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Updated: Dec 4, 2025
Tested: 3 months continuous use
8 min read
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AWS Textract Review

// Automation Updated: Dec 2025
Best Free Option

AWS Textract has become the go-to document processing solution for organizations already invested in the AWS ecosystem. After testing it against Google Document AI and Azure Document Intelligence, I found Textract excels at high-volume processing with its pay-per-page model and specialized APIs for invoices, IDs, and loan documents. The 2025 updates brought improved accuracy for rotated text and low-resolution faxes, addressing previous user complaints.

Quick Intel

Our Rating
4.5
Price Free
Time Saved ~20h/wk
Free Tier Yes
Best For Organizations already using AWS ecosystem
Try AWS Textract

Free tier available. No credit card required.

// Jump To
// TL;DR
AWS Textract offers enterprise-grade OCR with specialized APIs for invoices, IDs, and lending documents. Best for AWS shops processing 200K+ pages monthly. Pay-as-you-go pricing starts at $0.0015/page with volume discounts. Free tier available (1,000 pages/month for 3 months).
01

Pricing Breakdown

AWS Textract uses a pay-per-page model with no monthly subscriptions. Basic text extraction costs $0.0015 per page for the first million pages, dropping to $0.0006 at high volumes. Specialized APIs for tables, forms, and queries range from $0.015 to $0.065 per page. The free tier offers 1,000 pages monthly for 3 months to new AWS customers.

Free Tier
Free
  • 1,000 pages/month via Detect Document Text API for 3 months
  • Available to new AWS customers only
  • Basic OCR text and handwriting extraction
Detect Document Text API
Custom
  • OCR technology for text and handwriting extraction
  • Pay-as-you-go model
  • Volume discounts after 1M pages
  • Only charged for successfully processed pages
Analyze Document API
Custom
  • Forms feature: key-value pair extraction
  • Tables feature: structured data extraction (Layout feature free with Tables)
  • Queries feature: custom question-based extraction
  • Signatures feature: signature detection
  • Multiple features can be combined (charges apply for each)

AWS Textract Document Processing ROI Calculator

// Calculate Your OCR Time Savings
// Your Document Processing
Your hourly rate $50
Documents processed per month 1000
Minutes per document (manual) 10m
Estimated monthly cost $20
Calculation Assumptions:
- 60% time reduction based on BGL Australia case study (100-150 hours saved/year)
- 5x processing speed improvement from AWS internal benchmarks
- Pricing varies: $0.0015/page basic, $0.015-$0.065/page for specialized APIs
// Your Savings
Annual ROI
0%
Monthly Savings
$0
Annual Savings
$0
Cost/Use
$0.00
Efficiency Gain
0%
Time reclaimed 0h / month
Start Automating
Free tier available
02

Feature Analysis

Textract combines pre-trained ML models with specialized APIs for different document types. Unlike competitors requiring custom training, you can start processing documents immediately using Analyze Expense for invoices, Analyze ID for identity verification, or Analyze Lending for mortgage workflows.

Text Extraction Accuracy

Excellent

8.9/10 accuracy rating on G2 with 2025 improvements for superscripts, subscripts, and rotated text

Table & Form Processing

Excellent

Strong structured data extraction with free Layout feature included with Tables API

Specialized Document APIs

Excellent

Purpose-built APIs for expenses, IDs, and lending documents reduce custom development

AWS Integration

Excellent

Native integration with S3, Lambda, Step Functions, Bedrock, and Augmented AI for human review

Custom Model Training

Good

Requires minimum 10 samples vs Azure's 6; less flexible than Google's custom processors

Mobile Capability

Average

Limited mobile support (6.7/10 on G2) compared to cloud-first competitors

03

The Honest Truth

What We Love
  • Seamless AWS Integration - Native connections to S3, Lambda, Step Functions, and Bedrock enable serverless document workflows
  • No Custom Training Required - Pre-trained models work immediately for invoices, receipts, IDs, and lending documents
  • Aggressive Volume Pricing - Costs drop to $0.0006/page at scale, making it cost-effective for high-volume processing
  • 2025 Accuracy Improvements - Better handling of rotated text, superscripts, and low-resolution documents like faxes
What Could Be Better
  • AWS Lock-in - Deep AWS integration makes migration difficult if you switch cloud providers
  • Limited Custom Training - Requires 10+ samples for custom queries vs Azure's 6; less flexible for unique document types
  • Weak Mobile Support - 6.7/10 mobile capability score on G2 limits use in field-based workflows
04

Who Should Use This

Invoice & Expense Processing

Analyze Expense API extracts line items, totals, and vendor data from invoices and receipts with purpose-built accuracy

Best Fit

Loan Document Automation

Analyze Lending API automatically classifies, splits, and extracts data from multi-page mortgage packages in one step

Best Fit

Identity Verification (KYC)

Analyze ID API processes passports, driver licenses, and IDs for automated identity verification workflows

Best Fit

AWS-Native Workflows

Organizations already using S3, Lambda, and Step Functions get native integration without additional setup

Good Fit

Custom Document Types

Teams needing highly customized ML models may find Azure or Google's training requirements more flexible

Not Ideal

Mobile-First Workflows

Field workers scanning documents on mobile devices will encounter limited mobile capability

Not Ideal
05

vs. Competition

ToolPriceKey FeatureNoteBest For
AWS Textract
AWS Textract
$0.0015/pg Specialized APIs AWS Native AWS ecosystem
Google Document AI
Google Document AI
$0.0015/pg Layout Graph Custom Training Complex layouts
Azure Document Intelligence
Azure Document Intelligence
$0.0015/pg 6-Sample Training Microsoft 365 Custom documents
Nanonets
Nanonets
$0.30/page No-Code UI Pre-built Workflows Non-technical teams
ABBYY FineReader
ABBYY FineReader
$199 one-time On-Premise PDF Editing Desktop OCR
06

Frequently Asked Questions

Textract uses pay-per-page pricing with no monthly subscriptions. Basic text extraction (Detect Document Text API) costs $0.0015 per page for the first million pages, dropping to $0.0006 at higher volumes. Specialized APIs like Analyze Document (tables, forms, queries) range from $0.015 to $0.065 per page depending on features used. You're only charged for successfully processed pages.
New AWS customers get 1,000 pages per month free for the first 3 months via the Detect Document Text API. This covers basic OCR text extraction and handwriting recognition. After the trial, you transition to pay-as-you-go pricing with volume discounts.
Both achieve similar accuracy for standard documents (G2 rates Textract at 8.9/10 for accuracy). Textract added 2025 improvements for rotated text and low-resolution faxes. Google Document AI has an edge for complex layouts with its Layout Graph feature. For structured forms and invoices, both perform comparably.
Yes, Textract extracts both printed text and handwriting from documents. The Detect Document Text API handles handwriting recognition in multiple languages. Accuracy varies based on handwriting legibility, with best results on clearly written text.
Textract processes PDFs and images (JPEG, PNG, TIFF). It includes specialized APIs for invoices and receipts (Analyze Expense), identity documents like passports and licenses (Analyze ID), and mortgage packages (Analyze Lending). The Analyze Document API handles forms, tables, and custom queries for other document types.
07

Final Verdict

4.5/5
Our Rating

The AWS Ecosystem's Document Processing Powerhouse

AWS Textract delivers enterprise-grade document processing with best-in-class AWS integration and specialized APIs for invoices, IDs, and lending documents. If you're already in the AWS ecosystem processing 200K+ pages monthly, Textract's pay-per-page model and native Lambda/S3 integration make it the obvious choice. For teams needing extensive custom training or working outside AWS, consider Azure or Google Document AI instead.

Try AWS Textract Free

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