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Tech riderRev. 3 Oct 2026

Tesseract OCR

Ch 027.7of 27 OCR API Software
  1. 1Runs onAndroid, API, iOS, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows
  2. 2CostsFree plan
  3. 3Structure extractionYes
  4. 4SDK languagesC, C++
4 lines stated Written from the maker's own pages: tesseract-ocr.github.io
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The Tesseract OCR homepage

Overview

Tesseract OCR is ranked #2 of 27 in OCR API software on Specifiction. It runs on Android, API, iOS, Linux, macOS, Self-hosted, Windows. There is a free plan.

Tesseract OCR plans and pricing

All plans
Tesseract OCR Free Open source OCR engine · Apache License 2.0 tesseract-ocr.github.io · 3 Oct 2026

Compared on OCR API software

Free plan
Yestesseract-ocr.github.io
Structure extraction
Yestesseract-ocr.github.io
SDK languages
C, C++tesseract-ocr.github.io

Facts

What it does
Tesseract is an open source OCR engine that extracts printed text from images.tesseract-ocr.github.io · 2 Oct 2026
How to use it
It can be used from the command line or through an API, and the project does not include a GUI application.github.com · 2 Oct 2026
Recognition engine
Tesseract 4 added an LSTM neural-network engine for line recognition while retaining the legacy engine.github.com · 2 Oct 2026
Languages
The project says Tesseract can recognize more than 100 languages out of the box.github.com · 2 Oct 2026
Output formats
Supported output formats include plain text, hOCR, PDF, TSV, ALTO, and PAGE.github.com · 2 Oct 2026
Image formats
Supported input formats include PNG, JPEG, TIFF, JPEG 2000, GIF, WebP, BMP, and PNM.tesseract-ocr.github.io · 2 Oct 2026
PDF limitation
Tesseract cannot read PDF files directly; its documentation suggests converting them or using OCRmyPDF, and says PDF is supported as an output format.tesseract-ocr.github.io · 2 Oct 2026
Integrations
The project documentation lists language wrappers including Python, Java, Swift, Flutter, Ruby, Rust, and Go.tesseract-ocr.github.io · 2 Oct 2026
Platforms
The manual says Tesseract can be compiled for targets including Android and iPhone; the project also lists Linux, macOS, and Windows GUI projects using Tesseract.tesseract-ocr.github.io · 2 Oct 2026
License
Tesseract is distributed under the Apache License 2.0.github.com · 2 Oct 2026
Security updates
The repository security policy lists version 5.5.x as supported and versions below 5.5 as unsupported.github.com · 2 Oct 2026
Support
The project directs users to its documentation, FAQ, forums, past issues, and mailing lists for support.github.com · 2 Oct 2026
Downloads
Tesseract is included in most Linux distributions, and the downloads page says there is no official Windows installer for newer versions.tesseract-ocr.github.io · 2 Oct 2026
Purpose
Tesseract is an open source text recognition (OCR) engine for extracting printed text from images.tesseract-ocr.github.io · 3 Oct 2026
Recognition
It supports Unicode UTF-8 and recognizes more than 100 languages out of the box.github.com · 3 Oct 2026
OCR engines
Tesseract 4 introduced an LSTM neural network engine focused on line recognition and retained the legacy character-pattern engine.github.com · 3 Oct 2026
Input formats
It supports image formats including PNG, JPEG and TIFF.github.com · 3 Oct 2026
Interfaces
The package includes the libtesseract OCR engine and a tesseract command line program, and developers can use its C or C++ API.github.com · 3 Oct 2026
Language bindings
The project documentation lists wrappers for languages including Python, Java, Ruby, Rust, R, Node.js and Go.tesseract-ocr.github.io · 3 Oct 2026
Deployment
The manual links to source compilation and Docker container instructions.tesseract-ocr.github.io · 3 Oct 2026
Security and license
The repository code is licensed under Apache License 2.0 and is provided without warranties or conditions, and the README notes that dependencies may have different licenses.github.com · 3 Oct 2026
Notable limitation
The project does not include a GUI application, and the README says image quality may need improvement for better OCR results.github.com · 3 Oct 2026
Training
Tesseract can be trained to recognize other languages, while the manual says the old tesstrain.sh training approach is unsupported and abandoned for version 5.tesseract-ocr.github.io · 3 Oct 2026
History
Tesseract was developed at Hewlett-Packard, open sourced by HP in 2005, and developed by Google from 2006 to August 2017.github.com · 3 Oct 2026

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Where it ranks on Specifiction

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