Python
olmOCR
Turn PDFs into clean training-grade text
by allenai · Apache-2.0
Document AI & OCROCR pipelineApache-2.0Runs locallyPythonIntermediate
From the README
Install
pip install olmocr
- Convert PDF, PNG, and JPEG based documents into clean Markdown
- Support for equations, tables, handwriting, and complex formatting
- Automatically removes headers and footers
- Convert into text with a natural reading order, even in the presence of
Excerpts from the project README on GitHub. Copyright and licensing remain with the respective authors.
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🚀 Latest release ·
What is olmOCR?
olmOCR from AI2 converts messy PDFs into clean linearised text at scale, preserving reading order across columns and figures.
Why people choose olmOCR
- Handles multi-column academic PDFs
- Built for very large batches
- Preserves correct reading order
olmOCR at a glance
| Category | Document AI & OCR |
| Type | OCR pipeline |
| License | Apache-2.0 |
| Runs locally | Yes |
| Built with | Python |
| Skill level | Intermediate |
| Best for | bulk PDF extraction for RAG or training |
Latest releases
Open-source alternatives to olmOCR
Other open-source document ai & ocr tools worth comparing:
MarkItDownTurn any office document into clean Markdown
MarkerConvert PDFs to clean Markdown fast
DoclingIBM-grade document understandingSuryaModern OCR with layout detection
PaddleOCRIndustrial OCR with tiny models
UnstructuredTurn any file into LLM-ready data
FirecrawlTurn websites into LLM-ready Markdown
Crawl4AIOpen-source LLM-friendly crawler
MinerUPDF to Markdown with formulas and tables
TesseractThe classic OCR engineolmOCR head-to-head
olmOCR vs MarkItDownolmOCR vs MarkerolmOCR vs DoclingolmOCR vs SuryaolmOCR vs PaddleOCRolmOCR vs UnstructuredolmOCR vs FirecrawlolmOCR vs Crawl4AIolmOCR vs MinerUolmOCR vs TesseractolmOCR vs PDF to MD ConverterolmOCR vs RemoveHandwritingolmOCR vs Transmonkey
FAQ
Is olmOCR free?
olmOCR is free and open-source (Apache-2.0 license), so you can use, self-host and modify it at no cost.
Can I run olmOCR locally?
Yes. olmOCR is designed to run on your own machine or server, keeping your data private.
What is the best alternative to olmOCR?
Popular open-source alternatives include MarkItDown, Marker, Docling. See the comparisons above to choose.
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