Guide
Local OCR vs cloud OCR: what happens to your screenshot?
Local OCR processes screenshot text on the user device, while cloud OCR sends image data to a service for processing. This guide explains privacy tradeoffs, accuracy tradeoffs, and how Captorify separates free local workflows from paid cloud features.
Quick answer
Local OCR reads the text on your own device, so the image is never uploaded just to be read. Cloud OCR sends the image to a remote service to do the recognition. The main tradeoff is privacy versus the heavier models a server can run.
Captorify does text extraction locally in the browser (Pro), using on-device OCR. It does not offer a cloud OCR option, so reading a screenshot does not send it anywhere.
Local OCR model
Local OCR runs the recognition engine on your own machine. Captorify runs the text recognition locally in your browser, so the screenshot stays on your device while its text is read.
The benefit is privacy and offline capability; the constraint is that the model has to be light enough to run locally.
Cloud OCR model
Cloud OCR uploads the image to a service that runs recognition on its own servers and returns the text. Because the server is not limited by your device, it can run larger models that may handle messy or unusual text better.
The cost is that your image leaves your device to be processed, which is a privacy consideration for sensitive screenshots. Captorify does not provide this option.
Privacy tradeoffs
With local OCR, the image is never transmitted just to read its text, so there is nothing for a third party to intercept or retain. With cloud OCR, the image is sent to and processed by a server you do not control, and may be logged or retained depending on the provider.
For screenshots containing Identifiable Information (PII) or secrets, local OCR is the safer default, which is the model Captorify uses.
Accuracy tradeoffs
Cloud services can sometimes win on accuracy for difficult inputs because they run larger models. Local engines are very capable on clean, high-contrast text but may struggle more with low resolution or stylized fonts.
For typical screenshots of UI text, error messages, and labels, local OCR is usually accurate enough; proofread anything important either way.
Captorify boundary
Captorify text extraction is local and in-browser. There is no cloud OCR in Captorify, so choosing extraction never uploads your screenshot to read it.
Separately, paid cloud sync and share links do store the capture itself in the cloud, but that is a different feature from text extraction and is something you opt into.
Decision checklist
- Sensitive content: use local OCR so the image is not uploaded.
- No connection or privacy-first workflow: local OCR works offline.
- Difficult, low-quality text and no privacy concern: a cloud service may read it better.
- Using Captorify: extraction is local by design, with no cloud OCR option.