# Marker

Framework · https://godooo.ai/en/framework/marker

> Marker is an open-source AI framework, launched in 2023, made for developers.

A tool that converts PDFs and other documents to Markdown, JSON or HTML.

Main jobs: Document parsing, Text recognition (OCR). It is open source and free to use. You can use it on your own server, offline on your own machine, in the terminal and through an API.

## At a glance

- **Type:** [Framework](https://godooo.ai/en/browse#framework)
- **Launched:** 2023
- **Galaxy:** [Models & APIs](https://godooo.ai/en/galaxy/builders)
- **Open source:** Yes · Apache-2.0
- **Source code:** [github.com/datalab-to/marker](https://github.com/datalab-to/marker)
- **GitHub stars:** 39,942
- **How you run it:** Self-host · Runs offline · Terminal · API
- **Made for:** Developers
- **Website:** [github.com](https://github.com/datalab-to/marker)

## What it can do

- **[Document parsing](https://godooo.ai/en/capability/document-parsing)** — main job, _proposed by a machine, awaiting calibration_. “Marker converts documents to markdown, JSON, chunks, and HTML quickly and accurately.” (read on [github.com](https://github.com/datalab-to/marker), 2026-09-24)
- **[Text recognition (OCR)](https://godooo.ai/en/capability/ocr)** — main job, _proposed by a machine, awaiting calibration_.

## Alternatives

- **[MinerU](https://godooo.ai/en/framework/mineru)** (Open source, free): Also does: Document parsing, Text recognition (OCR)
- **[Docling](https://godooo.ai/en/framework/docling)** (Open source, free): Also does: Document parsing, Text recognition (OCR)
- **[PaddleOCR](https://godooo.ai/en/framework/paddleocr)** (Open source, free): Also does: Document parsing, Text recognition (OCR)
- **[Surya](https://godooo.ai/en/framework/surya)** (Open source, free): Also does: Document parsing, Text recognition (OCR)
- **[MarkItDown](https://godooo.ai/en/framework/markitdown)** (Open source, free): Also does: Document parsing, Text recognition (OCR)
- **[Unstructured](https://godooo.ai/en/framework/unstructured)** (Open source, free): Also does: Document parsing, Text recognition (OCR)
- **[LlamaIndex](https://godooo.ai/en/framework/llamaindex)** (Open source, free): Also does: Document parsing, Text recognition (OCR)
- **[RAGFlow](https://godooo.ai/en/product/ragflow)** (Open source, free): Also does: Document parsing
- **[PDF Skill](https://godooo.ai/en/skill/pdf)**: Also does: Document parsing
- **[Firecrawl](https://godooo.ai/en/product/firecrawl)** (Open source, free): Also does: Document parsing
- **[Mistral](https://godooo.ai/en/model/mistral)** (Open source, free): Also does: Text recognition (OCR)
- **[Qwen](https://godooo.ai/en/model/qwen)** (Open source, free): Also does: Text recognition (OCR); no code needed

## Questions

### What is Marker?

Marker is an open-source AI framework, launched in 2023, made for developers. A tool that converts PDFs and other documents to Markdown, JSON or HTML.

### Is Marker free?

Yes. Marker is open source (Apache-2.0) and free to use.

### Is Marker open source?

Yes, under the Apache-2.0 license. The source code is at https://github.com/datalab-to/marker.

### Can Marker run locally?

Yes. Marker can run offline on your own machine. It can also be self-hosted on your own server.

### What can Marker do?

Main jobs: Document parsing, Text recognition (OCR).

### What are open-source alternatives to Marker?

Open-source ones: MinerU, Docling, PaddleOCR, Surya, MarkItDown, Unstructured, LlamaIndex and RAGFlow. Others: PDF Skill.

## Sources

- [github.com](https://github.com/datalab-to/marker) — checked 2026-09-24

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Last updated 2026-09-24 · sources checked 2026-09-24 · Markdown version of https://godooo.ai/en/framework/marker. Every page on this site has one: add .md to its address.