OCR apps for Mac
To extract text from images or scanned PDFs on a Mac, the apps below document OCR on macOS. Compare whether they recognize Chinese, work offline, keep processing on the device, and what the OCR costs.
Conditions checked
- macOS
- OCR
Before you choose
OCR quality depends on the image and language; this guide hasn't measured accuracy. OCR can be limited to a paid tier.
Documented conditions compared
Each cell reflects the catalog's current qualified sources for this platform. Not documented means unknown, not unsupported. Notes and sources are on each app below.
| App | OCR · Chinese | Works offline | Local processing | Free |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABBYY FineReader PDF | Documented | Not documented | Not documented | Subscription |
| NAPS2 | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented | Documented |
| PDF Expert | Documented | Not documented | Not documented | One-time purchase · Subscription · Free, important features paid |
| PDF Reader Pro | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| PDFgear | Not documented | Documented | Documented | Documented |
| Prizmo | Not documented | Not documented | Documented | Subscription · One-time purchase |
| Sejda PDF | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented | Free, important features paid · Subscription |
| TextSniper | Documented | Not documented | Not documented | One-time purchase |
Products with evidence for these conditions
Listed alphabetically, with no paid placement. Inclusion establishes these documented conditions, not a hands-on endorsement or a guarantee of fit.
PDFgear
macOS
macOS · OCR · Works offline · Local processing · Free
- Most editing tools; AI features and online services need a connection.
- Files are processed on the device; the optional AI features and online services connect to the internet.
Prizmo
macOS
macOS · OCR · Local processing
- Built-in OCR only; Cloud OCR sends images to Microsoft.
- For Cloud OCR.
Sources for the apps above were checked on 2026-09-12.
Common questions
Can these apps recognize Chinese text?
Only where the source lists Chinese among the OCR languages; the table shows Simplified Chinese. Traditional Chinese is recorded separately.
Is OCR included in the free version?
Not always. Some apps keep OCR in a paid tier. The table and each card show what the sources record as paid.
More guides
- Offline transcription with local processing on Mac
- Free batch file renaming on Windows
- Mac archive utilities without a subscription
- PNG compression in a web browser
- Document scanning apps for iOS
- Batch file renaming on Mac
- Duplicate file finders for Windows
- Duplicate file finders for Mac
- Screenshot tools for Mac
- Screenshot tools for Windows
- Chinese transcription on Mac
- Chinese transcription in a web browser
- Convert HEIC photos on Windows
- Annotate PDFs on Mac without a subscription
- Online transcription with speaker labels
- Free image converters for Windows
- Merge PDFs on Mac