NAPS2 vs PhotoScanner
NAPS2
naps2.com
PhotoScanner
photo-scanner.comSide by side
| Figure | NAPS2 | PhotoScanner |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 2 | 4 |
| Spec score · Photo Scanning Software | 8.6 (#5) | 8.1 (#14) |
| Editing | Users can reorder, interleave, rotate, crop, deskew, and adjust the brightness and contrast of scanned pages. | The built-in editor includes brightness, contrast, scratch removal, and color filters. |
| Mac requirements | The current release supports macOS 12 and later; version 7.5.3 is the last release for macOS 10.15 and 11. | The site lists macOS 14.6 or later and support for Intel and Apple Silicon. |
| Maker | The project identifies Ben Olden-Cooligan as its developer and copyright holder. | The maker's company is ALFA LINE ASSETS UG (haftungsbeschränkt), with a listed address in Berlin, Germany. |
| Purpose | NAPS2 is free, open source scanning software for scanning documents and saving them as PDF, TIFF, JPEG, or PNG. | PhotoScanner digitizes printed photos and albums on Mac using an iPhone or a connected scanner. |
| Security | Scanner sharing uses HTTPS with an automatically generated self-signed certificate by default, may fall back to HTTP, and can be configured to require HTTPS or use a custom certificate. | The privacy policy says data transfers use SSL or TLS encryption and that the company maintains security measures to protect data from third-party access. |
| Support | Users can file a support ticket and attach NAPS2 error logs to help diagnose a problem or report a bug. | Support is available by email at [email protected], with a stated typical response time of 24–48 hours. |
Plans
PhotoScanner
- AI-Credits Small Pack$1.99, paid once
- AI-Credits Medium Pack$7.99, paid once
- AI-Credits Big Pack$17.99, paid once
- Photo Scanner Lifetime$19.99, paid once
In their own words
NAPS2
NAPS2 is free, open-source software for scanning documents and saving them as PDF, TIFF, JPEG, or PNG. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, and supports WIA and TWAIN drivers with flatbed or automatic document feeder scanners, including duplex scanning. Users can reorder, interleave, rotate, crop, deskew, and adjust scanned pages’ brightness and contrast. OCR makes scans searchable, supports more than 100 languages, and can add text recognition to imported PDFs. NAPS2 can share scanners across a local network using ESCL, including with compatible Android and iPhone apps, but it must remain running on the server for sharing to work. It can send email through Gmail and Outlook, with the email address and secure sending token kept on the user’s computer and sent only to the relevant provider. Optional developer tools include a command-line interface for automation and a .NET scanning library. The free plan has no ads or restrictions, though OCR results cannot be saved directly to a text file.
PhotoScanner
PhotoScanner has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.