Side by side
Kraken vs OCR.space
Both stand on ocr api software. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Free plan APILinuxMac
Choose Kraken for free, open-source text recognition focused on historical documents, low-resource languages, and diverse scripts. It offers trainable recognition, multiple output formats, and API-based customization. Processing requires a model, and direct support for PDF and multi-image TIFF or JPEG2000 needs the PDF extras package.
Visit Kraken 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.
Visit OCR.spaceThe facts
| Kraken | OCR.space | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Not published | No |
| Runs on | API, Linux, Mac | Android, API, Extension, iPhone, Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Web, Windows |
| Lowest paid plan | Not published | PRO: $30 a month |
| Plans published | None | 5 |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | kraken.re | ocr.space |
| On ocr api software | #10 of 29 | #6 of 29 |
Kraken: what it does well
- Free and open source under the Apache 2.0 License
- Supports trainable layout, reading order, and character recognition
- Handles right-to-left, bidirectional, and top-to-bottom scripts
- Offers a Python API and customizable command-line interface
- Exports ALTO, PageXML, abbyyXML, and hOCR
What to know first
- Document processing requires a model
- Direct PDF and multi-image TIFF/JPEG2000 input requires PDF extras
- Runs on Linux and macOS
OCR.space: what it does well
- Free web OCR requires no registration.
- API returns extracted text as JSON.
- Engine 3 supports handwriting and over 200 languages.
- Local version runs offline.
- Uploaded documents are deleted after processing.
What to know first
- Free web OCR limits each document to 5 MB.
- Free searchable PDFs include a watermark.
- Engine 3 cannot create searchable PDFs.
- PRO starts at $30 a month.
Alternatives to Kraken Alternatives to OCR.space The whole list