards, somewhere else.
The job is occasional. Drawing a parser and wiring an export for a document that turns up twice a month costs more time than the document ever will.
What a single forwarded email does
The trigger is the email you forward. There is no editor and nothing to design in advance. This whole job is one email. In Docparser it would be a parser with its zones drawn first.
Brightside Courier
Consignment 7-2210 delivered, one carton refused
pod-7-2210.pdf
Your instructions
Log the refused carton against consignment 7-2210, file the proof of delivery under Brightside, and set a collection reminder for Tuesday.
Airtable
Log the refused carton
Deliveries / 7-2210
Dropbox
File pod-7-2210.pdf
Couriers / Brightside
TickTick
Set the collection reminder
Tuesday
You receive a confirmation email once complete, with an undo button that works for 24 hours.
Setup in 30 seconds.
What is ForwardThis?
ForwardThis is an ops assistant for your inbox. It turns email into action, without the hassle. Compatible with over 145+ of the apps you use every day.
Works with any email
Compatible with any personal or professional email provider. Gmail, Outlook and more.
145+ apps
Works across all the apps you already use every day. With more being added every month.
Setup in seconds
No complex setup, apps to install or workflows to build. Sign up, forward, done.
Secure & private
ForwardThis only acts on the emails you send it, and no data gets retained after actions have been completed.
Try it with a real email.
Forward any work email to the address below and see what ForwardThis can do. No signup required.
Occasional product emails may follow.
FAQs
- Can ForwardThis read the contents of an attached PDF?
- No. ForwardThis reads the text of the email and the name of each attachment, and never the contents of the file. So an amount written in the email body can be acted on, while the same amount printed only on the invoice cannot be seen. Anyone whose job is getting data out of documents wants Docparser, not ForwardThis.
- Can Docparser read the body of an email?
- No, and Docparser says so itself. Documents arrive at a parser's own inbound address, and it is the attachments that get parsed; the help centre answers the body and subject question directly, and the blog points anyone with recurring email content at Mailparser instead. Docparser reads the attachment and ignores the email. ForwardThis reads the email and never opens the attachment.
- Is ForwardThis a Docparser alternative?
- Only for a particular kind of work. If the outcome needed is structured data lifted off a repeating document, no: parsing rules do that reliably and cheaply, and nothing in ForwardThis competes. If the outcome needed is a record created, a file put somewhere and a reminder set, from an email that reads differently every time, then yes.
- Does Docparser have a free plan?
- Not a permanent one. There is a 14 day free trial with no credit card, after which the entry plan is $39 a month for 100 parsing credits, or $32.50 a month billed annually, and one credit covers one document of up to five pages. ForwardThis has a free tier that does not expire: 10 actions a month with every feature, then $15 a month for 100 actions.
- What happens when a document layout changes?
- A zone is a position on a page, so a redesigned invoice can shift what a parser finds and the rules get revisited. Docparser softens this with document-type templates and, on the Business tier, multi-layout parsers that hold several layouts under one parser. ForwardThis holds no layout at all, because it is reading a sentence rather than a page.
- Can ForwardThis still do something useful with the attachment?
- Yes, as long as the job does not depend on the contents. The filename, type and size are known, so the file can be saved to a folder, renamed, moved, shared or attached to a record in a connected app. Filing a signed order under the right client works; reporting the figure printed inside it does not.