ScanMole review
A free, open-source Linux scanner for OCR, duplex batches, and archival PDFs.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Nov 2026
ScanMole is an open-source document-scanning tool for Linux, designed for office and archival paperwork such as letters, invoices, contracts, receipts, and records. It combines a command-line scanning engine with defined exit codes and JSON events and a GTK4/libadwaita desktop interface. Flatbed and ADF workflows are supported, including duplex batch scanning, making it suitable for users who want either scripted processing or a graphical scanning experience.
Its strongest area is the document-processing workflow. ScanMole can detect page sizes, crop pages, deskew scans, remove blank pages, and add OCR text layers for searchable PDFs. It also produces PDF/A archival output. Scanner connectivity is handled through SANE and driverless eSCL, while the wider workflow integrates with sane-airscan, ocrmypdf, and Tesseract. These features give Linux administrators, archivists, and technically minded office users a practical path from physical documents to searchable or archival files.
The product has a focused scope rather than broad device coverage. Linux is the documented platform, and the category specifications identify scanner support, batch scanning, searchable PDFs, and PDF/PDF/A export, but not camera capture. Its open-source model and free availability fit users who value inspectable software and command-line automation. Choose ScanMole when Linux compatibility, OCR, duplex ADF processing, and archival PDF output are the priorities. Users who need camera-based capture, a non-Linux desktop, or built-in AI features should consider a different scanning tool.
Questions about ScanMole
What does ScanMole run on? Linux. It runs self-hosted and as a desktop app.
What does ScanMole integrate with? 4 integrations: SANE, sane-airscan, ocrmypdf and Tesseract.
Who is ScanMole built for? Solo users and small businesses (our editorial estimate).
ScanMole pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Duplex ADF batch scanning with blank-page removal
- OCR text layers for searchable PDF and PDF/A output
- CLI, GTK4 GUI, SANE, and driverless eSCL support
- Where it doesn't
- Linux is the only documented platform
- No camera-capture workflow
- No built-in AI features
ScanMole fact sheet, pricing and score →
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