The top 6 OCR tools

1. ABBYY FineReader PDF

ABBYY FineReader PDF is OCR and PDF software that lets users work with PDFs and convert them into machine-readable formats. It can also digitize text in scanned images and offers text recognition capabilities for multiple languages and document types.

Its key components include an OCR engine, which uses AI-based algorithms to extract text and preserve the structure of complex docouments. It also offers a PDF editor and document comparison capabilities that can highlight changes between two document versions. Other notable features include text reformatting options and integration with Microsoft's cloud storage platform Azure Storage.

ABBYY FineReader PDF is available as on-premises software. System requirements for Windows include the following:

• Windows 11 or 10, 64-bit.
• 1.5 GHz or faster x64 Intel or AMD processor.
• 4 GB RAM recommended.
• 1.6 GB free disk space.

Requirements for Mac include the following:

• MacOS v12 or later.
• Intel processor or silicone chip.
• 4 GB RAM.
• 3 GB free disk space for typical program installation.

ABBYY offers four pricing plans: Per seat for individual workstations, Remote user for virtual environments, Concurrent for shared network use and Site License for large-scale deployments. All plans require a minimum of five seats, except Site License, which requires 50 seats. The vendor offers a free 30-day trial for up to five workstations. More specific pricing information is available upon request.

2. Adobe Acrobat Pro

Adobe's PDF editing software, Adobe Acrobat Pro, offers an OCR tool that lets users convert scanned documents and PDFs into searchable, editable text.

Its key components include the following:

• Text recognition to automate text extraction and conversion.
• Font matching to ensure visual continuity.
• Editing capabilities to edit text directly within a PDF.

The tool also offers a generative AI (GenAI) add-on, which lets users interact with documents in a natural, conversational style.

Adobe Acrobat Pro is available as both a cloud-based service and a desktop application for Windows and macOS.

System requirements for Windows include the following:

• Windows 11, 64-bit.
• Windows 10 version 1809 or later, 64 bit.
• Windows Server 2022.
• 2 GB of RAM and 4.5 GB of free disk space.

MacOS requirements include the following:

• Mac computer with intel processor or silicon chip.
• MacOS v12-v15.
• 2 GB of RAM and 2.75 GB free disk space.

Pricing for Adobe Acrobat for businesses falls into three tiers: Acrobat Standard, Acrobat Pro and Acrobat Pro for teams 5-pack. Acrobat Standard costs $14.99 per license monthly, Acrobat Pro is $23.99 per license monthly and the Pro 5-pack is $22.19 per license monthly. The optional GenAI add-on is an additional $4.99 monthly. Adobe offers a free 14-day trial for up to 10 licenses.

3. Google Cloud Vision API

Google Cloud Vision API is a cloud-based service that uses advanced machine learning (ML) models to automatically detect and extract text from images and documents.

The tool offers various extraction features, including the following:

• Text detection. Recognizes text in images and simple documents.
• Document text detection. Offers high-quality OCR that preserves layouts in lengthy and complex documents.
• Facial detection. Identifies faces in images and documents.
• Logo detection. Detects logos in images and documents.

Google primarily offers Cloud Vision API as a cloud-based service, but it can also run on-premises through AutoML Vision, a tool that lets users build custom image analysis models. Developers and external systems can access the tool through REST and remote procedural call APIs, which make it compatible with a variety of platforms.

Pricing for Google Cloud Vision API is based on usage. For instance, each time users apply a feature, such as text detection, to an image or document page, Google bills the user for one usage unit. The tool offers 1,000 free units per month.

Organizations that use between 1,001 and 5 million units in a month pay between $1.50 and $3.50 per 1,000 units, depending on the features they used. Units over 5 million cost between $0.60 and $1.50 per 1,000 units. Google offers $300 in free credits that organizations can use within 90 days of signing up, in addition to a free trial.

4. OpenText Core Capture

OpenText Core Capture combines OCR with AI to automate document classification and data extraction, and turn unstructured content into searchable data.

Key components of this tool include the following:

• OCR engine for text recognition.
• AI-powered classification to categorize documents.
• ML capabilities.
• Custom workflow designer.
• Manual redaction capabilities.
• Postal address recognition.

OpenText Core Capture is a cloud-based product. Users can access it through web browsers, and the vendor offers data residency options in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.

Pricing information is available upon request. OpenText offers a free 90-day trial for new users.

5. Tesseract OCR

Tesseract OCR is open source software that can automatically detect and extract text from images and scanned documents in over 100 languages. Organizations can use it out of the box or developers can use an API to integrate it with custom applications.

Key components of this tool include an OCR engine that uses long short-term memory (LSTM), a type of neural network that can recognize lines of text in images. It also offers a legacy OCR engine that recognizes character patterns, page segmentation modes and training tools so users can train the OCR engine on custom data sets.

Additionally, Tesseract OCR uses 32-bit floating-point numbers -- a way to represent numbers in computers -- as opposed to 64-bit, to train LSTM models. This approach reduces the amount of memory and processing power needed to train and run LSTM models. The tool can also process images from URLs, which lets it extract text directly from web images.

Tesseract OCR is licensed under Apache License 2.0, which allows free use, modification and distribution. Users can install it on-premises, and it works with various OSes, including Windows, macOS and Linux.

As a free, open source OCR tool, Tesseract OCR does not have pricing tiers or paid support options. However, users can access community support through forums and documentation.

6. Tungsten Automation

Formerly Kofax OCR, Tungsten Automation is a content automation platform that offers capabilities such as OCR and intelligent document processing (IDP). It can extract text from images and scanned documents and maintain complex formatting elements, such as columns and tables.

The platform's OCR offerings include the following:

• Desktop OCR tool that runs locally on users' computers.
• Development toolkit for integrating OCR capabilities into custom applications.
• Server-based option for large-scale document processing.

Additionally, the platform offers an expansive library of pretrained extraction models and integration with large language models for GenAI capabilities.

The vendor offers both on-premises and cloud-based licensing options. System requirements vary by product, but generally include the following for Windows:

• Windows 10, 11 or Windows Server 2012 R2 and newer.
• 4-8 GB RAM, depending on the product.
• 4-20 GB free disk space, depending on the product.
• Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 or later.

Requirements for Mac generally include the following:

• Intel or Apple silicon-based computer with macOS.
• 4 GB minimum RAM.
• 2 GB free disk space.
• MacOS v11.7.5, v12.6.4, v13.3.

Pricing for the platform's OCR offering, OmniPage, is $149 for the Standard desktop liscense. An OmniPage Ultimate desktop license is $499. Pricing for the developer editions -- OmniPage Capture SDK and OmniPage Server -- is available upon request. The vendor also offers a 10-day free trial for Tungsten Transact, the platform's IDP offering.

Christine Campbell is a freelance writer specializing in business and B2B technology.