NAPS2 vs ScanMole
NAPS2
naps2.comScanMole
github.comSide by side
| Figure | NAPS2 | ScanMole |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 0 |
| Spec score · Document Scanning Software | 8.6 (#3) | 6.8 (#24) |
| Linux requirements | Linux builds require GTK 3.20+, glibc and libsane; the site lists modern Ubuntu, Debian, Mint and Fedora versions. | The project supports Debian 13 or later and Ubuntu 24.04 or later, and lists Fedora installation instructions. |
| Maker | The project identifies Ben Olden-Cooligan as its developer and copyright holder. | The repository says ScanMole was created and is maintained by foundata; its copyright notice names foundata GmbH. |
| Purpose | NAPS2 is free, open source scanning software for scanning documents and saving them as PDF, TIFF, JPEG, or PNG. | ScanMole scans office and archival paperwork into searchable PDFs and is designed for documents rather than photo or image scanning. |
| Scanner support | It supports WIA and TWAIN drivers and can scan from a flatbed or automatic document feeder, including duplex scanning. | ScanMole works with scanners supported by SANE, including driverless eSCL devices through sane-airscan. |
| Support | Users can file a support ticket and attach NAPS2 error logs to help diagnose a problem or report a bug. | The project directs users to its contributing guide to report scanner problems and device quirks. |
Plans
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.