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PaddleOCR vs MarkItDown: catalog facts
PaddleOCR	MarkItDown
Free Free and open source under the Apache licence.	Free Free and open source under the MIT licence.
Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line	Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line
Parses layout, tables and formulas, not just lines of text Outputs JSON and Markdown ready for downstream processing	Converts many formats, including Office files and PDF Preserves document structure such as tables and headings
Built on the PaddlePaddle framework, which is a large dependency Much of the documentation and community is in Chinese	Output is aimed at LLMs, not high-fidelity conversion Accesses whatever the running process can reach, so inputs need care
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: Apache-2.0	License: MIT
Not stated if an account is needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 22, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 24, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.