OCR.space
Free and paid OCR API that turns images and PDFs into JSON text (and searchable PDFs), including a receipt/table line-by-line mode you can wire into your own bookkeeping tools.
Best for
Developers and DIY automators who need cheap text from images and PDFs, including a receipt/table line mode they will parse themselves.
Not ideal if
Anyone who needs expense reports, approvals, reimbursements, cards, or one-click QuickBooks Online / Xero posting.
Standout
A genuinely useful free OCR API (25,000 Engine 1/2 conversions/month) plus receipt/table line mode and EU-privacy positioning.
About OCR.space
OCR.space is a hosted OCR API and free online OCR form from a9t9 software GmbH (Heidelberg / Walldorf, Germany). It is not an expense app, not a corporate card product, and not a ledger. You send an image or PDF (upload, URL, or Base64). The API returns extracted text as JSON. Optional switches add word overlays, searchable PDF output, orientation detection, scaling for low-DPI scans, and a receipt/table mode (isTable=true) that returns text line by line. Engine 3 can return tables as Markdown and handles handwriting and 200+ languages better than Engines 1/2, with separate monthly quotas.
It does not create expense reports, run approvals, reimburse employees, or post journals by itself. Taggun returns structured receipt fields. Dext, Expensify, and Zoho Expense handle capture into books-ready workflows. ABUKAI returns finished Excel/PDF expense reports. OCR.space is cheap OCR fuel when you (or your integrator) will parse merchant, date, and amount yourself.
Bookkeepers and small-business owners usually meet it as a free web form for a one-off text dump, a free API key in a script, or a PRO / PRO PDF plan when volume, file size, multi-page PDFs, or uptime matter. Closing the books still happens in QuickBooks, Xero, or whatever you already use.
What people who used it say
What they tend to like
Zero-friction free tier
Fast signup and a helloworld test key for prototypes.
What they hesitate about
You still have to parse fields yourself
isTable=true gives ordered text lines, not merchant/date/total JSON keys.
How it hits your books
- Replaces your ledger
- No
- QuickBooks Online
- No
- Xero
- No
- Multi-entity
- No
- Inventory
- No
- 1099s
- No
- Payroll
- No
Ledger impact is none out of the box. You copy totals, parse JSON into CSV/API posts, or embed OCR.space behind another product.
There is no CPA package. You hand off whatever file your own pipeline produces.
Images
Features
REST OCR API (images + multi-page PDFs)
POST to /parse/image (or GET /parse/ImageUrl for URL-only tests). Inputs: file upload, remote URL, or Base64. Output: JSON with ParsedText, optional word coordinates, and optional searchable-PDF download link.
Three OCR engines (pick per call)
Engine 1 is deprecated. Engine 2 is the default with language auto-detect. Engine 3 is the highest accuracy path for handwriting, checkboxes, Markdown tables, and 200+ languages, with a separate monthly quota and no searchable PDF yet.
Receipt / table line-by-line mode
API isTable=true forces line-by-line text order suited to receipts, invoices, and table-like layouts. This returns text lines, not a finished merchant/date/total schema. You still parse fields in your own code.
Searchable PDF creation
isCreateSearchablePdf returns a download link (valid about one hour). Free-tier PDFs carry an OCR.space watermark; PRO removes it. Engine 3 currently ignores searchable-PDF parameters.
Privacy-first processing (vendor claims)
Vendor privacy policy and FAQ: uploaded files and extracted text are deleted after processing; payment data is handled by FastSpring. Homepage and about copy state OCR servers in the EU / GDPR framing.
Free online OCR form + Local / Custom options
Interactive web OCR (no registration) for manual uploads. Custom dedicated OCR servers start from US$999/month per API docs. OCR.space Local is an on-premise install with the same API surface as PRO PDF.
Pricing
Free key is $0 with conversion and file-size caps. PRO is $30/month; PRO PDF is $60/month; Custom starts from $999/month. Prefer the official ocr.space/ocrapi table over older FastSpring list prices.
Free
Prototypes and light production. Free commercial use allowed; no uptime SLA.
- 25,000 Engine 1/2 conversions/month
- 1 MB API file size; 3 PDF pages
- 500 requests/day per IP
- Engine 3: +2,500/month
- Searchable PDF with watermark
PRO
Higher volume and uptime. Yearly prepay lists 20% off.
- 300,000 Engine 1/2 conversions/month
- 5 MB file size; 3 PDF pages
- 100% uptime SLA or money back
- Engine 3: +30,000/month
- Searchable PDF without watermark
PRO PDF
Long PDFs and larger files. Same Engine 1/2 conversion pool framing as PRO.
- 300,000 Engine 1/2 conversions/month
- 100 MB+ file size
- 999+ PDF pages
- Searchable PDF
Enterprise / Custom
Dedicated or fine-tuned servers. OCR.space Local is a separate contact / one-time path.
- Custom or unlimited by hardware
- 100 MB+ files
- Dedicated / fine-tuned servers
Platforms
Audience
Pick something else instead of OCR.space
Taggun
Pick Taggun instead if you need a receipt OCR API that returns structured receipt fields.
Dext
Pick Dext instead if you want bookkeeper-grade capture, coding, and QuickBooks Online / Xero publish.
Expensify
Pick Expensify instead if employees need snap-and-go expense capture without writing parsers.
ABUKAI
Pick ABUKAI instead if you want finished Excel/PDF expense reports from receipt photos.