OCRmyPDF vs PaddleOCR
Short answer
OCRmyPDF: Command-line tool and Docker image that adds a searchable OCR text layer to scanned PDFs, with a watched-folder service. PaddleOCR: OCR toolkit and document AI engine that turns scans, images and PDFs into LLM-ready text, Markdown or JSON. Both are in our Document processing category.
Choose PaddleOCR if you want: fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Copyleft (GPL)) and larger community (92.1k vs 35.2k GitHub stars).
OCRmyPDF and PaddleOCR publish no official RAM figure, so we cannot compare hosting cost directly.
Last updated · computed from each project's official docs and live GitHub data · sources
OCRmyPDF vs PaddleOCR side by side
| OCRmyPDF | PaddleOCR | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Document processing | Document processing |
| What it is | Command-line tool and Docker image that adds a searchable OCR text layer to scanned PDFs, with a watched-folder service. | OCR toolkit and document AI engine that turns scans, images and PDFs into LLM-ready text, Markdown or JSON. |
| License | MPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| License type | Copyleft (GPL) | Permissive |
| License conditions | Free for internal and commercial use. MPL-2.0 is file-level copyleft: if you distribute modified OCRmyPDF files, you must release those files' source under MPL-2.0. The demo web service is AGPL-3.0, and Ghostscript, which OCRmyPDF can use, is AGPL-licensed. | Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep license and notices. |
| Status | Active | Active |
| GitHub stars | 35.2k | 92.1k |
| Last commit | Oct 25, 2026 | Sep 16, 2026 |
| Latest release | v17.13.0 | v3.7.0 |
| Minimum hardware | Not published | Not published |
| Recommended hardware | Not published | Not published |
| RAM measured by us | Not tested yet | Not tested yet |
| GPU | No. Tesseract runs on CPU; the optional EasyOCR plugin is the one that recommends a GPU. | Optional. The server uses a GPU by default if available, otherwise the CPU. |
| Est. server cost | Not estimated | Not estimated |
| Deploy method | Docker (watched-folder service) | pip + PaddleX serving (HTTP API) |
| Known gotchas | 4 listed | 4 listed |
| Telemetry | Not documented | Not documented |
| Calls home by default | Not documented | Not documented |
| SSO (OIDC / SAML / LDAP) | Not applicable | Not documented |
| Audit log | Not documented | Not documented |
| RBAC | Not documented | Not documented |
| Details | Full OCRmyPDF guide → | Full PaddleOCR guide → |
Key differences
- License: OCRmyPDF: MPL-2.0 (Copyleft (GPL)). PaddleOCR: Apache-2.0 (Permissive).
- Deploy: OCRmyPDF: Docker (watched-folder service) · single container. PaddleOCR: pip + PaddleX serving (HTTP API) · pip + PaddleX serving (HTTP API).
- GitHub stars: OCRmyPDF: 35.2k. PaddleOCR: 92.1k.
- Last commit: OCRmyPDF: Oct 25, 2026. PaddleOCR: Sep 16, 2026.
- Latest release: OCRmyPDF: v17.13.0 (Sep 28, 2026). PaddleOCR: v3.7.0 (Jun 11, 2026).
Same for both: Category: Document processing; Official hardware: not published; GPU: optional / see notes; Est. server cost: not estimated (no official RAM figure); Status: Active.
OCRmyPDF vs PaddleOCR: FAQ
OCRmyPDF or PaddleOCR: which should a small business choose?
Choose PaddleOCR if you want: fewer license conditions (Permissive vs Copyleft (GPL)) and larger community (92.1k vs 35.2k GitHub stars). OCRmyPDF and PaddleOCR publish no official RAM figure, so we cannot compare hosting cost directly.
Which is cheaper to self-host, OCRmyPDF or PaddleOCR?
OCRmyPDF: not estimated (no official RAM figure). PaddleOCR: not estimated (no official RAM figure). Our estimate is the cheapest Hetzner Cloud plan that meets each project's official RAM and vCPU figure; it covers the server only.
How much hardware do OCRmyPDF and PaddleOCR need?
OCRmyPDF: not published. PaddleOCR: not published.
What is the license difference between OCRmyPDF and PaddleOCR?
OCRmyPDF: MPL-2.0 (Copyleft (GPL)). Free for internal and commercial use. MPL-2.0 is file-level copyleft: if you distribute modified OCRmyPDF files, you must release those files' source under MPL-2.0. The demo web service is AGPL-3.0, and Ghostscript, which OCRmyPDF can use, is AGPL-licensed. PaddleOCR: Apache-2.0 (Permissive). Permissive. Internal and commercial use allowed; keep license and notices. This is a summary, not legal advice.
Is OCRmyPDF or PaddleOCR more actively maintained?
OCRmyPDF: Active, last commit Oct 25, 2026. PaddleOCR: Active, last commit Sep 16, 2026. GitHub data refreshed Nov 1, 2026.
Which is easier to deploy, OCRmyPDF or PaddleOCR?
OCRmyPDF installs via Docker (watched-folder service) (single container); PaddleOCR via pip + PaddleX serving (HTTP API) (pip + PaddleX serving (HTTP API)). OCRmyPDF lists 4 known gotchas and PaddleOCR lists 4; see each app page.
Related
- OCRmyPDF self-hosting guide · PaddleOCR self-hosting guide
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- PaddleOCR vs Paperless-ngx
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- Add a third app in the interactive comparison
Sources
- OCRmyPDF GitHub repository: github.com/ocrmypdf/OCRmyPDF
- OCRmyPDF documentation: ocrmypdf.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
- OCRmyPDF license: github.com/ocrmypdf/OCRmyPDF/blob/main/LICENSE
- OCRmyPDF hardware requirements: ocrmypdf.readthedocs.io/en/latest/performance.html
- OCRmyPDF deploy instructions: ocrmypdf.readthedocs.io/en/latest/batch.html
- PaddleOCR GitHub repository: github.com/PaddlePaddle/PaddleOCR
- PaddleOCR documentation: www.paddleocr.ai/
- PaddleOCR license: github.com/PaddlePaddle/PaddleOCR/blob/main/LICENSE
- PaddleOCR hardware requirements, PaddleOCR deploy instructions: www.paddleocr.ai/latest/en/version3.x/inference_deployment/serving/serving.html
- Hetzner Cloud pricing used for cost estimates (read 2026-10-25): www.hetzner.com/cloud/regular-performance
- GitHub REST API (stars, commits, releases): docs.github.com/en/rest
Every value is generated from the same verified data as the app pages. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.