# PaddleOCR vs windmill

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

| | PaddleOCR | windmill |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 85/100 ✓ | 77/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 4 in OCR | #6 of 32 in Workflow Automation |
| GitHub stars | 91 868 ✓ | 18 307 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +427 ✓ | +287 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 8 | 163 ✓ |
| Latest release | v3.7.0 · 11 Jun 2026 | v1.853.0 · 28 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Other |
| Main language | Python | Rust |

## Which one should you pick?

PaddleOCR scores 85/100 against 77/100 for windmill, so it is the safer default.

windmill ships more often: 163 stable releases in the past year, against 8 for PaddleOCR.

## Details

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

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