Document Processing Technology Selection Guide
Data-driven guidance for CTOs and CIOs evaluating OCR and document understanding vendors. Based on benchmark results across 58+ models and multiple datasets.
58+
Models Evaluated
146
Benchmark Datasets
1,519
Research Papers
6
Production Vendors
Executive Summary
Key Decision Points
- ▸Privacy vs Convenience: On-premise solutions (PaddleOCR, Tesseract) offer zero data transmission but require infrastructure expertise. Cloud APIs trade convenience for data control.
- ▸Volume Economics: Break-even at ~100k pages/month. Below: cloud APIs. Above: self-hosted saves $50k-200k annually.
- ▸Accuracy Plateau: Modern solutions (Azure, PaddleOCR, Mistral) are 89-95% accurate. Remaining 5-10% requires human review regardless of vendor.
- ▸Table Extraction Tax: Structured data extraction (invoices, forms) costs 10-40x more than simple OCR. Budget accordingly.
- ▸New Entrant Alert: Mistral OCR offers 95% accuracy at $1/1k pages (vs $1.50 incumbents), but lacks enterprise track record.
Best Cost Efficiency
Mistral OCR
$1/1k pages, 95% accuracy
Best Enterprise Choice
Azure Document Intelligence
89-92% accuracy, custom training
Best Privacy/Control
PaddleOCR
Self-hosted, 90-95% accuracy
Vendor Deep Dive
Google Document AI
Accuracy
83-89%
Pricing
$1.50 per 1,000 pages
Strengths
- +Enterprise SLA available
- +Prebuilt processors (invoices, receipts, forms)
- +Entity extraction included
- +Strong table recognition
- +Multi-language support
Weaknesses
- -GCP ecosystem lock-in
- -Complex pricing tiers
- -Data residency concerns
- -No on-premise option
Best For
Enterprise deployments, Google Cloud users, Regulated industries with GCP compliance
Azure Document Intelligence
Accuracy
89-92%
Pricing
$1.50 per 1,000 pages
Strengths
- +Best-in-class accuracy
- +Custom model training
- +Azure integration
- +Hybrid deployment options
- +Strong compliance certifications
Weaknesses
- -Azure ecosystem lock-in
- -Setup complexity
- -Custom training learning curve
- -Higher cost for custom models
Best For
Microsoft stack users, Custom model requirements, Hybrid cloud deployments
AWS Textract
Accuracy
85-90%
Pricing
$1.50-$65 per 1,000 pages
Strengths
- +AWS ecosystem integration
- +Serverless scaling
- +Pay-per-use model
- +Identity document support
- +Well-documented APIs
Weaknesses
- -Most expensive for analysis
- -AWS lock-in
- -Limited custom training
- -Pricing complexity
Best For
AWS-native applications, Identity verification, Serverless architectures
Mistral OCR
Accuracy
94.9% (claimed)
Pricing
$1 per 1,000 pages with batch
Strengths
- +Lowest cost per page
- +Math/equation support
- +Multilingual out of box
- +Fast processing
- +Modern API
Weaknesses
- -No table export to structured format
- -Cloud only, no on-premise
- -Limited enterprise SLA
- -Newer, less proven at scale
Best For
Cost-sensitive deployments, Academic documents, High-volume processing
PaddleOCR
Accuracy
90-95%
Pricing
Free (Apache 2.0)
Strengths
- +Zero licensing cost
- +Full data control
- +Multilingual (80+ languages)
- +Active development
- +Good documentation
Weaknesses
- -Requires infrastructure management
- -Complex table extraction
- -Model deployment complexity
- -No commercial support
Best For
Privacy-critical applications, High-volume (>100k pages/month), Custom requirements
Tesseract
Accuracy
70-85%
Pricing
Free (Apache 2.0)
Strengths
- +Battle-tested (20+ years)
- +100+ languages
- +Low resource requirements
- +Widely supported
- +Extensive documentation
Weaknesses
- -Lower accuracy vs modern solutions
- -No layout analysis
- -Requires preprocessing
- -Poor on complex layouts
Best For
Legacy systems, Simple text extraction, Resource-constrained environments
Cost Analysis Framework
Cloud API Economics
Break-even Analysis
At 100k pages/month:
- Mistral OCR:$100/mo
- Azure/Google:$150/mo
- AWS Textract:$6,500/mo
- PaddleOCR (infra):~$2,000/mo
Self-Hosted Economics
Infrastructure Baseline
Monthly costs (PaddleOCR):
- GPU instances (2x):$1,200
- Storage/bandwidth:$200
- DevOps overhead:$600
- Total:$2,000/mo
Volume-Based Decision Point
Self-hosted solutions become cost-effective above 100k pages/month, saving $50k-200k annually at scale. Below 100k, cloud APIs offer better TCO when accounting for engineering overhead.
Under 100k pages/month
Cloud API (Mistral, Azure, Google)
Over 100k pages/month
Self-hosted (PaddleOCR)
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Last updated: December 2025 |Back to all guides