Pharos Secure Release vs PaperCut Hive
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Pharos Secure Release
Securely print documents from your mobile device to any network-connected Pharos-secured printer. Manage your print jobs remotely and release them by scanning a QR code at the printer, ensuring document confidentiality and reducing waste.
- Secure printing across networks
- Remote print job submission
- Modify job list within the app
- QR code printer release
- Ensures document confidentiality
- Reduces printing waste
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The Secure Release app makes it easy for employees of organizations with Pharos Secure Release to print securely across networks to any Pharos-secured device on the network, improve the printing experience, ensure document confidentiality, and reduce waste. You can submit print jobs on your mobile device from any location or network, modify your job list within the app at anytime, and when it’s convenient, you can walk up to any secured printer and use the app to scan the QR code affixed to the printer to release your print job(s). This secure and intuitive workflow prevents sensitive information from being left unattended on printer output trays. It also improves convenience by allowing you to securely release your documents at any secured printer in your organization’s network. Note: This app requires a Pharos Cloud Secure Release account. iOS versions 15, 16, and 17 are fully tested and supported.
PaperCut Hive
Securely release print jobs from your mobile device at your organization's printers. This app offers a convenient, touch-free way to manage your printing needs, with options to review and adjust print settings before collection.
- Secure print job release via mobile
- Touch-free printing options (NFC, QR code)
- Print job review and modification
- Cross-device printing support
- Contactless document collection
- Find-me/pull-printing functionality
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PaperCut Hive makes printing convenient, responsible, and secure in your organization. We're all for flexibility. This app gives you the option to securely release your print jobs using your mobile phone. Of course, you can also release your job at the MFD/Printer touch screen as well. This mobile app just gives you one more option, and a touch-free one at that! To get the most out of this app, make sure you have an approved email invitation to use your organization's printers & MFPs. To release prints using your phone, simply tap your phone on an NFC sticker on the printer, scanning a QR code, or selecting the printer's name from a list. Did you forget to double-side the document? No problem, the PaperCut Hive app will remind you and allow you to make those changes on your way to the printer. PaperCut Hive makes it easy to print from all your devices including desktops, laptops, Chromebooks, and of course your iOS phone. See! You can use your phone for work too! Here’s how it works: - You’ll receive an invitation from your organization - It will guide you through the installation of this app as well as apps on your computers and other devices - You will then be able to select ‘PaperCut Printer’ when printing from any of your devices - This app also allows you to view your print jobs and securely collect your documents at any printer/MFD in your organization - Simply walk up to the printer and tap the NFC stickers, scan a QR code, or use the MFD touch screen. This app gives you a contactless/touch-free release method. Benefits: - Have you ever printed your payslip and had to run (sprint!) to the printer to collect it before anyone else does? Fixed! - Have you walked to the printer only to realise your document has gone somewhere else? Fixed! We call this find-me or pull-printing printing. - Do you forget to select duplex at the time of printing, but then feel guilty as you watch an endless stream of pages roll out? Fixed! - Confused by different print dialogues on different devices? BYOD? Fixed! - Need to set up printing on a new device and wish it could be as easy as installing a new app? Fixed! Have a question? Please email support@papercut.com or get in touch with the PaperCut Partner supporting you. Note: This app requires that your organization has an active and configured PaperCut Hive account and the PaperCut Hive embedded software installed on your MFDs. You should receive an invitation or instruction on how to set up this app from your organization. Your confidentiality is our priority. Your data is treated like we'd want our data to be treated. Check out our Privacy Policy for the full story. In fact your confidentiality is super important to us and that's exactly the reason we invented PaperCut Hive (and of course to reduce print waste and make printing easy).
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: PaperCut Hive at 4.0 against Pharos Secure Release's 3.7. PaperCut Hive also leads on update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 3 months) and review sentiment (12% vs 0%). Pharos Secure Release's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
PaperCut Hive holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 4 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of Pharos Secure Release's written reviews are positive against 12% of PaperCut Hive's.
Pharos Secure Release ships an update every 3 months, PaperCut Hive every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Pharos Secure Release | PaperCut Hive |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.7 (3 ratings) | 4.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | 11.6% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 4 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 5 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 89 MB | 9 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Pharos Systems International | PaperCut Software |
Customer experience
Pharos Secure Release
PaperCut Hive
Bugs and requests
Pharos Secure Release
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
PaperCut Hive
Reported bugs
22 issues- App regularly crashes
- App closes as soon as it's opened
- Print jobs disappear
- App crashes preventing phone release
- Printers becoming inoperable
Show 17 moreShow fewer
- Printer resetting itself
- Desktop download doesn't work on Mac
- Crashes and doesn't load prints
- Randomly crashes
- Computer won't cooperate (Macs)
- App crashes after a few uses
- Crashes upon load
- App is too unstable
- App won't open or crashes on click
- Error messages not always appearing
- Crashing since update
- Constantly needed to delete and redownload
- Need to frequently re-request access
- Keeps crashing, can't open app
- Have to delete and reinstall bi-weekly
- System doesn't refresh
- Does not work well with Macs
Requested features
5 requests- Enable search in printer list
- Enable ascii copy paste of QR code value
- App works natively with iPad screen resolution
- Support QR code loading from images
- Mark specific printers as favorites
In-app purchases
Pharos Secure Release
No in-app purchases
PaperCut Hive
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Pharos Secure Release free?
Is PaperCut Hive free?
Which has better reviews, Pharos Secure Release or PaperCut Hive?
Do Pharos Secure Release or PaperCut Hive have ads?
Which is updated more often, Pharos Secure Release or PaperCut Hive?
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