OCR technologies have made document-based processes so much easier for organizations. Instead of spending a tremendous amount of time typing information or copying and pasting it, now you can use a software tool to scan a document and extract the data inside with nearly perfect accuracy. While document parsing solutions can save you a great deal of time and money, getting started can be somewhat of a hurdle. You may have to try a few different tools before finding the one that best suits your needs and budget. If you are looking for an Amazon Textract Alternative, you might want to try this simple, no-code document parsing tool.
Why look for an Amazon Textract alternative?
If you have this question in mind, well, it is worth addressing. Is there something wrong with Amazon Textract? Not necessarily, but like any other software tool, it’s not the best match for everyone. It does certain things better than some other document parsing solutions and there are definitely many businesses and organizations that are happy with it. Its data extraction capabilities are impressive for the most part.
That being said, there are some limitations that may or may not be a deal breaker. For starters, you might find it difficult to use if you don’t know much about coding. Also, Textract is not available in every region, so not every organization in the world can use it.
So if you are looking for an Amazon Textract alternative that doesn’t require coding and has no region restrictions, there’s a good chance you’ll like Docparser.
Why you might want to try Docparser
You don’t need coding skills
To use Amazon Textract, there will be times when you need to copy/paste a code excerpt, or edit code to get the result you want. If you’re not tech-savvy, this can sound rather daunting, especially if you don’t have a developer in your team, or if they are often too busy to help you. So if you don’t want to dabble with coding to parse documents, you can still use a no-code solution like Docparser to extract data from documents without having to write or edit code.
Customize your document parser freely
Amazon Textract is essentially a machine learning service that extracts data from documents automatically. As such, it’s not entirely customizable and requires human review to achieve higher accuracy. The AI tries to identify and extract the relevant data fields on its own, and you review the results to improve the AI model. But when you upload a document, there is a chance Textract won’t be able to identify and extract custom fields, and it’s not guaranteed you’ll be able to add code to train the AI to extract them.
However, with Docparser you get to select every data field by outlining it, whether it’s a line item, block of text, or table.
Moreover, you can specify how a data field should be structured and/or formatted; for instance, it’s easy to :
- Change the date format
- Split or merge table columns
- Search and replace text
- Name column headers
- Etc.
Additionally, Docparser comes with pre-set templates that can automatically create data parsing rules for common use cases, and which you can further refine or add new rules to.
That being said, there are a few features that Amazon Textract has which Docparser doesn’t, such as handwriting recognition and signature recognition. So be sure to list your data extraction needs thoroughly to decide which solution is the best fit for you.
Send data to hundreds of cloud applications
Another feature that distinguishes Docparser from Amazon Textract is that, with the former, you can export extracted data to a cloud application of your choice via an outbound integration. For example, you can send data to Google Sheets, a CRM like Salesforce, or a third-party integration platform like Zapier which allows you to automate data-based tasks.
Amazon Textract, on the other hand, has integrations with other Amazon services, such as Amazon S3, Amazon Aurora, or Amazon DynamoDB. If you don’t use these services, you will probably find it difficult to move data to the cloud apps you use.
A different pricing model
Amazon Textract is often used by large organizations (like in healthcare) to parse high volumes of documents. And since the pricing model is based on usage, the cost of using Textract can be quite expensive in some cases. Depending on the size of your company or organization and the amount of documents you need to parse, you may or may not be able to afford Amazon Textract. Feel free to read about Textract’s pricing and use its pricing calculator to get an estimation of how much it would cost you to use it.
In case you want a more affordable (yet reliable) option, or if you don’t want surprises (read: bad surprises) when you receive a subscription invoice, Docparser has a flat-fee monthly or yearly subscription (with extra fees for add-ons or extra credits). You’ll always have a clear idea of how much you pay to use Docparser.
In Conclusion
Amazon Textract works great for some companies and organizations. It boasts advanced machine learning and OCR capabilities, however some users will start looking for alternatives once they encounter difficulties with coding, customizing the data extraction process, or exporting data to their systems.
Docparser is a solid Amazon Textract alternative for users who want a no-code tool with ample customizability and multiple integrations. If you’re interested in learning how to use Docparser to automate data entry and save time, read this page.
Thank you for reading!
