I finally found the free open source document scanner on Android and I can’t stop raving about it

For years, the Android document scanner space has been dominated by a frustrating choice: either pay a recurring subscription for a quality app, or settle for free options that bombard you with ads and, worse, raise privacy flags about where your scanned documents actually end up.

As someone who digitizes receipts, notes, and personal paperwork regularly, this dilemma was maddening.

I was searching for an ethical, powerful, and free alternative. Then, I stumbled upon an open source document scanner for Android that not only performs as well as the paid leaders but also offers the priceless peace of mind that comes with a community-driven tool.

Excellent user interface

The first thing that blew me away about OSS Document Scanner wasn’t its functionality, but its modern user interface.

In the open source world, UI is often the last priority that results in dated apps (looking at you, Joplin).

This scanner, however, is a beautiful exception. It has fully adopted the Material You design philosophy. The result is an app that looks like it was created by Google.

Critically, the animations are buttery smooth, from the fluid transition between the main document view and the camera interface, to the precise, responsive drag-and-drop experience when fine-tuning a crop.

OSS Document Scanner sets a high bar for what a free and open source utility on Android should look and feel like.

OSS Document Scanner covers the basics

OSS Document Scanner surprised me with its pro-level customization. The developers haven’t just thrown together basic functionality; they built a powerful system that adapts to my workflow.

I can set the app to immediately open the camera at launch, which cuts out extra steps when I’m in a hurry.

For security, I have the option to lock the app using biometric support and ensure my scanned documents stay away from prying eyes.

The organizational settings are fantastic. I can define a document naming template to ensure my files are consistently timestamped.

I can even tweak document detection settings, auto scan, tweak storage location, PDF export settings, and even apply dark theme.

The document scanning capabilities are robust

Where the OSS Document Scanner truly shines is in its core scanning engine. It is simply awesome.

Most mobile scanners crumble when dealing with low-contrast, like trying to digitize a white piece of paper laid out on a white desk.

I tried exactly that and expected the edge detection to fail. However, I was genuinely stunned. The app immediately snapped the bounding box right on the paper’s edges.

Furthermore, there is an option to use the system camera, tweak document detection, and auto scan options from the Settings menu.

A range of editing options

What really makes the OSS Document Scanner a powerhouse is its editing capabilities. It doesn’t just stop at a clean capture. It gives me a full suite of tools to polish and export my documents exactly the way I need them.

Right after the quick scan, I can crop the document using a precise manual selection tool or quickly rotate it if the auto-orientation was off.

For image enhancement, I can manually tweak the brightness and contrast sliders to get maximum readability, or choose from various automated effects and filters to enhance the text.

It also includes built-in OCR, which lets me extract text from the image. All I did was download the English language model once, and now I have a fully searchable, editable text layer right on my device.

I can even save the image to the gallery or export it using other third-party apps.

Open source nature

The most compelling reason I trust and rave about the OSS Document Scanner boils down to a single fact: it’s open source. Here, I’m not scanning my most sensitive documents like receipts, contracts, and IDs into a black box.

Since OSS Document Scanner’s entire codebase is publicly accessible, I know that security researchers, privacy advocates, and other developers in the FOSS community are constantly looking at the code.

I have the ultimate assurance that there are no hidden trackers or backdoor data exports being performed on my device.

For a tool that handles my personal paperwork, this level of user control is not just a nice feature, but a fundamental requirement, and the open source nature of this app delivers it perfectly.

Free, fast, and private

My search for the perfect Android document scanner — one that is free, feature-rich, and respects privacy — is finally over. OSS Document Scanner ticks all the boxes for me.

So what are you waiting for? Download the app today, put it to the test on your next stack of paperwork, and fly through your tasks in no time.

Meanwhile, check out our dedicated post if you are looking for more such productivity open source apps for your Android phone.