Iteration Layer vs Kreuzberg
Kreuzberg is a fast self-hosted extraction library — you trade zero per-doc cost for everything that comes with running your own infrastructure.
Why developers switch from Kreuzberg
Kreuzberg is fast and open source, but you own the deployment, scaling, and monitoring.
No infrastructure to run
Kreuzberg is a library you deploy, scale, monitor, and upgrade. Our API is a managed service — one HTTP endpoint, zero deployment overhead, and processing that scales automatically with your volume.
Schema-driven typed extraction
Kreuzberg extracts raw text. Getting a date, a currency amount, or an IBAN still requires parsing that text yourself. Our schema returns 17 typed fields — dates as ISO dates, currencies structured, IBANs validated — with confidence scores on every value.
Full pipeline, one platform
Kreuzberg does document extraction only. We offer document extraction, image transformation, image generation, document generation, and sheet generation — all under one API key, with a shared credit pool.
Feature-by-feature comparison
We went through the docs so you don't have to. Here's how every feature compares — including the ones where we're not the better choice.
| Feature | Iteration Layer | Kreuzberg |
|---|---|---|
| Schema-defined extraction |
Yes
Define the fields you want in a schema and receive typed JSON results immediately |
No
Outputs plain text or markdown without schema-based extraction |
| Typed field support |
17 types
Choose from 17 typed schema fields including date, IBAN, currency, address, phone, email, and URL |
None
Raw text extraction only without typed field support |
| Confidence scores |
Per field
Confidence score between 0 and 1 for every extracted schema field |
No
No confidence scoring for extracted content |
| Source citations |
Yes
Verbatim source citation from the document for every extracted field |
No
No source citation linking extracted values back to document text |
| Multi-file support |
Up to 20 files
Process up to 20 files in a single API request with merged extraction results |
1 file
Each call processes a single file |
| Supported input formats |
40+ formats
Process 40+ formats — PDF, Office, EPUB, RTF, LaTeX, email, Jupyter, images, and more — in a single API endpoint |
PDF, images, Office
Supports PDF, images, and Office formats via multiple extraction backends |
| Other APIs included |
5 APIs
Document extraction, image transformation, image generation, document generation, and sheet generation under one API key |
Extraction only
Focused on document text extraction with no other APIs included |
| Open source |
Proprietary
Closed-source managed SaaS platform |
MIT license
Free and open source under the MIT license with zero per-document cost |
| Raw throughput |
Managed
Cloud-based processing with automatic scaling — no tuning required |
Very fast
Rust-based engine that is 9x faster than Python alternatives for text extraction |
| EU hosting |
EU only
All processing happens exclusively on EU-hosted servers |
Your choice
Runs on your infrastructure, so data residency depends on where you deploy |
| Pricing model |
Per credit
Pay-per-use pricing based on the number of extraction requests |
Free
Open source and free to use — costs are limited to your own compute infrastructure |
| Infrastructure required |
None
Fully managed API with no deployment, scaling, or maintenance required |
Self-hosted
Requires deploying, scaling, and maintaining the Rust binary on your infrastructure |
| GDPR / Data privacy |
Zero retention
No files or results stored beyond temporary 90-day logs |
Self-hosted
Data never leaves your servers since the library runs entirely on your infrastructure |
Pricing
Start usage-based. Switch to a subscription when your volume becomes predictable.
Usage-based
Graduated pricing. Your effective rate decreases automatically as monthly usage grows.
- No monthly commitment
- Pay only for credits used
- Automatic volume discounts as usage grows
Predictable volume
Fixed recurring credit packs with lower effective credit prices for steady usage.
- Lower effective per-credit prices
- Fixed recurring credit packs
- Predictable monthly budget
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