Side by side
Surya vs Tesseract OCR
Both stand on ocr 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+1
Surya offers structured document OCR outputs and multiple interfaces, but deployment depends on a supported inference backend. Review the model-weight license conditions separately from the Apache-licensed code.
Visit Surya Free plan AndroidAPILinux+3
Tesseract OCR is a free image-based text recognition engine with developer APIs and searchable PDF output. Image quality can affect results, and handwriting recognition is not supported.
Visit Tesseract OCRThe facts
| Surya | Tesseract OCR | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Not published | Not published |
| Runs on | API, Linux, Mac, Self-hosted | Android, API, Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Windows |
| Lowest paid plan | Team: $400 a month | Free or on request |
| Plans published | 3 | 1 |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | github.com | github.com |
| On ocr software | #7 of 40 | #3 of 40 |
Surya: what it does well
- Project describes support for 90+ languages.
- Returns layout and reading-order details.
- Includes table geometry and structured output.
- Python, CLI and Streamlit interfaces are available.
What to know first
- Specialized for documents, not natural scenes.
- OCR and layout need a running inference backend.
- Model weights have a separate license.
Tesseract OCR: what it does well
- Free and licensed under Apache License 2.0.
- Accepts PNG, JPEG, and TIFF images.
- Can produce searchable PDFs.
- Provides C and C++ APIs and language bindings.
- Runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, and Android.
What to know first
- Handwriting OCR is not supported.
- Recognition results may depend on input image quality.
- Leptonica is used to open input images.
Alternatives to Surya Alternatives to Tesseract OCR The whole list