OCR tools are used by thousands of people every day. Some use them to copy text from images, while others use them to digitize documents and boost data entry processes. However, not all OCR tools are the same.
There was a time when a tool named imagetotext.info became very popular. The tool remained free for years. But as it held the first position on Google, free usage was limited, and the website has now started charging a fee. Still, there are many OCR tools available online that offer free, quality text extraction.
When we searched for free online OCR tools, two names that caught our eye were imagetotext.me and imagetotext.cc. Here, we compare both tools based on our testing and give our honest opinion.
Imagetotext.me – Image to Text Converter
When we searched the term ‘image to text converter’ on Google, Imagetotext.me appeared at the very top. It is a browser-based freemium tool that works completely online and gave us a good experience from the start. When we visited this web OCR tool, we found a simple interface.
We did not have to spend much time learning how it worked. You just open the tool and click the convert button. That’s it; you will get the text extracted that you can either copy or download as a file.
Features of Imagetotext.me
Imagetotext.me offers various features that make it an OCR tool meant to help people in some way. Here are the primary features we noticed upon analyzing this tool:
- Freemium tool. It has both a free and a paid version.
- Converts images in bulk. 5 at a time in the free version, while you can submit and convert 150 images with the business plan costing $15 per month.
- Fetch images from a public URL over the internet and convert them right away.
- Offers both simple OCR and Formatted OCR. Formatted OCR is available only in paid plans.
- Extracts text from images containing mathematical syntax and handwriting.
- Various download options, i.e., PDF, Docx, and TXT.
Our Testing of Imagetotext.me
We tested the OCR quality of Imagetotext.me with 5 different types of images containing different types of text, including:
- Mix of alphabets and numbers
- Handwriting
- Mathematical equations
- Mix of all
Our tests showed that Imagetotext.me handled all five image types well and extracted the text with high accuracy. It also preserved the text structure well when we downloaded the results as a PDF.
Overall, the tool converted the characters in the test images into digital text with good accuracy.
Imagetotext.cc – Image Text Extractor
We also found this OCR tool on the top page of Google search. The title of this tool really attracted us as it mentioned that users could convert 50 images at a time.
That sounded great.
But sadly, the limit changed when we opened the website.
After opening Imagetotext.cc, we saw information saying that users could convert 5 images at a time. This was already very different from the 50-image claim we saw in the search result.
So, checking 50 images at once was a clear clickbait.
Another clickbait was the formatted OCR feature. The formatted OCR option is available right in the input box in the free version. But when you try to select it, they immediately ask you to sign up for a plan.
To be clear, formatted OCR is available only in paid plans.
Yet, the paid plan does allow 50 image submissions at once for $5 per month. Also, you get formatted OCR in the paid plan.
Features of Imagetotext.cc
The features of imagetotext.cc are very similar to imagetotext.me.
- Performs bulk conversion
- Can convert handwriting
- Can convert mathematical equations
However, imagetotext.cc clearly lacks two features.
- It does not offer to extract text from an image URL. We found no URL submission option at the time of writing this article.
- The second feature of imagetotext.cc is the PDF download option. The free version only offers to download the text as TXT or DOCX.
Our Testing of Imagetotext.cc
We also tested the conversion quality of Imagetotext.cc using the same images we used for Imagetotext.me. This gave us a fair basis for comparing the two tools.
After testing, we downloaded the results as a TXT file, since there is no PDF option available. The results were quite good overall.
Imagetotext.cc produced some good results in our testing. One thing we liked was its ability to extract emojis, which Imagetotext.me did not do in our tests.
However, we also noticed a problem with handwritten text. The tool struggled to maintain the flow and structure of handwritten sentences.
Imagetotext.me vs Imagetotext.cc – Performance with Handwriting
When we tested both tools with the same handwritten image, we noticed differences in how they handled the text.
Imagetotext.me maintained most of the original sentence structure. However, Imagetotext.cc had various problems with handwritten text. In our test, it broke the sentence structure and misplaced some words.
Both tools need some improvement when processing handwriting. However, Imagetotext.me performed better than Imagetotext.cc in our comparison and maintained the text structure more accurately.
Imagetotext.me vs Imagetotext.cc – What’s Better
Based on our testing, Imagetotext.me is the better OCR tool. Both tools did a good job of extracting text. However, Imagetotext.me performed better with handwritten text. It also kept the sentence structure more accurate.
Imagetotext.me also offers some useful features that Imagetotext.cc lacks. For example, it can fetch images from a public URL. It also gives users more file download options.
There is also a clear difference in their paid plans. Imagetotext.cc allows users to submit up to 50 images at once with the paid plan. In comparison, the Business plan of Imagetotext.me allows up to 150 images per submission. So, users who regularly process large batches may find the higher limit more useful.
Therefore, we recommend Imagetotext.me as the better choice. It gave us better results, more useful features, and a higher bulk conversion limit for paid users.