OCRmyPDF review

OCRmyPDF does one thing: it adds a recognized text layer to scanned PDFs so they can be searched and copied, and it does it for free. The project uses the open source Tesseract engine, which covers more than 100 languages through language packs, and you can combine languages in one run, for example English plus French. By default it writes PDF/A, the archival format some courts require, and it can deskew, clean and rotate pages before recognition. It spreads work across all CPU cores and often outputs files smaller than the input, according to the README. The catch is that it is a command line program that needs Python, Ghostscript and Tesseract installed, so it suits technical users, scripts and servers rather than someone who wants to retype a paragraph. The MPL-2.0 license permits commercial use.

Who it is for

technical users who batch OCR for free

Price

Free and open source under MPL-2.0.

The OCRmyPDF software is licensed under the Mozilla Public License 2.0 (MPL-2.0).
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 11, 2026.

Key features

• Adds an OCR text layer to scanned PDFs so they can be searched or copy-pasted
• Uses the Tesseract engine to recognize more than 100 languages
• Produces PDF/A archival files by default
• Deskews and cleans pages before OCR and fixes misrotated pages
• Distributes work across all available CPU cores

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: Free under MPL-2.0, including commercial use
• Strength: Runs on Linux, macOS, Windows and FreeBSD
• Strength: Often produces files smaller than the input, per the project
• Weakness: Command line only, with no editing interface
• Weakness: Requires separate installs of Ghostscript and Tesseract
• Weakness: Adds a searchable layer rather than letting you edit the page text

Key facts

• Price: Free, MPL-2.0
• OCR engine: Tesseract
• Default output: PDF/A

Where it ranks

OCRmyPDF is No. 10 in our Best PDF OCR Software verdict.