# Operant vs PaddleOCR

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | Operant | PaddleOCR |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 39/100 | 85/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #169 of 209 in AI Agents | #1 of 4 in OCR |
| GitHub stars | 446 | 91 943 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +-1 | +502 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 1 | 7 ✓ |
| Latest release | desktop-candidate-2026-09-28-08e65ea · 28 Sept 2026 ✓ | v3.7.0 · 11 Jun 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | Other | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Python | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

PaddleOCR scores 85/100 against 39/100 for Operant, so it is the safer default.

PaddleOCR ships more often: 7 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for Operant.

If you want the quickest setup, PaddleOCR is easier to run; Operant needs more configuration.

PaddleOCR is growing faster right now (+502 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Operant](https://selfhost.directory/project/operant) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/operant.md)
- [PaddleOCR](https://selfhost.directory/project/paddleocr) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/paddleocr.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/operant-vs-paddleocr