rclone
Focus: cloud sync, backup and file transfer. Shares command line and open source with OCRmyPDF. Same 4.7 rating.
Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.7Visit
Desktop App
OCRmyPDF
A command-line tool that makes scanned PDFs searchable with OCR.
Rating
4.7 / 5
Pricing
Free
Difficulty
Advanced
Works on
macOS, Windows, Linux
Built with love by Shushant Lakhyani. Building bestproductivityresources.com
What is OCRmyPDF?
OCRmyPDF is a free, open-source tool that adds a hidden text layer to scanned PDF files, so you can search, select and copy their text. It runs locally, supports more than 100 languages through Tesseract, straightens and cleans up pages and produces archive-ready PDF/A files.
Third-party open-source projects. We are not affiliated with their authors; repositories are provided as-is by their maintainers. Review each project's license, code and security before installing. See our Disclaimer.
Pros: what OCRmyPDF does well
- Makes scanned documents searchable
- Runs on your own computer
- Free and open source
Cons: where it falls short
- Command line only
- Needs Tesseract and other tools installed
Who OCRmyPDF is for
People and offices that scan paper documents and want to search them later.
Who can skip it
Anyone whose PDFs already have selectable text.
OCRmyPDF alternatives
Not sold on OCRmyPDF? These do a similar job, and each card says what it has in common.
aria2
Focus: downloads and bittorrent. Shares command line and open source with OCRmyPDF. Rated 4.5 (OCRmyPDF: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.5Visit
fzf
Focus: fuzzy finder and shell. Shares command line and open source with OCRmyPDF. Rated 4.8 (OCRmyPDF: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit
bat
Focus: file viewer and developer tool. Shares command line and open source with OCRmyPDF. Same 4.7 rating.
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.7Visit
chezmoi
Focus: dotfiles and config management. Shares command line and open source with OCRmyPDF. Same 4.7 rating.
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.7Visit
jq
Focus: json, data and filter. Shares command line and open source with OCRmyPDF. Same 4.7 rating.
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.7Visit
Free alternatives to OCRmyPDF
Want to spend nothing? These free picks cover similar ground.
zoxide
Focus: terminal, navigation and shell. Shares command line and open source with OCRmyPDF. Same 4.7 rating.
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.7Visit
direnv
Focus: environment variables, shell and projects. Shares command line and open source with OCRmyPDF. Rated 4.6 (OCRmyPDF: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.6Visit
fish shell
Focus: terminal, shell and autocomplete. Shares command line and open source with OCRmyPDF. Rated 4.6 (OCRmyPDF: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.6Visit
Gum
Focus: shell scripts and terminal ui. Shares command line and open source with OCRmyPDF. Rated 4.6 (OCRmyPDF: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit
Nushell
Focus: shell and data pipelines. Shares command line and open source with OCRmyPDF. Rated 4.6 (OCRmyPDF: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit
Task
Focus: task runner, automation and build tool. Shares command line and open source with OCRmyPDF. Rated 4.6 (OCRmyPDF: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit
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