Dynamsoft Barcode Reader Alternative: PDF417 Barcode OCR API

What Dynamsoft Barcode Reader Is

Dynamsoft Barcode Reader is a commercial SDK for decoding barcodes, including PDF417, inside your application. 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 pdf417. 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 PDF417 API docs or try the free scanner.

Where This Fits

• Choose Dynamsoft Barcode Reader when: you need on-device barcode decoding and will parse the AAMVA payload yourself.
• Choose StructOCR when: you want decoding and AAMVA parsing to normalized JSON on the server, with capture hints when a photo fails.
• 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-back.jpg", "rb") as image_file:
    image = base64.b64encode(image_file.read()).decode("ascii")

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.structocr.com/v1/driver-license-pdf417",
    headers={"x-api-key": os.environ["STRUCTOCR_API_KEY"]},
    json={"img": image},
    timeout=30,
)
response.raise_for_status()
data = response.json()["data"]
print("document_kind:", data.get("document_kind"))
print("document_number:", data.get("document_number"))
print("date_of_birth:", data.get("date_of_birth"))
print("region:", data.get("region"))

Response Shape

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

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "document_kind": "…",
    "document_number": "…",
    "date_of_birth": "…",
    "region": "…"
  }
}