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Google: Google Vision OCR

Google Vision OCR Overview

Google Vision OCR, released as part of the Cloud Vision API’s general availability in February 2016, is a proprietary Google Cloud service for extracting text from images and documents. It supports common formats like JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, and PDF, and provides two main modes: TEXT_DETECTION for short snippets and scene text, and DOCUMENT_TEXT_DETECTION for dense documents, which returns structured layout information with bounding boxes.

While not an LLM (so it has no token context window or parameter count), the service performs OCR across printed text and some handwriting. It outputs detected text along with positional metadata, making it useful for digitizing scanned files, receipts, forms, and signs. However, complex layouts like tables often require downstream processing. Accessible via REST and RPC APIs, with client libraries in major languages, Google Vision OCR is widely used for document processing pipelines, archival, and accessibility applications.

Google Vision OCR Interactive Demo

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Google Vision OCR Details & Performance

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Deploy Google Vision OCR with an API

Google Vision OCR runs as a hosted REST endpoint through Roboflow Workflows. Pick a task, then hand the prompt to your coding agent or copy the code. Deploying the workflow into a free Roboflow workspace replaces the your-workspace and YOUR_API_KEY placeholders with your own.

Connect your agent to Roboflow (once)

Add the Roboflow MCP server

claude mcp add --transport http roboflow https://mcp.roboflow.com/mcp

Run /mcp and authorize Roboflow in your browser when the OAuth flow opens.

Start a new Claude Code session so the MCP loads, then paste the prompt below (it works the same in any agent).

Deploy this workflow to your Roboflow workspace to use it.

Integrate the Roboflow "Google Vision OCR" workflow into my app.

- Endpoint: POST https://serverless.roboflow.com/<your-workspace>/workflows/google-vision-ocr
- Auth: send my Roboflow API key as `api_key` in the request body, read from the ROBOFLOW_API_KEY env var (never hardcode).
- Body: { "api_key": ..., "inputs": { `image`: { type: "url" | "base64", value }, `model_api_key`: my provider key } }.

With the Roboflow MCP connected, call `workflows_get` on "google-vision-ocr" to read the exact input schema and treat it as the source of truth. A live `workflows_run` for this workflow also needs my Google AI Studio key (`model_api_key`) passed as a runtime parameter; if you don't have it yet, skip the test run — it will fail with a server error without the provider key, which is expected and not a problem with your code — and rely on the schema. Validate the real run via the REST call once the keys below are set. Without the MCP, use the contract above.

Before running the app, set up these keys so it does not error at runtime:
- `ROBOFLOW_API_KEY` (sent as `api_key`) from https://app.roboflow.com/settings/api
- `GOOGLE_CLOUD_API_KEY` (sent as `model_api_key`) from https://aistudio.google.com/apikey — my Google AI Studio key
Create a .gitignore'd .env with these variables, using placeholder values for any I haven't given you. Then pause and tell me directly, in your reply: the full path to the .env file, exactly which keys I need to paste in, and the link to get each one. Wait for me to confirm I've added them before you run anything. Do not run the app until I confirm.

Then add the integration to my codebase: match my project's language, framework, and conventions; read every key from environment variables (never hardcode); add basic error handling; and include a small runnable example. If you can't tell what language my project uses, ask me.
Installpip install inference-sdk

Deploy this workflow to your Roboflow workspace to use it.

# 1. Import the library
from inference_sdk import InferenceHTTPClient

# 2. Connect to your workflow
client = InferenceHTTPClient(
  api_url="https://serverless.roboflow.com",
  api_key="YOUR_API_KEY"
)

# 3. Run your workflow on an image
result = client.run_workflow(
  workspace_name="your-workspace",
  workflow_id="google-vision-ocr",
  images={
    "image": "YOUR_IMAGE.jpg"  # Path to your image file
  },
  parameters={
    "model_api_key": "YOUR_GOOGLE-CLOUD_API_KEY"
  },
  use_cache=True  # cache workflow definition for 15 minutes
)

# 4. Get your results
print(result)

Deploy this workflow to your Roboflow workspace to use it.

const response = await fetch('https://serverless.roboflow.com/your-workspace/workflows/google-vision-ocr', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    api_key: 'YOUR_API_KEY',
    inputs: {
      "image": {"type": "url", "value": "IMAGE_URL"},
      "model_api_key": "YOUR_GOOGLE-CLOUD_API_KEY"
    }
  })
});

const result = await response.json();
console.log(result);

Deploy this workflow to your Roboflow workspace to use it.

curl --location 'https://serverless.roboflow.com/your-workspace/workflows/google-vision-ocr' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '{
  "api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
  "inputs": {
    "image": {"type": "url", "value": "IMAGE_URL"},
    "model_api_key": "YOUR_GOOGLE-CLOUD_API_KEY"
  }
}'

Google Vision OCR License

Proprietary

Google Vision OCR is proprietary: the weights are not distributed, and the Google Vision OCR license is the vendor's commercial terms of service that you accept when you call the API.

Commercial use
Permitted under the vendor terms, typically metered per token or per request, with the vendor usage policy applying to your inputs and outputs.
Modification
Not available. Google Vision OCR weights are closed, so you can configure prompts and use vendor-hosted fine-tuning where it is offered, but you cannot modify the model itself.
Redistribution
Not permitted. You cannot self-host or resell the model; you build on the hosted API instead.

Vendor terms govern data retention, whether your inputs can be trained on, rate limits, and regional availability, and they can change with notice. Review them if you handle regulated or customer data.

Do I need a commercial license for Google Vision OCR?

Proprietary terms are set by the vendor rather than negotiated per project, and no open-source obligation attaches to your code. If you would rather deploy a model whose commercial license is included in your plan — on Roboflow Managed Cloud or a Self-Hosted Inference Server — Roboflow's licensing page lists the supported alternatives to Google Vision OCR.

Do not hesitate to reach out with questions for your commercial project — our team will help you start solving business problems on the first call. See Roboflow commercial licensing for the models included in each plan.

Talk to sales

This model is proprietary. The author retains all rights, and use of the model is governed by their specific terms of service or license agreement.

Commercial use depends on the terms set by the model author. Most proprietary commercial models require a paid subscription, API key, or per-call billing. Check the provider’s pricing and terms-of-service for details.

License information is provided as a guide and is not legal advice.