Free Document Parsing and OCR APIs
Which document parsing, OCR and PDF-to-text APIs a startup can use for free today, how many pages the free allowance covers and whether it renews, whether a card is needed and what paid pages cost, read from each provider's own page.
Free allowances read on each provider's own pages, all checked on or after . Document AI providers change their free allowances often: confirm the terms on the provider's page before you build on one.
Document parsing and OCR APIs a startup can use for free today include LlamaParse (10K credits a month), Google Document AI (First 1,000 pages free (OCR)), Datalab ($20 a month (work email)), Azure AI Document Intelligence (500 pages a month (F0 tier)), and Unstructured (10,000 free pages to start). Each of the 13 free allowances below links to the provider's page that states it, with its main limit, whether the free pages renew, whether a card is needed and what paid pages cost.
AI products run on documents: contracts, invoices, research papers, slide decks. Document parsing APIs turn PDFs and office files into clean text and tables an LLM can use, and OCR services read scans and forms. Almost all of them give free pages to start.
The headline rarely tells you how far it goes. Free pages can renew every month or come once, cover plain OCR but not tables and forms, or cost more credits per page in a premium mode. Each API below shows what is free, its main limit, whether the free pages renew, whether a card is needed and what paid pages cost, quoted from the provider's own page with the date we read it.
Which APIs we picked and the order they appear in are our editorial choices; the terms are the providers'. Some of these providers pay us a referral commission when someone signs up through our link: those links are labeled, and they play no part in which APIs are listed or where.
Document parsing for AI and RAG with free pages
APIs that turn PDFs and office files into clean text and tables for LLMs, with free pages to start.
- 1
LlamaParse
Monthly free credits for RAG document parsing
The Free plan gives new users 10K credits a month, and they renew each month. The Starter plan is $50 a month for 40K credits.
- What's free
- 10K credits a month (source: llamaindex.ai)
Start free at LlamaIndexTerms read on llamaindex.ai on LlamaParse: the free allowance and how to start LlamaCloud Startup Program: what startups get - 2
Datalab
A monthly allowance across OCR, parsing and extraction
The Free plan has a $20 monthly allowance on a work email, drawn against the full hosted API. It resets each cycle and does not roll over.
- 3
Unstructured
10,000 pages to test a full document pipeline
New accounts get 10,000 free pages to start, with all features included. After that the page states $0.015 a page, and no card is required.
- Payment card
- No card required (source: unstructured.io)
Start free at UnstructuredTerms read on unstructured.io on Unstructured: the free allowance and how to start - 4
Reducto
Testing production document parsing and extraction
Standard includes $150 of free usage, then list rates apply: $10 per 1,000 pages for r-1 Parse. Standard has no page limits.
- What's free
- $150 of free usage (source: reducto.ai)
- 5
Chunkr
A small start for PDF and image parsing via API
New accounts start with 200 credits, at 1 credit per page. Pages processed with a VLM use 2x credits, and overage is $0.015 per credit.
- What's free
- 200 credits to start (source: chunkr.ai)
- 6
Extend
Parse and extract with 10,000 credits to start
Pay As You Go starts with 10,000 free credits, which is $100. Each additional credit is $0.01, and Light mode uses fewer credits per page.
OCR and document AI with a free allowance
OCR and form extraction from cloud and OCR vendors, with a free allowance.
- 1
Google Document AI
Free OCR pages each month on Google Cloud
The Enterprise Document OCR Processor is free for its first 1,000 pages in each billing cycle. Past that the page lists $1.50 per 1,000 pages.
Start free at Google CloudTerms read on cloud.google.com on Google Document AI: the free allowance and how to start - 2
Azure AI Document Intelligence
500 pages a month to test every feature
The F0 free tier gives 500 pages a month, and it lets you test all Document Intelligence features. Beyond that the service is pay as you go.
Start free at MicrosoftTerms read on azure.microsoft.com on Azure AI Document Intelligence: the free allowance and how to start - 3
Amazon Textract
New AWS accounts reading scanned text and forms
New AWS customers can analyze 1,000 pages a month with Detect Document Text for three months. Forms and tables get 100 pages a month.
Start free at Amazon Web ServicesTerms read on aws.amazon.com on Amazon Textract: the free allowance and how to start - 4
OCR.space
Simple image and PDF OCR with a free API key
The free plan gives 25,000 requests a month, with a limit of 500 requests a day per IP address. PRO starts at $30 a month.
- What's free
- 25,000 requests a month (source: ocr.space)
- Paid pages
- PRO from $30 a month (source: ocr.space)
- 5
Nanonets
Document workflows across invoices and forms
Every account starts with $50 in free credits and no card. Then the plan is $100 a month for 100 credits.
- Payment card
- No card needed (source: nanonets.com)
- 6
Docparser
Pulling data out of statements and forms with templates
A 14-day trial with no credit card required. Each parsing credit covers one document of up to 5 pages.
- What's free
- 14-day free trial (source: docparser.com)
- Payment card
- No card needed (source: docparser.com)
Start free at DocparserTerms read on docparser.com on Docparser: the free allowance and how to start - 7
Mindee
Testing the full API before choosing a credit plan
A 14-day free trial, and every plan includes the full Mindee API. Plans are priced in credits, from 6,000 on Starter.
- What's free
- 14-day free trial (source: mindee.com)
AI startup programs
Programs from AI companies that give startups credits on paid usage.
Also useful for founders
Referral links, picked for fit and ordered by fit (70%) and what a signup earns us (30%), at no cost to you. They never change this page's ranking.
How this comparison is built
The list covers document parsing, OCR and document AI services a founder can use for free today without applying to a program. The order and the "best for" notes are our editorial reading of each API's terms. Every term comes from the API's own pricing or help page on the date shown, never from a third-party list; follow each link for the full conditions. Whether free pages renew or come once, and which document types they cover, can matter more than the headline, so the comparison quotes them wherever the provider states them. Some of these APIs pay StartupPerks a referral commission, and their links are labeled as referral links; that decides neither whether nor where a API appears, and no API pays for a placement on this page.
Read the full methodologyCommon questions
What is the best free document parsing API?
It depends on volume and whether you need pages every month. By the terms each provider states, LlamaParse includes 10K credits a month, Google Document AI the first 1,000 OCR pages each month and Azure AI Document Intelligence 500 pages a month, while Unstructured gives 10,000 free pages once and Reducto $150 of free usage.
Is LlamaParse free?
Yes. LlamaParse's free plan includes 10K credits a month, renewing every month, with up to 5 concurrent parse jobs. Starter costs $50 a month.
Which free OCR API gives the most pages?
OCR.space's free plan allows 25,000 requests a month (500 a day per IP), Amazon Textract gives new AWS customers 1,000 pages a month for 3 months, and Google Document AI the first 1,000 OCR pages each billing cycle.
Do free document parsing credits renew?
Some do: LlamaParse's and Datalab's allowances reset each month, and Google's, Azure's and OCR.space's free pages are monthly. Unstructured, Reducto, Extend and Nanonets give their free credits once.
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