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Test scope & comparison notes
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Cross-task capability coverage across selected products
Each product is scored independently per task edge; switch tasks below while keeping shared products selected| Task edge | ocr.space | Smallpdf | Switch / compare |
|---|---|---|---|
| PDF to Word | Not tested in topic | 89/100 DOCX · Output attached | Compare in task topic → |
| PDF compression | Not tested in topic | 90/100 PDF · Output attached | Compare in task topic → |
| Scanned PDF OCR | 97/100 PDF · Output attached | 89/100 PDF · Output attached | Active task |
| PDF merge & split | Not tested in topic | 92/100 PDF · Output attached | Compare in task topic → |
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Browse this task →| Criterion | OCR.space Scanned PDF OCR 97/100 Seven-aspect task score OCR.space Scanned PDF OCR delivered outstanding benchmark results on the 2-page 150 DPI raster scan anchor, achieving a perfect 100.0% recall across headings and financial table cells while fully preserving page 2, exporting a 667.1 KB watermark-free searchable PDF in 9.01s server processing, earning an overall score of 97 (Capability 96 / Honesty 98). Tested export PDF · Output attached Historical test · 2026-11-02 | Smallpdf Scanned PDF OCR 89/100 Seven-aspect task score Unlocks free PDF OCR without login, completing server OCR in 10.41s to export a 689.4 KB 2-page searchable PDF via its PDFTron OCR engine; achieves 100% accuracy across all 12 confusable invoice table cells and body text while skipping the two white-on-navy top header banners (88.9% overall text recall). Tested export PDF · Output attached Historical test · 2026-10-25 |
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| Pricing & rules | ||
| Pricing plans | OCR.space free web tier, free API, PRO, and PRO PDF monthly subscriptions · 2026-10-31 Plan · source date Monthly / one-time Annual bill / period Quota & limits Free Plan (Web & API)2026-10-31 ↗ Free Free Free Web tool 5 MB file cap; API provides 25,000 calls/mo (1 MB file limit, 3 pages per PDF) Engine 2 & 3, receipt/table extraction, searchable PDF creation with watermark；API rate-limited to 500 requests/day per IP; searchable PDFs contain watermark PRO Plan (Monthly)2026-10-31 ↗ USD 30/month — Monthly 300,000 API requests/month, 5 MB file size limit, 3 pages per PDF Dedicated high-performance cluster, watermark-free searchable PDFs, 100% uptime SLA；Auto-renews monthly; 3 pages per PDF cap; longer documents require PRO PDF PRO PDF Plan (Monthly)2026-10-31 ↗ USD 60/month — Monthly 300,000 API requests/month, 100 MB+ file size limit, 999+ pages per PDF Fastest response, full multi-page PDF processing (999+ pp), watermark-free PDF, 100% SLA；Auto-renews monthly; cancellable anytime 3 plan / billing-period records, all listed; — means that period is not recorded. Free web OCR supports up to 5MB without login; free API tier includes 25,000 calls/mo (1MB, 3pp); PRO is $30/month (300k calls, 5MB); PRO PDF is $60/month (300k calls, 100MB+, 999+ pages). Cancellation, sources & verification recordCancellation and refund terms unverified OCR.space Plans & Pricing ↗ · 2026-10-31 Capture 1 ↗ | Smallpdf USD web individual and team plans; default 2-seat team bill · 2026-10-20 Plan · source date Monthly / one-time Annual bill / period Quota & limits Free2026-10-20 ↗ Free Free Free Daily downloads and file size are limited, without exact figures; PDF-to-Word OCR is a Pro feature. Pro2026-10-20 ↗ USD 15/month USD 120/year Monthly 1 user; unlimited document downloads; OCR and text editing. Annual 1 user; actual annual bill USD 120; unlimited downloads with OCR. Team · 2 seats2026-10-20 ↗ USD 24/month USD 192/year Monthly 2-seat total; USD 12/seat/month; supports 2–19 seats. Annual 2-seat annual total USD 192; shown equivalent USD 8/seat/month; supports 2–19 seats. 7 plan / billing-period records, all listed; — means that period is not recorded. Current USD web prices show actual annual bills. Team entries use the default 2-seat total and identify the per-seat rate. The free daily allowance is not quantified. Verification has gaps; unknown prices and quotas are not inferred. Cancellation, sources & verification recordFAQ says the trial can be cancelled without charge, reverting to Free at the end of 7 days. Paid refund details were not verified. Official feature and pricing page ↗ · 2026-10-20 Capture 1 ↗ Official feature and pricing page ↗ · 2026-10-20 Capture 1 ↗ Official feature and pricing page ↗ · 2026-10-20 Capture 1 ↗ |
| Free & trial allowance on the test date | Free web conversion up to 5MB without login; free API tier includes 25,000 calls/month | Free Daily Task Quota + Smallpdf Pro ($12/mo) |
| Cancellation & refunds | Not verified | FAQ says the trial can be cancelled without charge, reverting to Free at the end of 7 days. Paid refund details were not verified. |
| Disclosure of costs & limits | Web page publicly displays all engine options and output configurations | Options disclosed upfront with no post-OCR paywall trap |
| Task quality | ||
| Measured fixture results | OCR text recall: 100% · Table cell accuracy: 100% · Page 2 preserved: Yes | OCR text recall: 88.9% · Table cell accuracy: 100% · Page 2 preserved: Yes |
| Fixture findings | Injected invisible text streams across both pages (243 BT / 245 TJ operators) with 100% precision on table figures and page 2 verification codes. | Generated a 2-page searchable PDF (456 BT / 456 TJ text operators) with 12/12 invoice table cells, 2/2 body phrases, and the Page 2 verification token intact, skipping only the 2 dark-background white-text header banners (88.9% text recall). |
| Original historical observation | OCR.space processed the 644.4 KB 2-page raster PDF anchor (anchor_pdfocr_v1) via cloud Engine 2 in 9.01s with Searchable PDF mode enabled, achieving 100% recall on headings and financial table cells while fully preserving the page 2 verification code without watermarks (01_landing.png, 02_result.png, 03_download.png). | Generated a 2-page searchable PDF (456 BT / 456 TJ text operators) with 12/12 invoice table cells, 2/2 body phrases, and the Page 2 verification token intact, skipping only the 2 dark-background white-text header banners (88.9% text recall). |
| Suitable uses · historical assessment | Archivists, financial professionals, and researchers needing fast conversion of scanned PDFs into searchable PDFs or text extraction | Users needing to turn image-only scanned PDFs into Ctrl+F searchable PDFs with selectable invoice IDs and financial table figures |
| Result & output evidence | ||
| Delivery capabilities | ||
| Recorded export specifications | PDF · Output attached · No watermark in test | PDF · Output attached · No watermark in test |
| Historical specification note · not an official maximum | Full 2-page dual-layer searchable PDF (667.1 KB · 243 BT / 245 TJ · zero watermarks) | Full 2-page searchable PDF (689.4 KB · 456 BT / 456 TJ · watermark-free) |
| Watermark observation | None | Watermark-free |
| Batch & API | Not verified | Single-file OCR on free tier; batch processing per plan quota |
| Recorded free-tier dimensions | Not verified | Not verified |
| Attached file dimensions | Not verified | Not verified |
| Speed & reliability | ||
| Timing observation | Network-observed server wait: 9.01s · End-to-end reference: 10.96s | Network-observed server wait: 10.41s · End-to-end reference: 13.07s |
| Date & fixture | 2026-11-02 · anchor_pdfocr_v1 · US-West (California, AS2914) | 2026-10-25 · anchor_pdfocr_v1 · US-West (California, AS2914) |
| Repeated tests & reliability | No standardized repetition count, success rate or variability range is recorded. | No standardized repetition count, success rate or variability range is recorded. |
| Interaction experience | ||
| Account requirements | No login in this test | No login in this test |
| Sign-in methods | Direct web upload without login; instant free API key access | No Login Required |
| Manual adjustment | Not verified | Not verified |
| Interaction observations | Not verified | Automatically runs cloud OCR upon upload and presents an interactive 2-page selectable text preview with a clear Download button and zero ad popups. |
| Background & reputation | ||
| Service lifecycle notice | Not verified | Not verified |
| Operator | a9t9 software GmbH | Smallpdf AG |
| Recorded origin | Not verified | Zurich, Switzerland |
| Domain history record | Not verified | 2013–Present |
| Background & reputation assessment | Not verified | Operated in Zurich, Switzerland by Smallpdf AG since 2013 with ISO/IEC 27001 certification and GDPR compliance. |
| External reputation record | Not verified | Not verified |
| Engineering & privacy | ||
| Processing location | Uploaded for cloud processing | Uploaded for cloud processing |
| Third-party tracking record | Cloudflare · Stripe | No third-party services listed in this record; this is not proof that none exist. |
| Engineering & privacy assessment | Not verified | End-to-end TLS encryption with automatic 1-hour server file purge. |
| Retention statement | Explicit retention period unconfirmed; inspect policy record | Claims deletion within 1 hours; deletion not independently verified |
| Evaluation basis | ||
| Pricing transparency | 25 / 35 Now unlocks PDF OCR without login or trial sign-up (01_landing.png, 02_result.png, 03_download.png): uploading our 644.4 KB 2-page raster scan completes server OCR in 10.41s and downloads a 689.4 KB unwatermarked 2-page searchable PDF; free guests face daily task caps before Pro (~$12/mo). | |
| Interaction restraint | 26 / 30 Automatically runs cloud OCR upon upload and presents an interactive 2-page selectable text preview with a clear Download button and zero ad popups. | |
| Background & reputation | 19 / 20 Operated in Zurich, Switzerland by Smallpdf AG since 2013 with ISO/IEC 27001 certification and GDPR compliance. | |
| Engineering & privacy | ||
| Task quality | 65 / 65 OCR Text Recall: 100% · Financial Table Cell Accuracy: 100% (12/12) · Headings Recognized: 4/4 · Page 2 Preserved: Yes | 61.7 / 65 Deterministic searchable PDF stream & table inspection: reconstructs a 2-page selectable text layer (456 BT / 456 TJ operators) over the 644.4 KB zero-font raster scan, recovering 2/4 headings and 12/12 confusable invoice table cells (100% table accuracy, 88.9% overall text recall) with the Page 2 verification token intact (61.7/65) |
| Deliverable specifications | 20 / 20 Clean unwatermarked export (8/8); Export spec: Full 2-page dual-layer searchable PDF (667.1 KB · 243 BT / 245 TJ · zero watermarks) | 18 / 20 Exports a complete 2-page watermark-free searchable PDF (689.4 KB) without login (18/20) |
| Processing speed | 11 / 15 Network-observed server wait: 9.01s (API mode: sync_json_verified; network upload 0.1s / end-to-end 10.96s shown for reference only, never penalized) | 11 / 15 Upload took 1.34s and cloud OCR server processing completed in 10.41s (13.07s end-to-end) (11/15) |
