21 Best OCR Software in 2023

Do you remember the last time you enjoyed filling out a PDF form? Me neither.

The first five minutes after receiving a PDF document are usually spent facepalming. From scanning the form to manually keying in data to re-scanning, it includes a lot of back and forth. Unfortunately, the majority of businesses today are still stuck with loop scanners.

To date, "pdf-to-word" conversion queries dominate internet searches. What they are really searching for is "OCR software."

OCR software is an AI-enabled solution that automates end-to-end document management to free up choked bandwidth. It detects the text from print, PDF, or handwritten documents, converts it into an editable format, and saves it on your system.

The documents can be anything, from invoices to financial statements to legal contracts.

Learn about how you can scale your documentation and content workflows with the top 21 OCR software platforms in 2023.

G2 research analysis:

“OCR technology has come a long way since its inception almost a century ago. The first versions of the technology were standalone products that converted written text into machine-readable and editable text data. The software has evolved to be an integrated feature in many automation platforms that are powered by artificial intelligence.

Thus, only a handful of the products in G2’s OCR category are standalone OCR solutions. Most of the products in this category are automation platforms or products that heavily rely on automation, such as CRM software, ERP systems, and accounting software. As technology advances increasingly aim to reduce human intervention in business processes, OCR technology will continue to play an important role in various software solutions. “

– Priya Patel, Senior Market Research Analyst, G2

If you’re stuck with a pile of bills and invoices, OCR is your rescue call. It detects and categorizes the text of your document, exports it to an editable file, and saves it on your computer.

Best OCR software at a glance

*These software solutions are ranked using an algorithm that calculates customer satisfaction and market presence based on reviews from our user community. For more information, please check out our G2 Research Scoring Methodology . Some user reviews may have been edited for clarity.

Going paperless has become the new normal as businesses seek to reduce their paper consumption.

OCR's built-in mechanism is designed to optimize a company’s resources and create green data centers that reduce carbon emissions in the outside world.

We all know that searching a pile of documents to find a specific one can be quite monotonous. Further, scanning and rewriting original content can also take up a lot of bandwidth. OCR combines the power of word processors like Google Docs or Microsoft Word with PDF processors like Adobe Reader to automate content creation and collaboration.

Let’s delve deeper into the numerous options for OCR software to see which platform is best for your team.

Best OCR software platforms of 2023

Below are the top 21 leading OCR software solutions from G2’s Winter 2023 Grid® Report.

  1. ABBYY FineReader PDF
  2. Laserfiche
  3. Nanonets
  4. CamScanner
  5. Ephesoft
  6. OpenText Capture Center
  7. Rossum
  8. IntSig OCR Solutions
  9. Square 9 Softworks
  10. My Q X
  11. Veryfi Receipts OCR & Expenses
  12. Hyperscience
  13. Ascend Software
  14. Docparser
  15. Amazon Textract
  16. Kofax Capture
  17. IBM Datacap
  18. DocuClipper
  19. Doc Digitizer
  20. FreeOCR
  21. Hypatos

Back in the day, businesses used to scan and enter data manually. The flatbed and sheet-fed scanners outputted a raster image of the document that was a reference point for the data operator. OCR software enables you to transfer document content while maintaining the essence of the original content.

Some common use cases of OCR include multiple document scanning, automated data entry, speech-to-text conversion, and data mining .

You can easily integrate OCR with your existing company stack to maintain steady bus traffic, prioritize automation of content, and ensure smoothly-flowing processes. The accuracy rate of modern OCR software falls somewhere between 98% to 99%.

15.4%

will be the compound annual growth rate of the global OCR market from 2022 to 2030!
Source: Grand View Research

1. FineReader PDF for Windows and Mac

FineReader PDF for Windows and Mac is an all-in-one OCR, document management, and PDF converter. It unlocks, captures, retrieves, and shares data from physical paper to the cloud in the same workspace.

ABBY FineReader PDF at a glance:

Free plan: Not available
Free trial: Available
Price: $69 per year
G2 awards: Leader, Fall 2022
Highest-rated features: PC operating system, Import, Export
Top industries represented: Higher education, information technology & services, Translation and Localization
Market segments: #1 for small business


Try ABBY FineReader PDF

ABBYY FineReader PDF features

Enterprises that deal with PDF documents a lot specifically search for a PDF editor. Multiple users can collaborate over one or multiple PDF documents and edit information at the same time using ABBYY FineReader PDF. Some other features include:

ABBYY FineReader PDF pros and cons

Given the PDF-based nature of the software, it isn’t a good idea to use it for critical processes. But if you’re looking for a viable solution for PDF scanning and conversion, ABBYY FineReader has it all for you.

ABBYY FineReader PDF pros:

What users like:

The best thing about ABBYY FineReader is the ability to read the document as a whole and it starts the background recognition the moment we open the pdf. It's the ability to read the pdf with pinpoint precision and able to export the pdf into any format including word, epub etc is the best. Easier to compare two documents and easier to fillable documents and sign them.

We can also create documents from images, and texts and even make them searchable using the OCR engine. It also has the best screenshot reader and can have great password security features.

ABBY FineReader PDF cons

What users dislike:

“As the name suggests, it is geared to PDF and assumes the end result will be PDF, whereas I also wanted the text to use in a markup workflow. But it was easy enough to get that out of Abbyy after setting a few preferences.

ABBYY FineReader PDF pricing

ABBYY FineReader PDF has two separate pricing modules for individuals and businesses. Students or other users can easily install this software on their home PCs and optimize their PDF documents.

The pricing plans for individuals to choose from are:

For businesses, ABBYY FineReader PDF offers a 1 and 3-year license-based subscription model of three types:

  1. Per seat
  2. Remote user
  3. Concurrent

Note that a minimum subscription of five licenses is required for the above-mentioned professional plans. The pricing varies on the business requirements of different private, public, and educational entities.

To learn more about pricing plans for ABBYY FineReader PDF, you can get in touch with their sales department.

ABBYY FineReader PDF paid plan

ABBYY FineReader PDF offers three versions of their product for different operating systems with different prices listed below:

  1. FineReader PDF Standard for Windows: $117 per year
  2. FineReader PDF Corporate for Windows: $165 per year
  3. Fine reading PDF for Mac: $69 per year

Want to learn more about OCR Software? Explore OCR products.

2. Laserfiche

Laserfiche is a leading document management and content management solution that provides powerful features like advanced analytics, electronic forms, smart content capture, landing pages, and workflow automation to make your marketing and overall product workflows more efficient.

As an end-to-end OCR solution, Laserfiche combines cloud computing, ML, and AI to digitally transform the way you write, edit, and share.

Laserfiche at a glance:

Free plan: Not available
Free trial: Available
Price: Starts at $50 per user per month
G2 awards: Leader, Fall 2022
Highest-rated features: PC operating system, file type, and image enhancement
Top industries represented: Government administration, education management, and financial services
Market segments: #1 for mid-market businesses

Laserfiche features

Laserfiche scans, analyzes, sorts, and routes your documents based on the information present in them. Smart character recognition through Laserfiche helps you arrange your data and retrieve it whenever and however you want.

Some other features include:

Laserfiche pros and cons

Laserfiche has been improving content management cycles for enterprises since the beginning of time. However, as with any software, it comes with its set of pros and cons.

Laserfiche pros

What users like:

“Capabilities to eliminate slow paper processes, scanning, and hand stamping are brilliant! If built correctly, it is a game-changer for the endpoint user by speeding up approval, and submission, and creating collaborative digital storage. Laserfiche is one of the most highly-rated enterprise content management software on the market! The nature of this software itself causes the organization to take a hard look at its existing procedures and evaluate how things can be changed and improved for both cost mitigation and greater organizational performance.”

Laserfiche cons:

What users dislike:

“It would be nice to make some effort to align the web offerings in terms of actual site configuration. Each website has a different URL, and the settings do not follow a standard layout. The location of configuration files is also confusing, e.g., some are in program data while others are in a configuration folder on the site, and still others elsewhere. Consistency is appreciated.”

Laserfiche pricing

Laserfiche offers two types of application platforms: Laserfiche cloud and self-hosted. Both of these platforms have different pricing modules with varying features for you to explore.

Visit the official website of Laserfiche for more info about features at each price point.

Laserfiche paid plan

Laserfiche cloud has three different monthly packages which are billed on an annual basis.

    Starter : $50 per user per month (Starts at one user)

allows you to You can independently manage your data on your company server instead of the cloud with Laserfiche's self-hosted platform. It facilitates easy maintenance, upgrades, and security of your servers. There are four pricing models for self-hosted platforms based on different business requirements.

  1. Starter: $45 per user per month (Starts at one user)
  2. Professionals: $59 per user per month (Starts at 10 users)
  3. Business: $69 per user per month (Starts at 25 users)
  4. Enterprise: Custom pricing available.

3. Nanonets

Nanonets is an intelligent document processing tool that uses deep learning techniques to read data from paper documents or images and export it to Excel or customer relationship management (CRM) software via standard application programming interface (API) connectors.

Nanonets at a glance:

Free plan: Available

Free trial: Available

G2 awards: Leader, Fall 2022

Highest-rated features : Linux operating system, Mac operating system, and file type

Top industries represented: Higher education, education management, and accounting

Nanonets features

From handling multipage invoices, licenses, and passports to customizing column headers and page numbers, Nanonets is an accurate OCR solution that provides automated data workflows without much manual intervention. Its features include:

Nanonets' pros and cons

The applicability of Nanonets depends on your company’s needs. For instance, Nanonets is great for retail because it can scan invoices, bills, and receipts. But it might not be a match for your industry.

Nanonets pros:

What users like:

“The convenience of using Nanonets is just incredible. Data entry is tiring and a tedious job. But with Nanonets, it becomes smooth as butter. The accuracy is unparalleled in the industry. I enjoy using it for daily operations and recommend it to anyone searching for viable value service.”

- Nanonets Review , Sabyasachi P., April 12, 2022

Nanonets cons

What users dislike:

“Handwriting is often very irregular, and I think it would be good to set parameters for specific fields so the software can process everything there. However, this may be due to a lack of training in the model in the free option. We will find out when we start the paid version.”

Nanonets pricing

Nanonets has two simple pricing models and a free plan for processing up to 100 pages. For more detailed information, connect with their dedicated sales team

While speaking to the sales representative, have a fair idea of your custom business requirements and data specifications for them to better assist you.

Nanonets free plan

The free plan, also known as a starter plan, is a great option for individuals or businesses looking to try out the platform. You can sign up for free on their website and process up to 100 pages without spending anything. However, the free plan limits field options and may not support all types of data during form creation.

Nanonets’ paid plans

Nanonets has two sorts of pricing modules:

4. CamScanner

CamScanner is a widely-used document scanning and OCR software that processes paper documents into digital files and archives them neatly. Apart from document scanning, you can convert Word to PDF or PDF to Word within seconds and save hundreds of files on the secure CamScanner cloud.

CamScanner at a glance:

Free plan: Available

Free trial: Not available

Price: Available on request

G2 awards: Leader, Fall 2022

Highest-rated features : Mobile capacity, intelligent processing, and data extraction

Top industries represented: Computer software, information technology & services, and higher education

CamScanner features

CamScanner is affordable and easy to understand. Whether you’re in the office or on the go, a portable mobile scanner can convert your files anytime, anywhere.

CamScanner pros and cons

While CamScanner is an affordable document management tool for smaller firms and higher educational institutions, it might not be a wise pick for enterprise-sized firms that work with tons of data.

CamScanner pros

What users like:

“With working from home in these unprecedented times, I appreciate being able to create a file, combine it to a PDF, and be able to upload easily. The free version of CamScanner might as well be a paid feature or subscription-like. You have everything you need!”

CamScanner cons

What users like:

“One of the features automatically crops all the pages of your scan to speed up the process, but sometimes some pages get cut incorrectly, and you may miss some content. To avoid that, you may have to check every page. Secondly, having a brand seal below every scan isn't very reassuring. Sometimes, you may be in a hurry, and the seal may look awkward in some documents.”

- CamScanner Review , Raj K., September 06, 2022

CamScanner pricing

Users can have three different types of CamScanner accounts at different price points: Basic Account, Premium Account, and Business Version.

You can easily download the free version of CamScanner on your cell or desktop. For other plans, sign in with your membership account on the CamScanner website and fill in the details. For more information, you can get in touch with a sales representative.

CamScanner free plan

The free version of CamScanner comes with the following features:

CamScanner paid plans

Camscanner offers two types of paid accounts that you can subscribe to on a monthly or yearly basis.

5. Ephesoft

Ephesoft is an intelligent document processing tool that scans, captures, and identifies multiple documents in one go. Coupled with the power of AI, it calls on the power of data extraction and automation to expedite HR, payroll, and other processes.

Ephesoft at a glance:

Free plan: Not available

Free trial: Available

Price: Available on request

G2 awards: Leader, Fall 2022

Highest-rated features : PC operating system, file type, and integration

Top industries represented: Information technology & services, accounting, and computer software

Ephesoft features

Ephesoft scans different types of documents like proof of ID, invoices, loans, records, and transcripts to optimize standard workflows in a company. Directly below are some of its other features:

Ephesoft pros and cons

Ephesoft fetches relevant data from paper-based documents and transforms it into a systematic digital archive of information. It’s great, but let’s look at some of its more challenging aspects as well.

Ephesoft pros

What users like:

“Ephesoft is a robust and intuitive solution that helps our organization transform all unstructured information into usable information. It can automatically detect all formats and processes through AI. It requires less human input and delivers more productivity, which helps to reduce cost and time. It is highly scalable and provides excellent customization in the dashboard as per our needs. It is easy to deploy, and it doesn't rely on any technical assistance. Overall, we are happy to use Ephesoft in our organization.”

Ephesoft cons:

What users dislike:

“The application requires a lot of experience and technical knowledge, making it harder for someone to find the desired output on their own.”

Ephesoft pricing

You and your budget can choose from three different types of flexible pricing plans, either for the cloud or on-premise solutions.

Ephesoft pricing plans offer annual or consumption-based options that start at 120,000 pages per year. To get a customized quote, contact their sales team.

6. OpenText Capture Center

OpenText Capture Center is a cloud solution that simplifies content production for diverse stakeholders within a business setting, allowing everyone to access and share content with ease.

OpenText Capture Center at a glance:

Free plan: Unavailable
Free trial: Unavailable
Price: $59/month + $4/employee/ month.
G2 awards: Leader, Summer 2022
Highest-rated features: Direct Deposit, tax calculation, Check/W-2 delivery
Top industries represented: Construction, Nonprofit organization management, health & fitness
Market segments: #1 for small business

OpenText Capture Center features

OpenText Capture Center focuses on making the entire content lifecycle in organizations easier from capture to consumption. You can use this application to create relevant, editable documents, and share them across departments to remain connected at all times.

OpenText Capture Center pros and cons

OpenText Capture Center is ideally used for intelligent data extraction and cross-departmental collaboration. Evaluating its pros and cons in detail can help you analyze different aspects of this OCR solution with respect to your business requirements.

OpenText Capture Center pros

What users like:

“Its robust document classification and data extraction. Its flexibility to handle structured or unstructured documents, and transfer them in a logical and consistent manner.”

OpenText Capture Center cons

What users dislike:

“I am missing humans in the loop correction and retraining of the model behind the tool. It should be available to the user so that the algorithm learns repeating patterns over time.”

OpenText Capture Center pricing

You can explore OpenText Capture Center’s pricing plans by talking to the relevant sales team.

OpenText also has a customized price list for different document services that you can refer to.

7. Rossum

Rossum’s 1intelligent AI engine is known to mimic the human mind while parsing documents. It captures the document data, runs it through human processors to spot and eliminate errors in seconds, and validates your content for further work.

Rossum at a glance:

Free plan: Not available

Free trial: 30-day free trial

Price : Available on request

G2 awards: Leader, Fall 2022

Top industries represented: Accounting, Financial services, Computer software

Rossum features

Rossum is a cloud-native platform that automates document capture and communication without any scope of formatting error. Total documentation also removes the hassle of business workflows and eliminates back-and-forth correspondence. Its features include:

Rossum pros and cons

Built on a robust AI framework, Rossum aims to solve all content and document operational challenges. However, navigating through this application sometimes might require a certain level of technical expertise.

Rossum pros

What users like:

“The best thing about Rossum is the saved keystrokes. I mean, that's the whole point of this. From a developer perspective, Rossum's fairly open approach to allowing for modification of the UI and how data is processed was the true selling point. My company has very specific needs and the ability to scale the UI up or down on the fly is incredible and easy.”

-Rossum Review , Connor S., Apr 23, 2021

Rossum cons

What users dislike:

“They are charged by invoice in the past, and now it is based on the number of pages, which makes it very difficult to predict as most people would not know how many pages they receive per year.”

-Rossum Review , Sammir O., May 14, 2021

Rossum pricing

To know more about Rossum’s pricing, you can get in touch with its sales. However, Rossum does include a 30-day free trial for users looking to explore the platform.

Contact Rossum’s dedicated customer service team for info about their pricing modules.

8. IntSig OCR Solution

IntSig OCR solution is a leading document OCR package with six different products: Cam ID, Cam BizCard, Cam BankCard, Cam Doc, Cam Invoice, and image enhancement. CamScanner and Cam BizCard have over a billion downloads worldwide.

IntSig OCR at a glance:

Free plan: Not available

Free trial: Not available

Price : Available on request

G2 awards: Leader, Fall 2022

Highest-rated features: Colour, file type, email attachment

Top industries represented: Higher education, Information technology services, and education management

IntSig OCR features

InstSig OCR is a powerful package featuring the power of six different OCR tools to produce accurate and robust document capture and conversion.

IntSig OCR pros and cons

IntSig OCR is a product that allows businesses to integrate their web applications remotely and automate database workflows. But different software within this package have different use cases, which might confuse some users.

IntSig OCR pros

What users like:

“It is a work software that optimizes your time to the maximum. It is very fast and easy to use It has a range of formats you can work with. It is the software you can use to scan different documents and edit and transform them to another format.”

- IntSig OCR Review , Charles R., Nov 27, 2020

IntSig OCR cons

What users dislike:

“I'm not a fan of the price, and there’s potential to allow us to do more with the documents that are scanned. It would be helpful to be able to further edit scanned documents.”

IntSig OCR pricing

IntSig OCR doesn’t mention its specific pricing plans on the internet. To receive a custom quote, fill out their online form and register yourself.

Bear in mind that the pricing options of each software application vary as per each tool’s features and your company size.

9. Square9 Softworks

Square9 Softworks is a common cloud platform that simplifies document-centric work to achieve favorable outcomes. Facilitating the value of content in every running task gives employees access to any piece of information they need.

Square9 Softworks at a glance:

Free plan: Not available

Free trial: Not available

Price : Available on request

G2 awards: Leader, Fall 2022

Highest-rated features : Conditions, web interface, and OCR scanning

Top industries represented: Information technology, computer software, and electrical & electronic manufacturing

Try Square9 Softworks

Square9 Softworks features

Square9 Softworks is a customer-centric solution that manages the content and handles files to an extent that everyone can use the data efficiently.

Square9 Softworks pros and cons

Software 9 softworks reduces manual paper filings and maintains electronic folders catering to different business activities. However, as a software provider, it does fall short of a few concerns.

Square9 Softworks pros

What users like:

“From the IT perspective, it's easy to deploy and configure. Creating and managing templates and workflows is quick and easy, and compared to other document management software, it leaps and bounds ahead with its out-of-the-box features. It's also nice to have the ability to host on-site, and not be forced into the cloud like some providers."

- Square9 Softworks Review , Bruce G., March 16, 2022

Square9 Softworks cons

What users dislike:

“ Sometimes the OCR capture tool isn't as good as I thought it would be, or I need to change or tweak the templates, but I know this kind of software has its limits.”

Square9 Softworks pricing

Square 9 Softworks charges an additional fee for every add-on feature that you opt for. To receive a customized quote or to discuss the pricing options, connect with a representative.

You can also request a personalized demo or a virtual experience by filling out the form on their website.

10. Veryfi Receipts OCR & Expenses

Veryfi Receipts OCR & Expenses is a document processing solution that interprets handwritten forms and makes them editable. You can payroll, expenses, reimbursement, and other HR processes through intelligent document capture and sharing with it.

Veryfi Receipts OCR & Expenses at a glance:

Free plan: Not available

Free trial: 30-day free trial available

Price : Available on request

G2 awards: Leader, Fall 2022

Highest rated features: OCR integration, OCR file type

Top industries represented: Information technology &and services, retail, and construction

Veryfi Receipts OCR & Expenses features

Veryfi is an all-in-one document processing medium for businesses looking to scale their HR, taxing, and accounting workflows. Whether you’re on mobile or laptop, Veryfi is your go-to application to view, modify, and share documents across dispersed teams.

Veryfi Receipts OCR & Expenses pros and cons

Veryfi delivers quick, efficient, and reliable data transfers. Powered with AI-based techniques, it intelligently processes data of all sorts and converts it into structured documents that can be shared with anyone and everyone.

Veryfi Receipts OCR & Expenses pros

What users like:

“Simple to use. Great OCR and easy API for agencies.”

Veryfi OCR & Expenses cons

What users dislike:

“The only thing that I dislike thus far is my confusion between tags and categories, but it has not stopped me from using the app at all. I likely need to read more about those features.”

Veryfi Receipts OCR & Expenses pricing

Veryfi Receipts OCR & Expenses offers a 14-day free trial where you can try out the OCR and other document integrations of this software platform.

Veryfi Receipts OCR & Expenses also allows you to schedule a product demo via Calendly . Simply go to their official website and schedule a meeting at your convenience.

11. Hyperscience

Hyperscience is an ML-backed document management software that helps you capture and transcribe data in a flexible manner to lessen your dependency on other word-processing software.

Hyperscience at a glance:

Free plan: Not available

Free trial: Not available

Price : Available on request

G2 awards: Leader, Fall 2022

Top industries represented: Financial services, accounting, and medical devices

Hyperscience features

Hyperscience smartly captures the content of documents like invoices, reports, checks, or passbooks and uses accurate OCR for digital storage. Some more features include:

Hyperscience pros and cons

The software marketplace is crowded with numerous accounting and bookkeeping solutions. To know whether Hyperscience can stand up against the competition, here is a detailed breakdown of the software's pros and cons.

Hyperscience pros

What users like:

“Easy to operate product that helps improve data quality for a company. The interface and front-end usability are great and easy for anyone to learn quickly.”

Hyperscience con

What users dislike:

“I'm looking forward to more features!”

Hyperscience pricing

Hyperscience hasn’t displayed its price on its website. Reach out to their dedicated sales team or fill out an online form.

You can also request a personalized demo to get an idea of how the software automates your document and content development lifecycles.

12. MyQ X

MyQ X is an eco-friendly application that cuts down on unnecessary paper printing and consumption by automating document management. It also provides document queue scheduling, endpoint security, and easy remote access to focus on what to do next in terms of goals.

MyQ X at a glance:

Free plan: Not available

Free trial: Not available

Price: Available on request

G2 awards: Leader, Fall 2022

Highest-rated features: Compliance, waste reduction, and employee computers

Top industries represented: Information technology & services, government administration, and automotive

MyQ X features

MyQ X is an end-to-end print management solution that streamlines the content and document printing and management processes of your organization to free up mental bandwidth and optimize productivity.

MyQ X pros and cons

Even though MyQ X promises secure authorization of data, the slightest misstep caused during any stage of the document lifecycle can cause data infringement. By learning about the pros and cons of this solution, you can easily prevent such disastrous outcomes.

MYQ X pros

What users like:

“Simple, user-friendly administration, the possibility of selective synchronization of users, automation of processes, simple identification of users via PIN, automatic evaluation of consumption according to the organizational structure.”

MyQ X Review , Lubomir D., May 30, 2022

MyQ X cons

What users dislike:

“Could use a Mac server version. Missed some opportunities because of needing a windows PC to implement.”

- MyQ X Review , Steve B., May 25, 2022

MyQ Xpricing

MyQ X claims to be 35% less expensive than other document management and OCR providers. However, they don’t talk about their pricing on their site.

MyQ X anticipates a company’s business requirements better than any other software, through a broad range of plug-and-play add-ons. For more information, reach out to the MyQ sales representative.

13. Ascend Software

Ascend Software enables you to scale your invoice processing workflows and refine accounts payable (AP) in a unified platform with OCR document mapping.

Ascend Software at a glance:

Free plan: Not available

Free trial: Not available

Price : Available on request

G2 awards: High performer, Fall 2022

Highest-rated features : PC operating system, integration, and file conversion

Top industries represented: Hospital & healthcare, accounting, and financial services business

Ascend Software features

Getting a comprehensive view of your balance sheet has never been easier. With Ascend Software, you can parse your financial statements and log each transaction in a central place. Whether it’s accounts payable, other liabilities, expenses, or income, it automates document workflows to achieve work goals.

Ascend Software pros and cons

Ascend allows you to automate your account payables and total expenses of the company. Along with several add-on features, it also comes with a few pros and cons listed below:

Ascend Software pros

What users like:

“Ease of use, everything automatically pulled by Ascend is 99% of the time accurate. The team has always been helpful and quick with resolving issues. My history with other competitors does not compare to the Ascend functions.”

Ascend Software cons

What users dislike:

“I wish it was easier to find the email the invoices are coming from. With the current set up you have to look thoroughly before finding this link. Maybe make links in order by name and instead of side by side, put them in a column.”

Ascend Software pricing

Ascend Software doesn’t explicitly mention its pricing options online. To find out more, you can either schedule a demo or get in touch with a sales representative.

As Ascend is a dedicated solution for your accounts payable, you can also get product support to assess the particular requirements of AP automation for your company.

14. Docparser

Docparser is a cloud solution that parses different kinds of documents into computer-readable formats and data types. Smart data extraction and analysis are two main aspects of Docparser cloud that empower you to go green.

Docparser at a glance:

Free plan: Not available

Free trial: 21-day free trial

G2 awards: High performer, Fall 2022

Top industries represented: Accounting, automotive, and retail

Docparser features

Digitization of important documents is crucial if you wish to cater holistically to your vendor and customer needs. Extracting text from images or printed documents and re-arranging it for further analysis is the core purpose of Docparser. This solution is mainly apt for small businesses looking to scale their business workflows.

Docparser pros and cons

Docparser identifies patterns in existing content and predicts its a category for further use. For example, Docparser can automatically scan supplier invoices and add them to your inventory cost database in seconds.

With a solution as fast and reliable as Docparser, going a step further with pros and cons can nudge you in the right direction.

Docparser pros

What users like:

“1. Completely cloud-based.

  1. Zero software hosting cost and no installation required.
  2. Easy to learn with to-the-point documentation and learning material available.”

Docparser cons

What users dislike:

“Handling the outputted data structures requires a bit of a learning curve. It takes a while to see and understand what is the output and how to handle it. Documents that have table rows can be a bit tricky. Header level data is very easy to extract, but tables are a little challenging.”

Docparser pricing

Docparser offers four pricing plans for different editions and features. To figure out which best fits your needs, analyze each plan closely in comparison to your requirements.

In case you wish to know more detail about these plans or want to see a demo, you can get in touch with Docparser’s customer service department to get started.

Docparser paid plan

Docparser can be used in two ways - either on a monthly basis or an annual basis. The yearly subscriptions are listed below:

Docparser also provides two different kinds of add-ons called Parsing Assistant and Extended Reduction, which you can directly explore from their website.

15. Amazon Textract

Amazon Textract captures, analyzes, and processes data to create open-platform documents. Equipped with a supervised machine learning algorithm, it intelligently reads the content from paper documents and arranges it in a new format before storing it online.

Amazon Textract at a glance:

Free plan: Available

Free trial: Not available

Price: Available on request

G2 awards: High performer, Fall 2022

Top industries represented: Computer software, information technology & and services, and education management

Amazon Textract features

Along with the standard features of OCR software, Amazon Textract’s cloud intelligence allows you to scan PDFs, images, tables, and forms , plus it also analyzes them deeply, outlines relationships, and designs business workflows.

Amazon Textract pros and cons

Amazon Textract’s global solution stores all your data in a single open-source web server which keeps stakeholders informed of the current modifications. A downside of this solution is that everyone can view everything, which makes the data vulnerable to invasion and theft. Here are more pros and cons:

Amazon Textract pros

What users like:

Even though there are free tools like Google Tesseract and MODI suite from Microsoft, these require a lot of tweaks to get the desired outcome. On the other hand, Amazon Textract has thousands of free templates to choose from, and the elastic search that Amazon claims can store millions of indexed document templates.”

- Amazon Textract Review , Easam T., May 01, 2019

Amazon Textract cons

What users dislike:

“Most of the time, we have issues with it on handwritten receipts, but other than that no major complaints.”

Amazon Textract pricing

Amazon Textract lets you pay for the number of document credits you use, but it doesn’t discuss specific pricing plans on its site.

Visit the official website and request a pricing quote. The sales representative will get back to you with more details.

Amazon Textract free plan

You can use Amazon Textract for free for a certain period of time. Coming as a part of the overall Amazon Web Services Free Tier, here’s what the free plan offers:

16. Kofax Capture

Kofax Capture is a repository of intelligent OCR and document identification tools that analyze the data at hand and converts it into an editable format to make life easier for your teams.

Kofax Capture at a glance:

Free plan: Not available

Free trial: Not available

Price: Available on request

G2 awards: Leader, Fall 2022

Top industries: Human resources, Financial services, Hospital, and healthcare

Kofax Capture features

A simple way to get each and every team member equally invested in their daily agendas, Kofax is an easy-to-use cloud service that comes to your rescue whenever you find a document waiting to be digitized.

Kofax Capture pros and cons

Kofax’s intelligent document automation feature helps companies design and predict their everyday work agendas and share information over an open-source cloud server.

Kofax Capture pros

What users like:

“OCR functionality in capture is the best. Also, the mobile-based scan option is the best.”

Kofax Capture cons

What users dislike:

“The procedural Kofax capture chart usually jumps to a value far different from the actual one. Also, I would like to see an update on the graphical user interface, as well as the API through convergence.”

Kofax Capture pricing

To know more about Kofax pricing structure, you can fill up a form on their official website and wait till an official representative gets in touch with you.

Since Kofax doesn’t mention its pricing online. However, this is a common protocol followed by software companies.

17. IBM Datacap

IBM Datacap helps with scanning text in images and aligning it into a machine-readable format. Built on natural language processing (NLP) techniques and pattern matching, it automatically detects data entries and categorizes them.

IBM Datacap at a glance:

Free plan: Not available

Free trial: Not available

Price : Available on request

G2 awards: NA

Highest-rated features : File type, integration, and data extraction

Top industries represented: Banking, financial services, and information technology & services.

IBM Datacap features

IBM Datacap has received accolades within the software vendor market as the best document capture provider. Here’s why:

IBM Datacap pros and cons

IBM Datacap is a subsidiary of IBM, which has ancient roots in the software market. Driven by brand promise and reliability, IBM Datacap rules out any potential data leakage issues in the bank vaults.

IBM Datacap pros

What users like:

“We were able to develop and provide a solution to users in a matter of weeks into production; this helped the users attain insights and confidence in the solution. The components and low-code/no-code environment enable the developers and users to get used to the application and use it efficiently.”

IBM Datacap cons

What users dislike:

“The engine doesn't provide efficient ways to enhance the captured image as per the requirement. Needs a little more attention for image enhancement ruleset.”

- IBM Datacap Review , Osama A., Nov 21, 2022

IBM Datacap pricing

It’s easy to connect to an IBM representative by scheduling an appointment online. The customer service team will get back to you with the details.

You can also get access to their information source report or watch a live demo of their product by heading to their official website.

18. DocuClipper

DocuClipper , as the name suggests, imports relevant data from online or printed documents and clips it in a way that makes the most sense before transferring it to editable word processors like Excel or Microsoft Word.

DocuClipper at a glance:

Free plan: Not available

Free trial: 14-day free trial

Price : Starts at $29 per month

G2 awards: High performer, Fall 2022

Top industries represented: Accounting, information technology & services, and airlines & aviation

DocuClipper features

DocuClipper can capture, analyze, and extract data from different types of documents, and store it in a digital format for further modification and tabulation. A popular choice for small businesses, the premium features of DocuClipper can also be used by mid-market companies and enterprises.

DocuClipper pros and cons

Docuclipper, as the name suggests, clips the document in an intelligent way that makes more sense to the user. As businesses are prone to operational changes, it might be difficult for Docuclipper to keep track of each and every change. Understanding the pros and cons can give us a better idea of DocuClipper's major use cases in the business sphere.

DocuClipper pros

What users like:

“Amazing software. We do a lot of PDF to Excel conversions as an accounting firm, and Docuclipper is the most accurate and intelligent of any other service we have tried !”

DocuClipper cons

What users dislike:

“It is expensive for personal use. Pricing plans could be updated for personal tax bookkeeping.”

DocuClipper pricing

DocuClipper has four kinds of pricing packages which you can explore with its 14-day free trial. You can always cancel in case it doesn’t match your needs.

The plans are divided into monthly and yearly subscriptions.

DocuClipper paid plans

Here are four major DocuClipper paid plans for you to choose from:

You can save 20% of your budget if you opt for the annual plans instead, which are priced at:

19. DocDigitizer

DocDigitizer is a document automation tool that uses human intelligence to capture and convert text from handwritten documents or images. It extracts relevant information in relation to external scanning and attaches data to other business software via APIs.

DocDigitizer at a glance:

Free plan: Not available

Free trial: Available

Price: Available on request

G2 awards: High performer

Highest-rated features: Human resources, computer software, and financial services

Top industries represented: Human resources, information technology & services, and computer software

DocDigitizer features

With a simple setup and learning process, DocDigitizer is a go-to document processing and OCR solution for the small market segment as it guarantees 100% data accuracy and 60% better cost efficiency. Using it gets you:

DocDigitizer pros and cons

The best part about DocDigitzer is that it doesn’t require the user to have any prior technical background to get started. Simply launch the setup, process your documents, and store them on a secure cloud for everyone else to access.

\Since it’s popular with small market businesses, you need to consider whether you think your business will outgrow DocDigitizer. Keep reading for more info about the pros and cons.

DocDigitizer pros

What users like:

“DocDigitizer is an ‘invisible’ and super effective invoice data extractor. In a few days, we were able to feed the service with multiformat supplier invoices and get invoice data with high precision. No setup, configuration, or visual interface is required.”

DocDigitizer cons

What users dislike:

“Because DocDigitizer has different service level agreements (SLAs) for different situations, we must tell them what SLAs we want. Maybe it would be better if we could configure that by ourselves in the portal to give us more flexibility without having to contact the support, but we don't need to change that after the initial roll-out.”

DocDigitizer pricing

DocDigitizer is a no-code cognitive data capture platform that can be set up at zero cost, and from there, they have three different pricing structures based on a company’s needs and size.

DocDigitizer doesn’t provide any free plan for users.

DocDigitizer paid plan

With paid plans, users can automate and optimize all of their financial processes with a specific number of document credits that the platform has. You can explore these three tiers:

  1. Standard converts handwritten or printed data into simple documents with few fields. This plan starts at $164 per month with a credit of 1000 documents.
  2. Advanced offers unlimited fields for documents that are captured and integrated with the office cloud, plus everything from the standard plan The advanced plan is priced at $510 per month, again with a credit of 1000 parsable documents.
  3. Enterprise can be explored by larger business segments or enterprises. As the price isn’t explicitly mentioned, you have to reach out to the relevant sales team for a custom quote.

20. FreeOCR

Free OCR is one of the best free OCR tools available for both Windows and macOS. This software can open any kind of PDF file or image file.

FreeOCR at a glance:

Free plan: Available

Free trial: Not available

Price: Free

Top industries represented: Information technology & services, automotive, and biotechnology

Try FreeOCR

FreeOCR features

FreeOCR is a free-of-cost word and document processing engine, which works on the latest version of the Tesseract OCR engine. Some features include:

FreeOCR pros and cons

FreeOCR is an ideal solution for medium-sized businesses and enterprises, but free isn’t always better. Take a look at the pros and cons section to see how it measures up to your business needs.

FreeOCR pros

What users like:

“It is free to download, install, and use on any windows system. It is fast and straightforward in recognizing the text from images or PDF files. You can export the converted text directly to Word or Excel.”

FreeOCR cons

What users dislike:

“Its appearance is a bit old-fashioned and sometimes it takes a while to load files from the computer.”

FreeOCR pricing

FreeOCR is free of cost.

21. Hypatos

Hypatos is an end-to-end data automation platform that captures, scans, and interprets data from your offline documents as a part of a patchwork automation process.

Hypatos at a glance:

Free plan: Not available

Free trial: Available

Price: $495 per month

G2 awards: Easiest to do business with, Fall 2022

Hypatos features

Hypatos is usually deployed to automate your back-end document processes to maximize back-order efficiency. It provides features like:

Hypatos pros

What users like:

“The quality of the data and technical support; quick response rate in general.”

-Hypatos Review , Anton S., March 19, 2020

Hypatos cons

What users like:

Their documentation can be improved however they were quite responsive and we did

not have major glitches

Hypatos pricing

Hypatos has three pricing options, namely Subscription, Enterprise, and Community edition. The plans range from $0 to $495 per month. You can also sign up for a free trial of their services.

Get in touch with Hypatos through their official website or drop an email for more pricing information.

Learn more about OCR and OCR software

OCR software is used to recognize and label information from physical documents and transfer it to an editable file format. With OCR software, you can create, edit, retrieve, and save digital copies of physical documents on your computer.

But wait, doesn’t it sound a bit similar to a PDF reader? It does. To differentiate, OCR goes a step further to let you edit and modify documents at any stage of the business lifecycle. Let’s look at this in more detail.

What is optical character recognition?

Optical character recognition (OCR) is a technology that captures and analyzes data from physical or portable documents and determines their relevance for other business workflows. From a non-editable document, OCR singles out letters to identify their type and transfer them to a new destination, which can be .xlsx, .ppt, .docx, and so on.

OCR has been used by companies such as Xerox and Vistaprint for decades to create electronic copies of papers. As digital transformation progressed, OCR solutions got better at reading data in documents and putting it in a different memory location.

With OCR, not only can you scan a copy of a document, but you can also edit and share its content with others over a secure internet connection. It doesn’t change the nature of the content but cleans it up for the sake of clear interpretation.

OCR takes the functionality of word processors like Google Docs or Microsoft word a step further and auto-creates files without any manual intervention.

Benefits of OCR and OCR software

OCR isn’t just software that you can install and put to work. The proper working methodology of OCR combines a compatible software and hardware device.

Hardware like copiers or smart scanners helps OCR software create machine-readable input and process documents for multiple recipients. The following are the major benefits of OCR:

How to effectively use OCR software

Optical character recognition software distinguishes darker characters in the document from the light color of the blank background. The darker areas are identified and labeled by the software as letters or numbers and then transferred into a new file.

OCR software runs on iterative conditional loops to continue the above process for all the characters in the document. The accuracy of an OCR technique depends on the versatility of training data that has been fed to the computer. The more versatile the data is, the more accurate the prediction of the algorithm will be.

Let’s go over two ways OCR software works.

Pattern recognition

These algorithms are trained on large, supervised datasets of fonts, templates, and scripts to identify characters. Once the image is scanned, OCR software singles out letters for individual labeling.

The letters are then matched with a model database, which stores the exact type of letter in a certain font. Based on font matching, the system intelligently identifies the character, the word, and the entire sentence.

Feature hypothesis

Feature hypothesis identifies characters by analyzing their features. It creates a number of different hypotheses of what the character could be based on its physical attributes. It checks for closed lines, bent angles, edges, and dots in the letters, and assigns the K-nearest neighbor to it.

For example, if the algorithm detects two parallel horizontal lines with a vertical line cutting right in the center, it would process it as “H”. The working of this method might seem lengthy, but it’s a lightning-fast process that analyzes documents in seconds!

OCR scans documents through the following stages of optical character recognition:

  1. Image acquisition: The hard copy is scanned and read as an image.

Tips and tricks

OCR can perform multiple content operations at the same time and optimize productivity. Apart from automating data entries, it plays the part of a human operator to ensure zero content errors in your document.

Because OCR is a technical process that needs to be learned, certain tricks can make the entire OCR learning experience more enjoyable. Use these tricks to make the correct decision for your OCR solution so you can train your employees more easily.

Best practices of an OCR software

OCR software is not just known for converting documents from PDF to an editable format, but can also auto-adjust errors, sort data intelligently, and proofread your documents in seconds!

While OCR software can automate the majority of your document and content processes and simplify workflows, certain best practices incentivize its working efficiency and output accuracy:

Choosing the best OCR software for your company

From cost concerns to use cases, many parameters need to be scrutinized for OCR cloud business. Before going ahead with your purchase decision, take a step back and ensure your prospect can match all the business requirements at stake. To err is human, but not when you make expensive software decisions.

While you’re shopping around trying to find the perfect solution to your business problems, keep the following points top of mind.

Top 10 Free OCR software of 2023

  1. FineReader PDF for Windows and Mac
  2. Laserfiche
  3. Nanonets
  4. CamScanner
  5. OpenText Capture Center
  6. Rossum
  7. Ephesoft
  8. Square 9 Softworks
  9. IntSig OCR solutions
  10. Hyperscience

OCR software: Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

What is OCR used for?

OCR is used for converting text from images or physical documents into a readable and editable format. For example, if you scan an offline test report, the resulting document will be an image file. OCR processes the components of the image so that you’re able to edit, truncate, or search for words from the file.

How do I use OCR with an image-only PDF?

OCR software can extract unknown features from the image and compare them with known feature descriptors that it has stored in its algorithm. Once there is a match, it automatically parses the text and converts it into an editable copy. Upon completion, you’ll be able to click on the document and make changes.

What is the difference between OCR and OMR?

OMR is an object detection technology while OCR is a character recognition technology. OMR detects the presence of an object in a physical document, like checkboxes, circles, or QR codes while OCR singles out and interprets the characters written inside a document one by one. However, OMR is more accurate than OCR because it helps label and visualizes the data present in the document.

What is the relationship between OCR and RPA?

OCR is a part of RPA that uses conversational intelligence to automate business workflows and eliminate the need for human operators.

Does Windows 10 have built-in OCR software?

Yes, Windows 10 has a built-in tool that makes document-related operations very quick and easy for small documents.

Shreya Mattoo

Shreya Mattoo is a Content Marketing Specialist at G2. She completed her Bachelor's in Computer Applications and is now pursuing Master's in Strategy and Leadership from Deakin University. She also holds an Advance Diploma in Business Analytics from NSDC. Her expertise lies in developing content around Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Artificial intelligence, Machine Learning, Peer Review Code, and Development Software. She wants to spread awareness for self-assist technologies in the tech community. When not working, she is either jamming out to rock music, reading crime fiction, or channeling her inner chef in the kitchen.