ReedSCAN vs Scanbot
Scanbot sells a flat annual license, from about $2,500, for an SDK that scans barcodes, documents, IDs and text on the web and on ten native platforms. ReedSCAN does barcodes and 2D codes only, in the browser: a 0.9 MB engine against Scanbot's 10.5 MB or more, and an evaluation with no sign-up. Choose Scanbot if you also need document or ID capture; choose ReedSCAN for lean, web-first barcode capture.
Side by side
| ReedSCAN | Scanbot Web SDK | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Web only: one SDK for browsers on phones, tablets and computers. No native mobile SDKs. | Web, plus iOS, Android, Flutter, React Native, Capacitor, Ionic, Cordova, .NET MAUI, UWP and Linux. |
| Pricing | Per-domain license key, quoted. No per-scan or per-device fees, no usage metering. Prices not yet published. | Flat annual fee, quoted per customer; "generally starts at $2,500". Unlimited scanning on unlimited devices. |
| License check and data | Signed key, verified offline in the browser. No license server, and no usage data sent to us. | Keys are valid for a given app identifier. How web keys are validated isn't documented on the pages we checked. |
| Trial | No key, no sign-up, every feature. Unlimited on localhost and local network; elsewhere a watermark and 60 s of scanning per page load. | One minute per session without a license. A 7-day trial key needs a form and is for development and staging only. |
| Engine size | About 0.9 MB WebAssembly engine; 1.3 MB package unpacked. | Barcode-only WebAssembly about 10.5–11 MB per variant; about 27 MB for the complete engine. 140.7 MB unpacked (measured from npm). |
| Symbologies | 13: QR, Data Matrix, Aztec, PDF417, Code 128, Code 39, Code 93, Codabar, ITF, EAN-13, EAN-8, UPC-A, UPC-E. | 26 listed, including postal codes. |
| Many codes at once | Live AR boxes: every code in view gets a labelled box that follows it as the camera moves, and each code is reported once. An accept rule boxes only the codes you're looking for. | Single, batch and multi scanning, Find & Pick, and Scan & Count. |
| Beyond barcodes | Barcodes and 2D codes only. No document, ID or text scanning. | Document scanning, MRZ, checks, some driver's licenses and ID cards, and OCR. |
| Image processing | On the device. The SDK makes no network request except to load its engine. | On the device: "No data is transmitted to our or third-party servers." |
| Self-hosting | Yes: engine and worker can be served from your own domain, including under a strict CSP. | Yes; its README recommends against serving the engine from jsDelivr in production. |
| Browsers | Chrome and Edge 99+, Safari 16.4+, Firefox 114+, Samsung Internet 18+. | Chrome 57+, Firefox 53+, Edge 16+, Safari 11+ (iOS 14.5+). |
| Certification | No formal certification yet. No images, scans or usage data reach us. | ISO 27001 certified (announced June 2026). Scanbot is now part of Apryse. |
Scanbot details from their public pages, checked 3 November 2026. Sources below.
Choose Scanbot if
- You need document, ID, MRZ or text capture alongside barcodes.
- You want native SDKs for mobile and desktop from the same vendor.
- A published starting price of a flat annual fee suits your budgeting.
- You need postal or other specialty symbologies.
- You must support much older browsers.
Choose ReedSCAN if
- You need barcodes and 2D codes, and nothing else weighing down the page.
- The engine is about 0.9 MB, against Scanbot's 10.5 MB or more for barcodes alone.
- You want to evaluate in production-like conditions without a form or a 7-day clock.
- You want per-domain licensing with no usage metering.
- You want a license key verified entirely offline, in the browser.
ReedSCAN and Scanbot: questions
- Is ReedSCAN an alternative to Scanbot?
- For barcode and QR capture in web apps, yes. ReedSCAN doesn't do document, ID or text scanning, which Scanbot also offers.
- Which loads faster, ReedSCAN or Scanbot Web SDK?
- ReedSCAN's engine is about 0.9 MB. Scanbot's barcode-only engine is about 10.5–11 MB per variant (measured from npm on 3 November 2026). Both are cached after the first load.
- Can I try them without signing up?
- Yes, both. ReedSCAN runs without a key, every feature included, with a watermark and 60 seconds of scanning per page load off localhost. Scanbot runs for one minute per session without a license; its 7-day trial key needs a form.
- How do they price?
- Scanbot charges a flat annual fee, from about $2,500, with unlimited scanning. ReedSCAN licenses per domain, with no usage metering; prices are quoted.
Sources
- Scanbot pricing
- Scanbot Web Barcode Scanner SDK
- Scanbot Web SDK: license handling
- Scanbot Web SDK: introduction
- scanbot-web-sdk on npm
- Scanbot ISO 27001 announcement
Scanbot is a trademark of its owner. This page isn't affiliated with or endorsed by Scanbot. If anything here is out of date, tell us and we'll correct it.