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Best OCR API Software in 2026

If your software needs to read documents, OCR APIs and related tools can turn file content into text and structured data. Compared on asynchronous processing, handwriting OCR, maximum file size, SDK languages, and structure and table extraction, the entries offer several points to weigh against your document requirements. OCR.space, Tesseract OCR, and OCRmyPDF are among the named options. Check whether their listed capabilities match the files you handle and the output your workflow needs. Free plans and paid-from pricing can help you consider access and cost alongside technical fit.

  1. 1

    Amazon Textract AnalyzeExpense

    Free plan APISelf-hostedWeb

    AnalyzeExpense extracts and normalizes invoice and receipt details, including unlabeled fields, for applications that process financial documents.

    7.6 From $0.01 Visit site
  2. 2

    docTR

    by docTR
    Free plan APILinuxMac+2

    docTR offers OCR, layout analysis, and custom model training in a free library, with installation and deployment options including Docker and a REST API template.

    7.5 Free plan Visit site
  3. 3

    EasyOCR

    Free plan LinuxMacSelf-hosted+1

    EasyOCR offers configurable image text recognition across many languages, with multiple input and compute options.

    7.4 Free plan Visit site
  4. 4

    API4AI OCR

    Free plan API
    7.2 Visit site
  5. 5

    OCRmyPDF

    Free plan APILinuxMac+2

    OCRmyPDF provides a configurable, free way to add searchable text to scanned PDFs, with library and plugin options.

    7.2 Free plan Visit site
  6. 6

    OCR.space

    Free plan AndroidAPIExtension+6

    OCR.space offers browser-based OCR, API access, searchable PDF creation, and an offline self-hosted option. Check the file, page, and conversion limits for the plan and engine you need.

    7.2 Free plan · paid from $30/mo Visit site
  7. 7

    Calamari OCR

    Free plan APILinuxSelf-hosted

    Choose Calamari if you need a free, open source Python OCR engine with line recognition, model training commands, and customization through scripts.

    7.1 Open source Visit site
  8. 8

    Mistral OCR

    Free plan APISelf-hostedWeb

    Choose Mistral OCR for document text and structure extraction, with API batching, a no-code interface and self-hosted deployment options.

    7.1 Free plan · paid from $4 Visit site
  9. 9

    Surya

    Free plan APILinuxMac+1

    Surya offers structured document OCR outputs and multiple interfaces, but deployment depends on a supported inference backend.

    7.0 Open source Visit site
  10. 10

    Kraken

    Free plan APILinuxMac

    Choose Kraken for free, open-source text recognition focused on historical documents, low-resource languages, and diverse scripts.

    6.9 Free plan Visit site
  11. 11

    ocrs

    Free plan LinuxMacSelf-hosted+2

    Choose ocrs if you need an open-source OCR library or CLI with text, layout JSON, and annotated image output.

    6.9 Open source Visit site
  12. 12

    PaddleOCR

    Free plan AndroidiPhone

    PaddleOCR offers OCR, structured document parsing, and multiple deployment paths under a license that permits broad use. Check version compatibility before moving code from 2.x to 3.x.

    6.9 Free plan Visit site
  13. 13

    Tesseract OCR

    Free plan AndroidAPIiPhone+4

    Tesseract is a free OCR engine with broad language and format support, command-line access, and developer interfaces. It is not a standalone GUI app, and PDF input requires conversion or another tool.

    6.9 Free plan Visit site
  14. 14

    Veryfi Invoices OCR API

    Free plan AndroidAPIExtension+3

    Veryfi provides invoice extraction, OCR text, and checks for duplication or alteration, with developer resources and workflow integrations.

    6.9 Free plan · paid from $500/mo Visit site
  15. 15

    Anyline OCR SDK

    Free trial AndroidAPIiPhone+2

    Anyline OCR SDK combines configurable scanning modules with developer integration options across mobile and web.

    6.6 Pricing on request · 30-day trial Visit site
  16. 16

    Apryse OCR SDK

    Free trial LinuxMacSelf-hosted+1

    Choose Apryse OCR SDK if you need OCR inside an application using Apryse Server SDK, with local processing and searchable PDF or structured output.

    6.5 Pricing on request Visit site
  17. 17

    Asprise OCR SDK

    Free trial LinuxMacSelf-hosted+1

    Choose Asprise OCR SDK if you are building an application that needs text, barcode or structured table extraction across its supported development languages and platforms.

    6.5 Visit site
  18. 18

    Dynamsoft Label Recognizer

    Free trial AndroidiPhoneLinux+4

    Choose Dynamsoft Label Recognizer when an application needs configurable OCR for labels or IDs, especially when structured extraction or offline deployment matters.

    6.4 From $1,249/yr · 30-day trial Visit site
  19. 19

    Handwriting OCR

    Free trial APIExtensionWeb

    Choose Handwriting OCR if you need handwritten pages converted into searchable text, with layout preservation, broad language coverage or table extraction.

    6.2 From $15 Visit site
  20. 20

    Microblink BlinkID

    Free trial AndroidAPIiPhone+5

    Consider BlinkID if your identity-document workflow needs broad document coverage, local extraction, and integrations across web, mobile, desktop, or self-hosted deployments.

    6.2 Pricing on request · 30-day trial Visit site
  21. 21

    Regula Document Reader SDK

    Free trial AndroidAPIiPhone+4

    Choose Regula Document Reader SDK when an identity verification service needs document reading and authenticity checks across a broad document database, with several integration and deployment routes.

    6.0 Pricing on request Visit site
  22. 22

    Mindee Invoice OCR

    Free trial APIWeb

    Mindee Invoice OCR provides invoice extraction, JSON schema customization, and multiple integration options.

    5.9 From €44/mo (annual) · 14-day trial Visit site
  23. 23

    Scanbot Data Capture SDK

    Free trial AndroidiPhoneLinux+2

    Choose Scanbot Data Capture SDK if your application needs document extraction across its supported platforms, particularly for the listed card and check formats.

    5.9 Pricing on request · 7-day trial Visit site
  24. 24

    PDF.co

    by Artifex Software, Inc.
    Free trial APIWeb

    PDF.co offers a wide set of PDF operations through a REST API, with integration options and self-hosted processing listed. The trial lasts 30 days; annual-billed Basic pricing is $8.99/mo.

    5.7 From $8.99/mo (annual) · 30-day trial Visit site
  25. 25

    ReceiptOCR

    Free trial APIWeb

    ReceiptOCR combines document extraction, categorization, reporting, exports, and API access for finance workflows.

    5.7 From $49/mo Visit site

#1Places #1, #2, #3, #4, #5 on this list can be bought by the makers of the software on it. See the price

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