Surya vs 
Unstructured
Surya vs Unstructured compared for 2026 — features, license, ease of use, performance and which one to choose. Modern OCR with layout detection vs Turn any file into LLM-ready data.
Updated regularly · curated by OpenSourceAI.tech
Surya vs Unstructured at a glance
| Spec | Surya | Unstructured |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Document AI & OCR | Document AI & OCR |
| Type | OCR toolkit | ETL for documents |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Runs locally | Yes | Self-hosted |
| Primary language | Python | Python |
| Ease of use | Intermediate | Intermediate |
| Best for | developers who need OCR beyond plain text | teams ingesting many file types into one pipeline |
| GitHub stars | — | 15.1k |
How Surya and Unstructured score
| Criterion | Surya | Unstructured |
|---|---|---|
| Popularity | n/a | 3.5 |
| Maintenance | n/a | 5.0 |
| Ease of use | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| Privacy | 5.0 | 4.5 |
| License freedom | 3.5 | 5.0 |
Scores are computed automatically from public signals — GitHub stars (popularity), recent commit activity (maintenance), license type (freedom), local-first design (privacy) and onboarding complexity (ease of use). Indicative, not a verdict.
What each one is
Surya
Surya is a modern OCR toolkit providing text recognition in 90+ languages plus layout analysis, reading order and table detection.
- 90+ languages with strong accuracy
- Layout, reading order and table detection
- Runs locally on modest GPUs
Unstructured
Unstructured extracts and normalizes content from PDFs, HTML, Word, emails and more into clean elements ready for embedding and RAG ingestion.
- One API for dozens of file formats
- Chunking strategies designed for RAG
- Widely adopted in the LLM data stack
Key differences
Surya is oCR toolkit, while Unstructured is eTL for documents. Their licenses differ (GPL-3.0 vs Apache-2.0), which matters if you ship a commercial product. They also differ in how they run (Yes vs Self-hosted). In short, Surya fits developers who need OCR beyond plain text, and Unstructured fits teams ingesting many file types into one pipeline.
Which should you choose?
Choose Surya for developers who need OCR beyond plain text. Choose Unstructured for teams ingesting many file types into one pipeline.
There is rarely one winner — many setups use both. The right pick depends on your hardware, your team's skills, and whether you value simplicity or control.
Frequently asked questions
Is Surya or Unstructured easier to use?
Both sit at a similar level (Intermediate). Your choice should come down to fit rather than difficulty.
Are Surya and Unstructured free?
Surya is free and open source (GPL-3.0), and Unstructured is free and open source (Apache-2.0). Neither charges for the core software.
Can I run Surya and Unstructured locally?
Surya: yes · Unstructured: self-hosted. Both can be used without sending your data to a third-party cloud where their setup allows.
Surya vs Unstructured — which should I pick in 2026?
Choose Surya for developers who need OCR beyond plain text. Choose Unstructured for teams ingesting many file types into one pipeline.
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