DocTable
ABBYY FineReader alternative — for getting tables out of scans into Excel
Updated October 2026
DocTable is a browser-based ABBYY FineReader alternative for one job: getting tables and fields out of scans, photos and PDFs into Excel, CSV or Word, with nothing to install and no yearly subscription. Your first 3 pages are free — scan and download, no card needed. After that, $3 buys 20 pages (one-time, no subscription). Try your first page without an account — sign in only to download it. It rebuilds real rows and columns, checks the arithmetic, and handles Arabic, Persian and mixed-script documents.
| Item | Description | Qty | Amount (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steel brackets, 40 mm | 200 | 96.00 |
| 2 | Hex bolts M8 | 500 | 45.00 |
| 3 | Freight | 1 | 30.00 |
ABBYY FineReader PDF and DocTable compared
| ABBYY FineReader PDF | DocTable | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Subscription: Standard $99/year or $16/month, Corporate $165/year, Mac $69/year; 7-day trial | One-time credits, 1 credit per page; first 3 pages free, download included |
| Platforms | Windows 11/10 (64-bit) and FineReader PDF for Mac; desktop install | Web browser on phone or computer; nothing to install |
| Document types | Any PDF or scan; also creates, edits and organizes PDFs and compares documents | Documents with tables or fields: invoices, statements, receipts, forms |
| Scans and photos | Yes — OCR in 198 recognition languages | Yes — every page read as an image |
| Output formats | DOC(X), XLS(X), PPTX, HTML, RTF, TXT, CSV, ODT and PDF | Excel, Word, CSV, JSON, text |
| API | FineReader Engine SDK (separate product) | REST API and MCP server (developers) |
ABBYY cells link to abbyy.com, checked October 2026.
Why people look for an ABBYY FineReader alternative
FineReader PDF is a full desktop PDF application: it installs on your desktop, edits and converts PDFs, and recognises 198 languages in all combinations. It is sold as a subscription — Standard at $99 a year or $16 a month, Corporate at $165 a year, and FineReader PDF for Mac at $69 a year — with a 7-day trial. If what you actually need is the table from a scanned invoice in a spreadsheet a few times a month, that is a lot of software to buy and install for one step.
What DocTable does differently
- Tables, not pages. DocTable finds the header row, data rows and columns and writes cells, rather than recreating the page layout in an editable document.
- No templates, no setup. A new layout works the first time.
- Arithmetic check. DocTable checks the arithmetic of the table it extracted — running balances, quantity × unit price, line items against the subtotal, subtotal + tax = total — and flags rows that do not add up in the preview and in the Excel file.
- Batches. Up to 100 files per upload and PDFs up to 500 pages; documents of the same kind are grouped into one Excel file.
- No install. Works in the browser on iPhone, Android, Mac and Windows.
When ABBYY FineReader is the better choice
Choose FineReader if you need to create, edit and organize PDFs, compare documents, work in one of its many recognition languages, or keep a desktop application your IT team installs and licenses. DocTable does none of those things, and it is an online service with no offline mode: DocTable holds an upload in memory, sends it over TLS to a third-party AI model provider for extraction, does not keep the original after processing and never uses it to train models; the downloaded spreadsheet is deleted on a timer measured in minutes (details on the security page). A Data Processing Agreement is available on request (business). DocTable has no offline or on-device mode.
Free and open-source options
Tesseract is an OCR engine and command-line program, licensed under Apache 2.0, that recognises more than 100 languages and outputs plain text, hOCR, PDF, TSV, ALTO and PAGE; it has no GUI and installs on Linux, macOS and Windows. OCRmyPDF (MPL-2.0; Linux, Windows, macOS, FreeBSD) adds an OCR text layer to scanned PDFs so they can be searched. Its own documentation notes that the generated PDF does not contain any information about the document's structure and that it cannot recognise handwriting. Neither project documents Excel or table output, so you would still rebuild the columns yourself.
What DocTable does not claim
No SOC 2 report, no guaranteed uptime SLA, no desktop app, no offline mode. Full detail on what DocTable does and does not do with your data is on the security page.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good ABBYY FineReader alternative?
For tables, DocTable: it turns scans, photos and PDFs into Excel, CSV or Word in the browser, with one-time credits instead of a yearly subscription. For editing PDFs or comparing documents, FineReader remains the better tool.
Is there a free ABBYY FineReader alternative?
Yes: Tesseract and OCRmyPDF are free and open source, but they produce text or searchable PDFs, not tables. DocTable's first 3 pages are free, scan and download, with no card; after that, $3 buys 20 pages (one-time, no subscription).
Is there an ABBYY FineReader alternative for Mac?
ABBYY itself sells FineReader PDF for Mac at $69 a year. DocTable runs in the browser on a Mac, with nothing to install, and returns Excel, CSV or Word.
Is there an ABBYY FineReader alternative for Linux?
ABBYY publishes no Linux version of FineReader PDF; its FineReader Engine SDK supports Linux for developers. Tesseract and OCRmyPDF run on Linux, and DocTable needs only a web browser.
Is there an open source ABBYY FineReader alternative?
Yes: Tesseract (Apache 2.0), an OCR engine with a command-line program, and OCRmyPDF (MPL-2.0), which adds a searchable text layer to scanned PDFs. Neither documents Excel or table output.
Does DocTable work offline like a desktop OCR app?
No. DocTable has no offline or on-device mode: an upload is held in memory and sent over TLS to a third-party AI model provider for extraction, and the original is not kept after processing.
Related pages
Temporary processing — files are not archived. Always verify OCR output before financial or legal use. Third-party product details were checked on each vendor's own pages in October 2026 and can change; follow the links for current terms.