Comparison

Pdftool vs SpeakNotes

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

Head to head
About

Pdftool

Easily manage, read, and annotate PDF documents with intuitive tools. Highlight text or images, crop, merge, and export pages. Optimized for large collections and supports keyboard shortcuts for efficient navigation.

Highlights
  • Manage PDFs with tags and lists
  • Crop, erase, and merge pages
  • Highlight text and images
  • Export PDF pages
  • Batch operations
  • Keyboard shortcuts support
Features
Read full description

Designed to provide a visually pleasing and intuitive way to manage/read/highlight PDF documents on iPhone or iPad. Highlighter works for both text based and image based PDF. You can crop, erase area, merge, and export PDF pages. Crop operation is enhanced to support long document, such as those single page web content in PDF. You can zoom in and out to reposition document to make cropping large document a breeze. PDF documents can be easily shared to other apps or other compatible devices via AirDrop. ## Main Features - Manage PDF documents by Tags and Short List - Crop, Erase Area, Merge PDF pages - Export - Highlighting - Batch operations - Optimized to work with large collection of PDF documents - Keyboard shortcuts support for page navigation (when using external keyboard) ## Supported keyboard shortcuts - Cmd/alt + Left/Right arrow for previous/next page - Arrow keys to move around page - Cmd + plus/minus for zooming in/out - H for highlighter - T for thin highlighter - E for eraser - ENTER for committing changes Note: The app does not come with sample PDFs. Please add PDF files (such as via AirDrop) for them to show up in the app.

About

SpeakNotes

This app uses advanced AI to transform audio and video into concise, actionable notes. It supports over 50 languages and offers 14 different output formats for meetings, lectures, podcasts, and more. Easily process any source, from recordings to YouTube links, to gain insights quickly.

Highlights
  • AI transcription with high accuracy
  • 14 unique summary formats
  • Summarize YouTube links
  • Process PDFs and documents
  • Direct audio/video recording
  • Support for 50+ languages
  • Export and share options
Features
Read full description

Turn hours of audio into minutes of insight. SpeakNotes uses advanced AI to transcribe and summarize your meetings, lectures, podcasts, YouTube videos, and recordings - delivering organized, actionable notes in 14 different formats. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - YOUR AI-POWERED SECOND BRAIN Whether you're a professional drowning in meetings, a student racing to capture lectures, or someone who wants podcast insights without the hours - SpeakNotes transforms everything you hear into organized, actionable notes. Record, upload, share from any app, or paste a YouTube link. AI delivers results in seconds. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - POWERFUL CAPABILITIES TRANSCRIBE WITH PRECISION Advanced AI captures every word accurately. Support for 50+ languages - English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Portuguese, and more. SUMMARIZE INTELLIGENTLY Go beyond transcripts. AI extracts key points, action items, decisions, and insights - organized exactly the way you work. 14 OUTPUT FORMATS One recording, endless possibilities: - Meeting Notes: Decisions and action items with assignees - Bullet Points: Clean, organized takeaways - Flash Cards: Perfect for studying - Q&A Format: Question-answer pairs - Blog Post: Ready-to-publish articles - Presentation Slides: With speaker notes - Tweet Thread: Social media ready - LinkedIn Article: Professional posts - Book Summary: Themes and takeaways - Email Newsletter: Formatted and ready - Video Script: Scenes with visual cues - News Article: Journalistic format - Transcript: Full text with speakers - Note: Simple, clean summary PROCESS ANY SOURCE Upload any audio or video format. Record directly. Share from Voice Memos or any app. Paste a YouTube URL. Summarize PDFs and documents. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - PERFECT FOR PROFESSIONALS Transform meetings into actionable summaries. Capture every decision and action item. Share notes with your team instantly. STUDENTS Turn lectures into study-ready notes. Generate flash cards for exams. Key concepts highlighted, complex topics simplified. PODCAST LOVERS Conquer your podcast queue. Get insights from any episode without the full listen. Stay informed while saving time. YOUTUBE LEARNERS Summarize tutorials, talks, and educational content - just paste a link. Perfect for researchers and lifelong learners. CONTENT CREATORS Repurpose content effortlessly. Turn podcasts into blog posts, videos into tweets, interviews into articles. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - FEATURES - AI transcription with exceptional accuracy - 14 unique summary formats - YouTube processing - just paste the link - PDF and document summarization - Direct audio and video recording - Upload from device or cloud - Share extension for any app - 50+ language support - Folder organization - Full-text search - Export and share options - Cloud sync across devices - Dark mode - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - HOW IT WORKS 1. Record, upload, share, or paste a YouTube URL 2. Choose your output format 3. Get transcription and summary in seconds 4. Organize, search, and share - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hours of content. Minutes to understand. Seconds to summarize. Download SpeakNotes and transform everything you hear into insights you can act on. Terms of Use: https://speaknotes.io/terms Privacy Policy: https://speaknotes.io/privacy

Screenshots

Pdftool4 screens
SpeakNotes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: SpeakNotes at Free against Pdftool's $1.99. SpeakNotes also leads on rating (4.6 vs 1.0) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 6 weeks). Pdftool's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and ads (none vs shown). On device support 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

SpeakNotes is free to download; Pdftool costs $1.99 up front. SpeakNotes sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per 7 days. Pdftool asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

SpeakNotes holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SpeakNotes has 39 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pdftool ships an update every 6 weeks, SpeakNotes every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Pdftool versus SpeakNotes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPdftoolSpeakNotes
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating1.0 (1 ratings)4.6 (39 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—20.0% of reviews
Number of ratings139 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB85 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZhiguang HanJRL Software LTD

Customer experience

Pdftool

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

SpeakNotes

All ratings39 ratings
Positive87.2%
Neutral5.1%
Negative7.7%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive20.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative60.0%

In-app purchases

None

Pdftool

No in-app purchases

10 purchases

SpeakNotes

Subscriptions9
  • Pro (Weekly)7 Days trial$7.997 Days
  • Pro (Weekly)$7.997 Days
  • Pro (Weekly)$14.997 Days
Show 6 more
  • Pro (Monthly)7 Days trial$24.991 Month
  • Pro (Monthly)$24.991 Month
  • Pro (Monthly)$29.991 Month
  • Pro (Annual)$74.991 Year
  • Pro (Annual)7 Days trial$149.991 Year
  • Pro (Annual)$149.991 Year
One-time1
  • Pro (Lifetime)$99.99

Questions

Is Pdftool free?
Pdftool costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is SpeakNotes free?
SpeakNotes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Pdftool or SpeakNotes?
SpeakNotes is rated higher. Pdftool averages 1.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while SpeakNotes averages 4.6 from 39 ratings.
Do Pdftool or SpeakNotes have ads?
SpeakNotes shows ads; Pdftool does not.
Which is updated more often, Pdftool or SpeakNotes?
Pdftool ships an update every 6 weeks, and SpeakNotes every 5 days. Most recently, Pdftool was updated on November 2, 2026 and SpeakNotes on November 3, 2026.

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