Comparison

Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup vs Paradoc

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup

Enhance your PDF workflow with powerful annotation and markup tools. This app offers a dynamic and intuitive experience for editing, drawing, and adding text to your documents. Access your work across multiple devices and collaborate in real-time.

Highlights
  • Dynamic PDF annotation tools
  • Cross-platform access and cloud sync
  • Real-time collaboration
  • Insert text, images, lines, and shapes
  • Convert images to PDF
  • Redact sensitive information (Pro)
  • Measurement tools (Pro)
Features
Read full description

Powerful PDF tools at your fingertips. The latest PDF technology and software for a better experience. With an intuitive UI designed for delight – there’s a better way to PDF! Do your best work with Drawboard. - Dynamic PDF tools that feel good to use - Multi-platform access and storage. Where you are, your work is. - Paperless. A way of working for a sustainable future TOOLS FOR EVERY JOB Fast, responsive, and accurate markup tools. Draw with best-in-class ink for flawless Apple Pencil hand-feel and finally replace pen and paper. CROSS-PLATFORM ACCESS ON ANY DEVICE Upload your annotated PDFs to the cloud and mark up with others in real time with instant sync. Go Pro in-app for additional storage capacity and advanced features. WORK YOUR WAY Customize your workspace by docking your favorite tools and build a toolbar that works for you! MORE - Text review markup - freehand highlighter, text highlighter, underline, strikeout, squiggly on PDF. - Insert lines and shapes - cloud tool, rectangle, ellipse, line, arrow, polygon and polyline on PDF. - Add text with a range of fonts and text styling options - Insert images and camera photos onto PDFs. - Convert JPG and PNG image files to PDF. - Write, annotate, ink and draw on PDFs. - Customize and edit annotation colors, stroke widths, and opacities. - Create new blank PDF documents of different size, color, orientation and page count. - Insert, rotate and delete PDF pages. - Open, read, mark up and save large and complex PDF documents. GET MORE WITH PRO - Redact text and sections of your PDF documents - Measure elements on your page with length and area measurement tools and smart page calibration - Add callouts, hyperlinks and audio notes to your documents - On-page ruler - measure objects on your page with the ease of using a tape measure

About

Paradoc

This app transforms photos of documents into high-quality PDFs, offering a suite of tools for editing, organizing, and securing your files. It handles complex PDF types, including encrypted and form-filled documents, all processed locally on your device without needing an internet connection.

Highlights
  • On-device AI-powered scanning
  • Merge, split, compress PDFs
  • Convert PDFs to images
  • Encrypt and unlock PDFs
  • Handle encrypted and restricted PDFs
  • Fillable form support
  • Organize and reorder pages
Features
Read full description

Scan paper into a clean PDF, then merge, split, compress, reorder, lock or unlock it. Seven tools, free, all running on your iPhone. Nothing is uploaded, ever. No account, no subscription, no ads. Your documents stay exactly where they already are. EVERYDAY JOBS Shrink a PDF until it fits an email limit. Lock a tax return before you share it. Pull the one page you need out of a long contract. Turn a school form on the kitchen table into a PDF you can send in a minute. Combine a stack of statements into a single file. SCAN Point the camera at a page, or pick photos from your library. Paradoc finds the edges, squares up the perspective and cleans up the page. An on-device neural model lifts shadows and uneven lighting, so a page shot under a desk lamp comes out clean and legible. Up to 20 pages per document. MERGE Combine up to 20 PDFs in the order you choose. Password-protected files are handled one by one, each with its own password. SPLIT Pull a page range out into its own PDF. If the source was encrypted, the result stays encrypted. COMPRESS Three presets: Light, Balanced and Maximum. Paradoc re-encodes images, subsets fonts and repacks object streams, the same techniques desktop tools use. Text stays text. Bookmarks, form values, annotations and document metadata stay intact. ORGANIZE Reorder, delete and rotate pages from a thumbnail grid. PDF TO IMAGE Export pages as JPEG images, from 75 to 600 DPI, up to 20 pages per export. PROTECT AND UNLOCK Lock a PDF with AES-256, the strongest encryption the PDF standard defines. Unlock removes a password you know, or clears owner-only restrictions on printing and copying. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Paradoc makes no network requests. None. There is no server, no sign-in, nothing quietly phoning home. Switch on airplane mode and every feature keeps working, on a plane, in a basement, anywhere. Your contract, your tax return, your medical letter: none of it needs to visit someone else's computer to be scanned, merged, shrunk or locked. The work happens where the file already is. BUILT FOR THE PDFs THAT USUALLY BREAK THINGS Password-protected files, including older RC4 and AES-128 ones, open and stay encrypted through Split, Organize and Compress. Files locked against printing or copying are detected and explained before you continue. Digitally signed PDFs are checked before anything is touched, and you are warned when an edit would invalidate a signature; certified documents are left alone. PDF/A archives are flagged before you change them. Merge two forms with the same field names and the result still works. Files up to 100 MB. A PDF comes out the way it went in. Text that was selectable stays selectable, and pages stay as sharp as they were at any zoom, because Paradoc works on the file itself instead of turning pages into pictures. Available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi, Chinese, Russian, Arabic and Hebrew, with full right-to-left layout.

Screenshots

Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup4 screens
Paradoc4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Paradoc at none against Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup's 8. Paradoc also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.8). Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup's advantage is ratings volume (2K vs 2) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, update cadence, ads and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Paradoc asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Paradoc holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup has 2K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup ships an update every 11 days, Paradoc weekly. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup versus Paradoc: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDrawboard PDF Annotate, MarkupParadoc
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (2K ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews64.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2K — better2
Update frequencyEvery 11 daysWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size98 MB109 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDrawboard Pty LtdVaibhav Teli

Customer experience

Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup

All ratings2,015 ratings
Positive96.3%
Neutral1.7%
Negative2.0%
Written reviews317 reviews
Positive64.0%
Neutral12.6%
Negative23.3%

Paradoc

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Annotations not syncing properly between devices
  • Unexpected loss of work and unsaved changes
  • Scrolling and page navigation issues
  • Compatibility problems with certain PDF files
  • Text input box disappearing after scrolling

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add page flattening and form filling options
  • Improve eraser tool and precision
  • Implement a dark mode
  • Provide better organization and folder support
  • Add more customization options for tools and UI

Paradoc

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

8 purchases

Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup

Subscriptions6
  • Pro Lite7 Days trial$5.991 Month
  • Pro Plus7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Pro Unlimited7 Days trial$18.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Pro Lite7 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Pro Plus7 Days trial$83.901 Year
  • Pro Unlimited7 Days trial$159.991 Year
One-time2
  • Pro Plus$10.00
  • Pro Unlimited$20.00
None

Paradoc

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup free?
Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Paradoc free?
Paradoc is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup or Paradoc?
Paradoc is rated higher. Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup averages 4.8 out of 5 from 2K ratings, while Paradoc averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup or Paradoc have ads?
Neither Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup nor Paradoc shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup or Paradoc?
Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup ships an update every 11 days, and Paradoc weekly. Most recently, Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup was updated on November 6, 2026 and Paradoc on November 6, 2026.

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