Amazon Textract AnalyzeID Alternative: Driver License OCR API

What Amazon Textract AnalyzeID Is

Amazon Textract AnalyzeID is an AWS service that extracts fields from supported identity documents, primarily US driver licenses and US passports. Choosing between it and an API comes down to where processing runs, how you pay, and which documents you need.

Where StructOCR Differs

StructOCR is a server-side REST API: you send an image and receive structured JSON for driver license, passport, national id card. There is no SDK to embed, billing is 2 credits per successful request, credits never expire, and failed requests are not billed. See the Driver License API docs or try the free scanner.

Where This Fits

• Choose Amazon Textract AnalyzeID when: your stack is on AWS and your documents are mainly US licenses and passports.
• Choose StructOCR when: you need international passports, national ID cards, and licenses from many countries with one schema.
• Use both when: You capture on a device with one tool and need server-side extraction or a fallback for uploaded images with the other.

Try the API in a Few Lines

A complete request takes one HTTP call with your API key.

Prerequisite: Python 3.9+, `pip install requests`, and a STRUCTOCR_API_KEY

import base64
import os
import requests

with open("license-front.jpg", "rb") as image_file:
    image = base64.b64encode(image_file.read()).decode("ascii")

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.structocr.com/v1/driver-license",
    headers={"x-api-key": os.environ["STRUCTOCR_API_KEY"]},
    json={"img": image},
    timeout=30,
)
response.raise_for_status()
data = response.json()["data"]
print("document_number:", data.get("document_number"))
print("surname:", data.get("surname"))
print("given_names:", data.get("given_names"))
print("date_of_expiry:", data.get("date_of_expiry"))

Response Shape

Illustrative fields returned by the StructOCR API for this document type.

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "document_number": "…",
    "surname": "…",
    "given_names": "…",
    "date_of_expiry": "…"
  }
}