Gotenberg vs OCRmyPDF
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted document management options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Gotenberg
API for converting documents to PDF
VS
OCRmyPDF
Add a searchable OCR text layer to scanned PDFs
| Feature | Gotenberg | OCRmyPDF |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Document Management | Document Management |
| License | MIT | MPL-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 12,808 | ★ 34,391 |
| First released | 2019 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Adobe PDF Services | Adobe Acrobat |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Gotenberg or OCRmyPDF better?
Neither is universally better. OCRmyPDF has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Gotenberg and OCRmyPDF free and open-source?
Yes. Gotenberg is licensed under MIT and OCRmyPDF under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Gotenberg and OCRmyPDF with Docker?
Gotenberg: yes. OCRmyPDF: yes.