Marker vs OCRmyPDF
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Marker
Convert PDFs and documents to Markdown with AI
VS
OCRmyPDF
Add a searchable OCR text layer to scanned PDFs
| Feature | Marker | OCRmyPDF |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Self-Hosted AI | Document Management |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 4,096 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 38,532 | ★ 34,391 |
| First released | 2023 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Adobe Acrobat | Adobe Acrobat |
Why pick each one
Choose Marker if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Mature project with 38.5k GitHub stars
- Written in Python
Frequently asked questions
Is Marker or OCRmyPDF better?
Neither is universally better. Marker has the larger community, while OCRmyPDF is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Marker and OCRmyPDF free and open-source?
Yes. Marker is licensed under GPL-3.0 and OCRmyPDF under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Marker and OCRmyPDF with Docker?
Marker: check the project docs for container support. OCRmyPDF: yes.