This page presents a comparative analysis of Arkindex versus the two other main document processing platforms: Transkribus and eScriptorium.
Document processing features
Arkindex is notable for its comprehensive document processing capabilities, encompassing a wide range of features such as text recognition, custom layout analysis, table and form recognition, document classification, entity recognition and key-value extraction. eScriptorium specializes in automated text recognition with a strong emphasis on handwritten texts. Transkribus also focuses on text recognition but extends its functionality to include table recognition.
| Arkindex | Transkribus | eScriptorium | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary focus | Comprehensive document processing (Classification, Structure analysis, Text recognition, Entity recognition) | Automated text recognition, particularly for handwritten texts | Text recognition (printed and handwritten), Table recognition |
| Text recognition | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Text line detection | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Table detection and recognition | ✅ | ✅ | 🛑 |
| Form recognition | ✅ | ✅ | 🛑 |
| Page classification | ✅ | 🛑 | 🛑 |
| Custom stucture recognition | ✅ | 🛑 | 🛑 |
| Named-entity recognition | ✅ | 🛑 | 🛑 |
| Key-value extraction | ✅ | 🛑 | 🛑 |
Openness
Arkindex is distinguished by its commitment to openness. As an open-source software, it empowers users to inspect, modify, and enhance the software according to their specific needs. Self-hosting is an option with Arkindex, providing users the freedom to maintain their own instances of the platform on private servers. This is particularly beneficial for institutions with strict data governance policies and also for reducing the price when processing a very large number of documents. Full API access allows for seamless integration of Arkindex into larger systems and workflows, offering unparalleled flexibility. Furthermore, users have the option to export trained models and run them independently using open-source libraries. This allows them to leverage the knowledge gained from one project and apply it to another. Finally, the integration of custom algorithms is permitted, empowering users to tailor document processing to their unique requirements.
| Arkindex | Transkribus | eScriptorium | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open-source | ✅ | 🛑 | ✅ |
| Self-hosting | ✅ | 🛑 | ✅ |
| API access | Full access | Limited to upload and processing | Limited |
| Export of trained models | ✅ | 🛑 | ✅ |
| Integration of custom algorithms | ✅ | 🛑 | 🛑 |