* * * FREE OCR API * * *
A Free OCR API (With Honest Fine Print).
PennyOCR's free tier: 100 pages every month, forever, no credit card — full-quality VLM OCR with markdown tables, same engine as paid. If you need more free volume than that, we'll even point you at the alternatives, because informed users come back.
START FREE — 100 PAGES
$0.75 / 1,000 PAGES
1,333 PAGES PER DOLLAR · NO CREDIT CARD
01 / TRY IT
ONE ENDPOINT.
POST a file, get JSON back — the extracted text, per page and joined. PDF, PNG, JPEG, WebP or TIFF.
curl https://api.pennyocr.com/v1/ocr \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $PENNYOCR_API_KEY" \
-F "file=@receipt.jpg"
# $0.75 per 1,000 pages, first 100 free02 / USE CASES
THE FREE LANDSCAPE, HONESTLY.
PENNYOCR FREE
100 pages/month, markdown with tables, handwriting, MCP + OpenAI-compatible endpoints. Then $0.75/1k prepaid.
OCR.SPACE FREE
25,000 requests/month free with a 1MB file cap — classic-engine quality (no table structure, weak handwriting). Great for hobby volume with clean images.
TESSERACT
Unlimited and local, if you bring the compute and the preprocessing patience.
THE HONEST RULE
Pick by document difficulty: clean print at volume → free classic engines; photos, receipts, tables → a VLM tier like ours.
03 / PRICE CHECK
HALF THE PRICE OF THE BIG CLOUDS.
Per 1,000 pages, public list prices, first tier.
PENNYOCR$0.75
AWS TEXTRACT$1.50
GOOGLE CLOUD VISION$1.50
AZURE DOC INTELLIGENCE$1.50
YOU KEEP50%
IS THE FREE TIER FULL QUALITY?
Identical engine, identical output to paid. The only limits are volume (100/month) and standard request caps.
DO I NEED A CARD?
No. Email code → key → curl. Cards only enter when you buy prepaid credits.
WHAT HAPPENS AT PAGE 101?
A clean 402 with a link — never a surprise charge, because there's no card to charge. Buy a $7.50 pack (10,000 pages, never expires) when you're ready.
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