I tested 5 open-source document scanners for Android so you don’t have to

Almost every Android smartphone comes with a document scanner in the stock camera app, but they always lack important features. And installing a third-party document scanner comes with ads, or it forces you to stay in their ecosystem. Open source document scanning apps not only offer advanced features but also offer you a clean, ad-free experince. I tested dozens of popular open-source document scanner apps, and these 5 are my favourites.

Fair Scan

Fair Scan is dead simple. You open it, snap your pages, preview, and share a PDF. What makes it special? A custom image model that auto-fixes edges, perspective, and shadows right on your phone. I tested it on dim receipts, and it spat out perfect PDFs in seconds, no trackers. If you want no-nonsense scanning, this is it.

MakeACopy

MakeACopy lets you batch scan and edit loads of pages super quick. The cool part is that it's easy cropping, filtering, and reordering. All local, no cloud push. It ran smoothly on my old Android, great for daily docs. No ads, just fast work.

ScanBridge

ScanBridge hooks right up to WebDAV or your local storage, with cropping that handles odd angles. It sorts business papers on the go and beats stock apps in bad light. I used it for real exports, and it bridged everything to my cloud without a hitch. Handy for staying organised.

OSS Document Scanner

OSS Document Scanner has that fresh Material You look, fingerprint lock, and real OCR to grab text. Standout: it spots edges on white paper, tweaks brightness, and sets naming rules with WebDAV backup. Tests gave me sharp PDFs every time, fully open source, so no data worries.

OpenScan

OpenScan from Ethereal Developers squeezes files small with smart filters and picks PDF or JPG. Love the precise cropping for cards or notes, and zero data collection. It shared top scans via apps in my trials, light on any phone. Privacy pick for sure.