Best data capture tools in 2024

Data capture tools are transforming information management for many organizations. This technology enhances data accuracy, streamlines processes, and enables intelligent data processing for better decision-making.

With real-time data insights, businesses across healthcare, finance, retail, logistics, etc., are unlocking the value of complex information.

With many data capture tools available on the market, the challenge lies in selecting the ideal solution that aligns with your business needs.

If you're on a quest to optimize your data management and embrace a more data-driven approach, here are some outstanding tools that deserve consideration.

Let's delve into the world of data capture and explore the top solutions to propel your business into a more digitally empowered future.

Paid data capture tools

A data capture tool automatically extracts and converts data from various sources, like physical documents and digital content, into a structured, machine-readable format. 

While these tools have traditionally used OCR, today’s platforms are backed by AI and ML technologies to process and organize large volumes of unstructured documents.

Here’s a list of the top 10 paid data capture tools:

1. Docsumo

Docsumo is a document AI software with intelligent OCR technology that helps you convert unstructured documents such as pay stubs, invoices and bank statements into actionable data. 

Top features

• Pre-trained API stack 
• Auto-classify documents
• Data capture from structured, semi-structured, and unstructured documents
• Automatic data categorization
• AI-based OCR 
• Real-time data validation
• Industry-agnostic solution
• Workflow automation
• Pay-as-you-go

Pricing

Growth - Starts from $500/month (Ideal for start-ups and businesses that need to automate one or two document types)

Business - Custom pricing (Perfect for businesses that need to capture specific data points from documents and train on their data)

Enterprise - Custom pricing (Ideal for enterprises that need to process multiple document types, train on their data, and implement custom workflows)

Pros

• Efficient data extraction
• User-friendly interface
• Customizability
• Document classification
• Excellent customer support
• Data accuracy
• Touchless processing
• Versatility

Cons

Learning curve

2. ABBYY FlexiCapture

ABBYY FlexiCapture is a comprehensive document capture and data extraction solution that combines NLP, machine learning, and advanced recognition technologies. 

It manages the entire document processing workflow, from acquisition to delivery. 

Top features

• AI-powered OCR
• Advanced document classification
• Out-of-the-box invoice, receipt, and PO processing
• Image enhancement and quality control
• NLP
• Barcode recognition
• An extensive code samples library

Pricing

Upon request

Pros

• Best OCR performance and accuracy
• A rich understanding of images and documents
• Effortless integration and deployment
• Intelligently processes all types of documents

Cons

• Steep learning curve for initial setup
• Needs scaling to handle a broader range of tables and labels
• The server can be slow at times 

3.  Kofax Capture

Kofax Capture is an enterprise-level document capture and data extraction software solution. It creates digital images from documents received via multiple sources, such as mobile, email, MFPs, web, fax, and scanners. 

Top features

• Integrates with any system - includes over 140 connectors to various line-of-business applications, ECM, ERP, BPM, and workflow solutions
• Customizable without scripting
• Flexible API
• Intelligently cleans, rotates, crops, and straightens documents before data extraction
• Automatic learning
• Device integration
• Supports over 300 models of multifunction printers

Pricing

Upon request

Pros

• Effectively handles document issues like skew, flipping, wrinkles, lines, and dots
• Strong capabilities in table extraction, line-item matching, and intelligent data extraction
• Well-suited for batch scanning requirements

Cons

• Complex and time-consuming initial setup and configuration process
• UI needs improvement

4. Ephesoft Transact

Transact is an industry-leading intelligent document processing solution that automates the processing of documents entering an organization daily. It supports a range of use cases through advanced AI-powered OCR and supervised machine learning classification.

Top features

• Provides AI and machine learning tools to accelerate data analysis
• Matches AP invoices with POs, contracts, or payments
• Includes workflows for approvals and invoice processing
• Complies with local and global tax regulations
• Seamlessly integrates with accounting, financial management software, payment gateways, etc.
• Offers audit features to detect and prevent duplicate payments and vendor checks
• Supports DOC, XLS, PPT, PDF, JPG, and more
• Processes data from unstructured and semi-structured data sources
• Offers image enhancement features before processing

Pricing

Flexible pricing, with options for cloud or on-premises deployments, starts at 120,000 pages/year and includes annual subscriptions and consumption-based choices.

Pros

• High adaptability 
• Can process many file types
• Processes large document volumes with minimal manual input
• Quick and flexible implementation
• Efficient handling of incoming mail and task automation
• Excellent transparency in processes
• Reduced operational costs

Cons

• Challenging UI
• Steep learning curve
• Slower speed

5. Kofax ReadSoft Invoices

Kofax ReadSoft Invoices addresses the challenges of late payments, lost invoices, and a lack of visibility. It offers an automated invoice processing solution that enhances internal processes and strengthens supplier relationships.

Top features

• Adaptable knowledge database
• Business system integration
• Purchase order matching
• Auto-sorting
• Line-item data capture

Pros

• Seamless integration
• Meets compliance standards
• Scalable
• User-friendly

Cons

• Difficulty with non-standard fonts
• Some features lack intuitiveness and there can be delays in system response
• Strict template requirements

6. Rossum

Rossum is a software company specializing in document processing automation, specifically invoice and data extraction. It reduces the manual effort and time required to process and extract data from documents, improving accuracy and efficiency. 

Top features

• AI/Machine learning
• API
• Approval process control
• Auto extraction
• Batch processing
• Configurable workflow
• Document classification
• Duplicate payment alert
• Reporting/Analytics

Pricing

Upon request

Pros

• User-friendly interface
• High data recognition accuracy
• Easy integration with other systems
• Customizable to meet specific needs
• Fast and responsive support
• Adaptability to unique requirements
• Powerful OCR technology with a 91% success rate

Cons

• Challenges with documents that are rotated or partially rotated
• Some learning curve involved in effectively using the platform

7. Grooper

Grooper is an enterprise data integration and document processing software platform. It is designed to assist organizations in capturing, processing, and managing large volumes of unstructured data from various sources.

Top features

• Document capture
• Image processing
• OCR
• Document management
• Document classification
• NLP
• Data integration tools
• Transparent AI

Pricing

Upon request

Pros

• User-friendly and quick batch processing
• Quick and efficient scanning
• Versatile and customizable for various use cases
• Excellent data recognition and extraction capabilities
• Valuable in automating document processing and increasing accuracy

Cons

• Occasionally gets hung up on larger scans
• Processing time can be slow for specific use cases
• Transition and setup can be complex for certain organizations

8. Nintex RPA

Nintex is a Robotic Process Automation (RPA) software and business process automation platform. It is designed to help organizations automate and streamline their business processes using "bots" to perform repetitive and rule-based tasks. 

Top features

• 24/7 virtual workforces
• Attended automation
• Automated triggers
• Visual recognition technology
• IMR and OCR capabilities
• Pre-built templates
• Custom automation
• Collaboration

Pricing

Pro

Best for getting started with your first automation project

Starting at $25,000 USD /year

Premium

Best for department-wide automation solutions

Starting at $50,000 USD /year

Custom

Organization-wide automation solutions to tackle sophisticated business challenges

Personalized pricing

Pros

• Adaptable and efficient functionality
• Accurate robotic technology 
• Versatile and suitable for various work areas
• Simple design and integration capabilities with third-party applications
• Competitive pricing

Cons

• Potential improvement with the addition of an AI module
• Some users may face difficulties with looping steps and data extraction from Excel

9. Formstack

Formstack is an online form builder and data collection platform that allows businesses and individuals to create and manage digital forms for various purposes. It provides an intuitive and user-friendly interface for creating forms, surveys, and landing pages without requiring extensive coding or technical skills. 

Top features

• Drag and drop for online form-building
• Conditional logic for forms based on user input
• Electronic signatures capture 
• Automates data flow and sync with critical business systems
• Security Features: HIPAA and GDPR compliant

Pricing

Drag and drop form builder - $50/month

Document automation - $92/month

E-signatures - $18/month

Suite - $66/month

Custom - upon request

Pros

• Easy to use and navigate
• Provides a variety of options and tools for creating forms and applications
• Offers customizable email notifications for real-time updates
• Stores an ongoing repository of records
• Suitable for both internal workflows and external surveys and forms

Cons

• Integration issues 
• Form appearance customization could improve
• Complex logic and workflows can be challenging to set up

10. Docparser

Docparser is a data extraction and document automation platform that allows businesses to streamline their document processing workflows. It primarily extracts data from various documents, such as invoices, purchase orders, contracts, and more.

Top features

• No-code data extraction
• Parse any document format, including PDFs, scanned images, and more
• Integration via REST API
• Document-specific filters
• Workflow automation
• Version control
• Multi-layout parsers

Pricing

14-day free trial

Starter - $30/month

Professional - $61/month

Business - $13/month

Enterprise - upon request

Pros

• Fast turnaround time
• Can create custom parsing rules
• Seamless data transfer with other tools
• Easy to use
• Well-documented API
• Flexible
• 100% cloud-based

Cons

UI to create parsing rules that could be more intuitive

11. ScrapingBee

ScrapingBee is a powerful web scraping API that facilitates data extraction from various websites. With its user-friendly interface and robust features, ScrapingBee allows users to gather valuable information from the web efficiently.

Top features

• JavaScript rendering for dynamic content
• IP rotation to avoid blocking
• CAPTCHA solving
• Customizable request headers
• Proxy support
• Data export in various formats (JSON, CSV, Excel)
• Synchronous and asynchronous scraping options
• Real-time data extraction
• Dedicated customer support

Pricing

Pricing on Request

Pros

• Easy-to-use API
• Excellent support for JavaScript-rendered pages
• IP rotation for enhanced security
• Customizable request options
• Comprehensive documentation
• Regular updates and feature enhancements

Cons

• Limited features in the free trial
• Pricing may be a bit high for very small-scale projects

Free data capture tools

These tools are typically open-source software or offer free versions of their platforms. Free data capture tools offer several advantages, including cost savings for users without a financial commitment. They are suitable for straightforward data capture needs, such as text extraction and basic data entry. These tools are accessible online, making them ideal for remote work and collaboration. 

Explore these leading free data capture tools to discover the best options for your business. 

1. Tabula

Tabula is an open-source software tool designed to extract tables from PDF documents. It allows users to extract data from PDF files that contain tables and convert that tabular data into more user-friendly formats like CSV or Excel spreadsheets.

Top features

• Table extraction
• Multiple data formats (XLS, CSV)
• Available for Windows, macOS, and Linux
• Open source
• Command line interface
• Java-based
• No-code platform
• Data cleaning

Pros

• User friendly
• Minimal manual intervention
• Effective table extraction
• Cross-platform compatibility
• Regular updates
• Active user community

Cons

• Limited OCR for image-based PDFs
• Challenges while detecting complex or nested tables
• Dependency on PDF structure
• Limited advanced data processing features 

Paid version

No, completely free

2. OCR.space

OCR.space is an online Optical Character Recognition (OCR) service that converts scanned images, PDFs, or other documents containing text into machine-readable text. 

Top features

• Text Extraction from images, scanned documents, and PDFs
• Multi-language support
• Online accessibility from any device
• Image-to-text conversion
• Multi-Page TIFF scan support
• Handwriting recognition

Pros

• User-friendly UI
• Supports common image formats and PDF files

Cons

• Processing can be slower than the paid version
• OCR.space may not perform as well with complex layouts or handwritten text documents
• Limited export options
• File size limits

Paid version

Has a pro($30/month), proPDF ($60/month), and an enterprise ($299+/month) version for 25, 000+ requests/month and more advanced features

3. PDF2Go

PDF2Go.com is an online PDF editor that allows you to edit PDF documents in different ways and convert many other files to PDF.

Top features

• Converting PDFs to Word, Excel, or PowerPoint
• Converting JPGs to PDFs
• Compressing PDFs
• Editing PDFs, including adding text, images, boxes, circles, and arrows
• Rotating pages
• Merging PDFs
• Splitting PDFs
• Reducing file size and aspect ratio
• Protecting PDFs

Pros

• Compatible with all popular browsers, such as Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, etc.
• Supports additional PDF editing and conversion features

Cons

• Can take longer to convert large files
• File size limitation of 100 MB
• It has a less functional PDF editing feature and does not allow you to copy & paste anything

Paid version

• Professional version for $2.39/month
• Custom pricing for enterprise version

4. Google Cloud Vision

Google Cloud Vision is an API that uses machine learning to identify and classify images. It can detect objects, places, and faces in images and produce accurate results.

Top features

• Text detection
• Document text detection (dense text/handwriting)
• Landmark detection 
• Digital logo detection 
• Label detection 
• Image properties 
• Object localization 
• Crop hint detection 

Pros

• High accuracy and precision
• Scalability
• Content moderation and safe search
• Versatile use cases
• Seamless integration with other Google Cloud services 
• Ease of use
• Comprehensive documentation
• Data security
• Regular updates and improvements

Cons

• Limited customization for specific datasets
• Configuring and fine-tuning can be challenging for beginners
• Limited granular control for certain use cases
• Time-consuming activation process

Paid version

Yes. The first 1000 units used each month are free

Units 1001 to 5,000,000 and beyond have tiered pricing

5. Microsoft Azure Computer Vision

Microsoft Azure Computer Vision is a cloud-based service that allows developers and businesses to incorporate advanced computer vision capabilities into their applications and workflows. The service leverages AI and ML to analyze and interpret visual content within images and videos.

Top features

• Image analysis
• Spatial analysis
• OCR 
• Facial recognition
• Custom computer vision models
• Image classification
• Integration with Azure services

Pros

• Easy to use
• Effective image processing
• Advanced facial recognition
• Handwriting recognition
• JSON Output
• Image categorization
• Cloud integration
• Cost-effective

Cons

Limited capabilities for complex commands

Paid version

Free usage for the first 12 months

Choose the right data capture tool

In conclusion, data capture tools, particularly OCR solutions, have revolutionized how we handle information in primary and specialized scenarios.

For everyday needs, options like Tabula or Google Cloud Vision do the job efficiently. However, when dealing with niche or professional requirements, dedicated solutions like Docsumo, Flexicapture, and Docparser provide the precision and capabilities necessary to streamline specific use cases.