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Head-to-head · OCR API Software

PaddleOCR vs Surya

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 4 checks side by side
Higher score PaddleOCR #1 in OCR API Software 9.1/10 Free plan ✓ 4 of 4 features Visit PaddleOCR
Surya #8 in OCR API Software 7.8/10 Open source ✓ 0 of 4 features Visit Surya

PaddleOCR leads on 0 checks, Surya on 0, and 4 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 4 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scorePaddleOCR · 9.1/10
  • Most featuresPaddleOCR · 4 of 4

PaddleOCR scores higher on our rubric for ocr api software: 9.1 against 7.8 out of 10; our editors rank them #1 and #8.

PaddleOCR is the better fit for open-source document AI pipelines. Surya is the better fit for open-source layout-aware OCR.

  • PaddleOCR fits best

    Open-source document AI pipelines

  • Surya fits best

    Open-source layout-aware OCR

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Side by side

Feature PaddleOCR 9.1/10 Visit ↗ Surya 7.8/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 9.1 7.8
Ranking #1 in OCR API Software #8 in OCR API Software
Best for Open-source document AI pipelines Open-source layout-aware OCR
Pricing model Free Free
Starting price Free plan Open source
Free plan Not checked yet Not checked yet
Free trial — —
Deployment Cloud, Self-hosted Self-hosted, Desktop
Support Community, Docs Community
Built for Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise Solo, Small business, Mid-market
Features PaddleOCR 4/4 · Surya 0/4
Structure extraction ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Handwriting OCR ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Table extraction ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Asynchronous processing ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Specs
Maximum file size Not checked yet Not checked yet
SDK languages Python, TypeScript, Go Not checked yet
Our review
Pros
  • Parses document structure, tables, formulas, charts, and handwriting
  • Supports local inference, self-hosted serving, and hosted API processing
  • Returns structured JSON and Markdown with multilingual OCR models
  • Processes images and PDFs with structured HTML output
  • Adds layout, reading-order, table, and OCR error analysis
  • Supports 91 languages with local inference options
Cons
  • Requires developer effort to deploy and integrate into applications
  • Primarily targets technical teams rather than nontechnical users
  • Deployment choices add complexity across local, self-hosted, and hosted modes
  • Platform coverage centers on Linux, macOS, and self-hosting
  • Integration coverage is narrower than broader OCR platforms
  • It is a package and model, not a conventional hosted SaaS product
Our verdict

PaddleOCR is an open-source toolkit for converting images and PDF documents into text and structured data. It is designed for developers building document-processing and AI application workflows, especially teams that want control over…

Read the review →

Surya is an open-source OCR model and document-analysis toolkit from Datalab for developers and teams that need local processing of images and PDFs. It combines full-page OCR with structured HTML output, document layout analysis,…

Read the review →
  1. PaddleOCROCR API Software 9.1Free plan
  2. SuryaOCR API Software 7.8Open source

Strengths and trade-offs

  • PaddleOCR — where it wins

    • Parses document structure, tables, formulas, charts, and handwriting
    • Supports local inference, self-hosted serving, and hosted API processing
    • Returns structured JSON and Markdown with multilingual OCR models

    Where it doesn't

    • Requires developer effort to deploy and integrate into applications
    • Primarily targets technical teams rather than nontechnical users
    • Deployment choices add complexity across local, self-hosted, and hosted modes

  • Surya — where it wins

    • Processes images and PDFs with structured HTML output
    • Adds layout, reading-order, table, and OCR error analysis
    • Supports 91 languages with local inference options

    Where it doesn't

    • Platform coverage centers on Linux, macOS, and self-hosting
    • Integration coverage is narrower than broader OCR platforms
    • It is a package and model, not a conventional hosted SaaS product

More comparisons

All OCR API software comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update