Comparison

Pharos Secure Release vs PDFScan

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Secure printing across networks
  • Remote print job submission
  • Modify job list within the app
  • QR code printer release
  • Ensures document confidentiality
  • Reduces printing waste
Features
Read full description

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.

About

PDFScan

Features
Read full description

Scan anything into a clean PDF — then actually work with it. PDFScan turns your camera into a document scanner: automatic edge detection, perspective correction, and sharp output in seconds. Everything happens on your device. No account, no sign-in, nothing uploaded. Perfect for receipts, invoices, contracts, ID copies, school notes and paperwork. SCAN • Automatic edge detection and perspective correction • Capture several pages in one pass • Import photos from your library • Low, medium and high quality presets, so files stay small enough to email EDIT PAGES • Reorder, rotate, duplicate or delete pages • Add pages by scanning or from your photos • Rename a document and rebuild the PDF • Undo while you work READ PDFs • Open any PDF, including ones sent from Files, Mail or the share sheet • Scroll and pinch to zoom • Import PDFs into your library to keep everything together EXTRACT TEXT • On-device text recognition pulls the words out of a scan • Copy the text, or share it as a .txt file • Works offline — no image ever leaves your device SHARE • Merge several documents into a single PDF • Export pages as JPEG or PNG • Send anywhere through the standard share sheet, including WhatsApp, Mail and Messages PRIVATE BY DESIGN Your documents stay in the app's own storage on your device. There is no account, no cloud sync, and nothing is uploaded for processing. FREE, WITH AN OPTIONAL UPGRADE Everything above is free. PDFScan Pro removes the ads and the small "Scanned with PDFScan" credit printed in the bottom margin of generated PDFs, available as a monthly subscription or a single one-time purchase. Prefer to stay free? Watch one optional short video, or share the app with a friend, to hide ads for an hour. Nothing is taken away if you stay on the free tier. PDFScan Pro is available as a $0.99 per month auto-renewing subscription, or as a $4.99 one-time purchase. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel it at any time in your Apple ID settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.notion.so/elviskirui/Privacy-Policy-for-PDFScanner-362d665fdb86800e95f9d402e4e5d974

Screenshots

Pharos Secure Release4 screens
PDFScan4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Pharos Secure Release at none against PDFScan's shown. PDFScan's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 3 months). On price, in-app purchases, device support 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pharos Secure Release ships an update every 3 months, PDFScan every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Pharos Secure Release versus PDFScan: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPharos Secure ReleasePDFScan
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.7 (3 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size89 MB40 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPharos Systems InternationalAnn ANN WAMBUI NJUGUNA

In-app purchases

None

Pharos Secure Release

No in-app purchases

None

PDFScan

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pharos Secure Release free?
Pharos Secure Release is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is PDFScan free?
PDFScan is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Pharos Secure Release or PDFScan have ads?
PDFScan shows ads; Pharos Secure Release does not.
Which is updated more often, Pharos Secure Release or PDFScan?
Pharos Secure Release ships an update every 3 months, and PDFScan every 3 weeks. Most recently, Pharos Secure Release was updated on November 6, 2026 and PDFScan on November 5, 2026.

Other comparisons