Unstract

Unstract is a tool that uses large language models to automatically extract structured information from unstructured documents. You give it PDFs, scanned forms, invoices, or bank statements, and it pulls out the specific data you need—like dates, amounts, names, or addresses—and organizes it into a clean, usable format. It's designed to handle real-world complexity, such as processing the same type of form from 50 different states or statements from hundreds of different banks, without requiring you to manually annotate or train models for each variation.

The platform is open-source, which means you can inspect the code, contribute to it, or deploy it on your own infrastructure for greater control and compliance. It works by letting you define what data you want to extract, and then its AI handles the parsing. A key component is the Prompt Studio, where you can create and refine the instructions that guide the LLMs to find the right information accurately. For automation, Unstract provides an API and integrations with platforms like n8n, allowing you to build the extracted data directly into your business processes and agentic workflows.

This tool is most useful for engineers and data teams at companies that deal with high volumes of documents. If your job involves manually copying data from PDFs into spreadsheets, or if you're building automated systems that need to understand information from forms and reports, Unstract can save significant time. Common applications include automating accounts payable by extracting data from supplier invoices, processing loan applications by pulling information from various financial documents, or aggregating data from standardized reports that come in slightly different layouts.