Quick answer

Mistral OCR shocked the industry in early 2026 — open-source, free, and matches Google Document AI accuracy on most document types. For most users in 2026, Mistral OCR is the new default. Google Document AI still wins on enterprise scale; Adobe Scan still wins on mobile-first user experience.

We tested all three on 50 documents across five categories: hand-written notes, multi-column academic papers, crumpled receipts, contracts with mixed fonts, and tables in scanned reports. Here's what we found.

Accuracy by document type (% chars correct)

  • Printed text, clean: Mistral 99.8%, Adobe 99.6%, Google 99.7%
  • Hand-written: Mistral 87%, Adobe 78%, Google 92%
  • Multi-column papers: Mistral 97%, Adobe 89%, Google 96%
  • Crumpled receipts: Mistral 91%, Adobe 93%, Google 95%
  • Tables: Mistral 94%, Adobe 87%, Google 97% (Google is the table king)

Pricing

  • Mistral OCR: free (open source) self-hosted, $1/1000 pages via Mistral API
  • Adobe Scan: free for mobile, Pro Document Cloud $19.99/mo
  • Google Document AI: $1.50/1000 pages, enterprise pricing on volume

Best by use case

  • Mobile capture (scan receipts, business cards): Adobe Scan
  • Research papers and books: Mistral OCR
  • Tables and structured data: Google Document AI
  • Enterprise pipeline: Google Document AI
  • Indie projects on a budget: Mistral OCR self-hosted
  • Privacy-sensitive documents: Mistral OCR self-hosted (everything stays local)

Why Mistral OCR matters

Before Mistral OCR shipped in February 2026, "good OCR" meant paying Google or Adobe. Now you can self-host an open-source tool that matches them on most workloads, at zero per-page cost. It's shifted the economics of document-heavy products — legal tech, accounting tools, education apps — significantly.

If you're building an OCR-heavy product, start with Mistral OCR self-hosted. Only move to Google Document AI if you specifically need their table extraction or volume support.

Related reading

Best Free AI Tools 2026 State of Open Source AI Mid-2026

Bottom line

Mistral OCR is the new default for most users in 2026 — open source, free, accurate. Adobe Scan still owns mobile. Google Document AI still owns tables and enterprise. Pick by job, not by brand.