# PaddleOCR vs whisper-asr-webservice

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

| | PaddleOCR | whisper-asr-webservice |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 85/100 ✓ | 62/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 4 in OCR | #3 of 6 in Transcription |
| GitHub stars | 91 864 ✓ | 3 367 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +423 ✓ | +24 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 8 ✓ | 1 |
| Latest release | v3.7.0 · 11 Jun 2026 | v1.10.0 · 9 Aug 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Main language | Python | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

PaddleOCR scores 85/100 against 62/100 for whisper-asr-webservice, so it is the safer default.

PaddleOCR ships more often: 8 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for whisper-asr-webservice.

If you want the quickest setup, whisper-asr-webservice is easier to run; PaddleOCR needs more configuration.

PaddleOCR is growing faster right now (+423 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [PaddleOCR](https://selfhost.directory/project/paddleocr) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/paddleocr.md)
- [whisper-asr-webservice](https://selfhost.directory/project/whisper-asr-webservice) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/whisper-asr-webservice.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/paddleocr-vs-whisper-asr-webservice