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Read old handwriting and documents

Transcribe old letters, church records and certificates.

Transcribe old letters, church records and certificates. The tools below run on your computer. Most of them are free, and the work stays on your machine.

ScanTranslate

Works offline · Free options

Easiest way to start

olmOCR + olmOCR 2 7B

Allen AI's document reader. It turns a PDF or a scan into text, including tables.

Will it run on my computer?

Check my computer
Local or cloud?4 shown

Most tools here are free.

HONEST COMPARISON

Local AI or cloud for read old handwriting and documents?

Reviewed Oct 2026

  • Privacy: Local winsA family scan need not be uploaded
  • Cost: TieTranskribus has a free tier and local OCR is free
  • Quality: Cloud winsHistorical models read old hands much better
  • Ease: Cloud winsTranskribus is the tool built for this

Local AI

Local OCR is weak on old hands. It can still try, and the scan stays at home.

  • Family papers stay on your computer
  • Worth a first pass on a clear hand

Where it falls short

  • Old handwriting is exactly where local OCR fails
  • You will correct almost every line
See local tools for this task ↓

Cloud & apps

Transkribus is trained on historical handwriting and is the honest tool for this job.

Our take

Use Transkribus for old handwriting. Keep the scan local only if uploading a family paper is the thing you want to avoid, and expect to correct it.

Choose local if…

  • The paper must not be uploaded
  • The hand is large and clear

Choose cloud if…

  • You want the words
  • The script is genuinely old

How to do it in 3 steps

  1. Install olmOCR from its official guide: olmOCR on GitHub.
  2. Open the olmOCR 2 7B page and check the traffic light for a few kinds of computer.
  3. Follow that official guide. This site does not add its own install steps.

Questions

Does this upload my files?
No. The tools on this page are meant to run on your computer.
What does it cost?
Most options are free. A few apps are a one-time purchase, and a few models need a computer with more memory.
What if it will not fit?
Use Check my computer, or turn on the lighter memory filters. A red light on the model page means the file is too big.

Not into local AI? Try these instead

Ordinary apps for family & history. The links use a placeholder referral code and may pay us.

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