Comparison

PDF Reader vs Lumin

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

Head to head
About

PDF Reader

This app offers a superior PDF reading experience with its innovative Liquid Mode, which optimizes documents for mobile screens. It also provides robust tools for annotating, signing, managing, and sharing your PDF files, catering to both work and study needs.

Highlights
  • Liquid Mode for optimized mobile reading
  • Annotation tools (pencil, text, highlighting)
  • Handwritten signature insertion
  • File management (move, merge, copy, delete)
  • Cloud service integration (Wondershare, iCloud)
  • Create blank PDFs and folders
Features
Read full description

PDFelement - PDF Reader is a PDF reader using the latest technology. The newly connected Liquid Mode function allows you to enjoy the best reading experience. In addition, there are various annotation tools, file management, signature, Various functions such as cloud services can meet your PDF needs in work and study. PDF VIEWER • Liquid Mode gives you the best PDF reading experience • Star files to find them quickly • Easily locate recently accessed files in the "Recent" list. • Enter the page number to navigate to the desired page for viewing LIQUID MODE • Get the best PDF Reading experience with Liquid Mode • PDF document fully fits the mobile phone screen, no need to zoom in and out repeatedly. • Easily adjust brightness, font size,style, and spacing. ANNOTATE • Using Pencil to annotate like writing on the paper • Add text annotations, freely modify the text and background, border colors, choose the appropriate font and font size. • Supports many annotating tools like highlighting, underlining, squiggly lines, or strikethroughs. MANAGE • Move, merge, copy or delete files SIGNATURE • Enables handwritten signatures to be inserted anywhere within the document, while also offering the ability to zoom in and out for greater flexibility. • Built-in commonly used stamps CREATE • Quickly create completely blank PDF documents • Creat blank folders. SHARE • Sharing document content with others is just a click away with capture feature. • Select sentence(s) or pragraph(s) to share CLOUD SERVICE • PDF Reader supports uploading or downloading docs via computer, Wondershare document cloud and iCloud. Please note that this app only supports editing native PDF files. It does not support editing scanned or raster PDF. If you find you cannot edit text in PDF, please check if it is scanned PDF. Thank you! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Need HELP? Please contact us! We'll feedback to you ASAP. Email: pdfelement@wondershare.com Support Center: http://support.wondershare.com Forum: http://forum.pdf.wondershare.com Official Website: https://pdf.wondershare.com If you think this App helps you, your positive review in the App Store would be much appreciated.

About

Lumin

Edit, share, and collaborate on PDF documents in the cloud. This app offers a suite of tools for annotating, organizing, and signing PDFs, with seamless integration for cloud storage and real-time collaboration.

Highlights
  • Seamless document management
  • Cloud integration and auto-save
  • Versatile editing and annotation tools
  • Document organization and conversion
  • Pre-designed templates
  • Real-time collaboration
  • eSignatures and form filling
  • Scanning to PDF
Features
Read full description

Lumin for iOS allows you to edit and sync to your Google documents in seconds. Collaborate with colleagues in real-time with a diverse set of editing tools. Lumin auto-saves your changes and syncs them to all your devices. Connect your Google account and stay on top of your documents. You can effortlessly view and share files with anybody via email or shareable links. TRUSTED BY MILLIONS Join over 100 million Lumin users worldwide who use our app to edit, share, and collaborate in the cloud. From note-taking and project management to client onboarding and legal document review, Lumin empowers you across industries. KEY FEATURES - Seamless document management: Import from your favorite storage (Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive), edit, and share PDFs effortlessly. - Cloud integration: Automatically save changes and sync across devices. - Versatile editing tools: Highlight, annotate, draw on PDFs and more. - Document organization: Organize, extract pages, merge files, convert to/from PDF,... - Pre-designed templates: Choose from various templates for various purposes and industries, such as real estate, education, job application, etc. - Collaboration: Share files and receive real-time notifications. - eSignatures: Sign and fill out forms with ease. - Scanning: Convert paper documents into portable PDFs. LUMIN IN THE REVIEWS “I use Lumin to mark up PDF drawings and send them to my subcontractors. In my role, time is of the essence. Lumin provides me with a tool to make collaboration and feedback easy.” – Construction site manager, US “We have been using Lumin for a little over two years, and it's been amazing. Using Lumin on-the-go and in-office allows us better turnaround time for our patients' care.” – Director of Services and Operations, US “It s very useful and handful for studying and I feel like they make good improvements with each upgrade. I use it for studying, it's cool that I can connect my university Google Drive to the Lumin account and I can edit, draw, write, highlight and add comments and they always get saved.” – Individual user “Too loud. You can open and edit texts from any device, everything is saved automatically, quickly. Access is very fast. The options for editing documents are diverse.” – Individual user Terms & conditions: https://www.luminpdf.com/terms-of-use/

Screenshots

PDF Reader4 screens
Lumin4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: PDF Reader at 77% against Lumin's 32%. PDF Reader also leads on ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). Lumin's advantage is update cadence (every 8 days vs every 2 months) and rating (4.5 vs 4.3). 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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Lumin holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3.9K and 895 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 77% of PDF Reader's written reviews are positive against 32% of Lumin's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PDF Reader ships an update every 2 months, Lumin every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
PDF Reader versus Lumin: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPDF ReaderLumin
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (3.9K ratings)4.5 (895 ratings) — better
Positive reviews76.7% of reviews — better32.5% of reviews
Number of ratings3.9K — better895
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 8 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.6
Further details — not scored
Size173 MB343 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperWondershare Technology (Hunan) Co.,Ltd.Nitrolabs Limited

Customer experience

PDF Reader

All ratings3,923 ratings
Positive83.1%
Neutral3.2%
Negative13.7%
Written reviews1,582 reviews
Positive76.7%
Neutral6.1%
Negative17.2%

Lumin

All ratings895 ratings
Positive87.3%
Neutral2.1%
Negative10.6%
Written reviews191 reviews
Positive32.5%
Neutral5.2%
Negative62.3%

User reviews

PDF Reader

From 3.9K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Efficient PDF editing
  • 💡 Useful annotation tools
  • 🚀 Convenient for students/professionals
  • 👍 Great value for free app

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and glitches
  • 🔒 Privacy concerns with account requirement
  • 👎 Unintuitive user interface
  • 🐛 Unreliable saving/syncing
  • 👎 Limited functionality compared to paid version

Lumin

From 895 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Smooth performance
  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 💡 Useful annotation tools
  • 🚀 Fast PDF rendering

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and freezes
  • 🔒 Unreliable data sync
  • 💰 Expensive subscription
  • 🐛 Buggy app experience

Bugs and requests

PDF Reader

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Text boxes appearing randomly
  • Inability to select/edit text in some PDFs
  • Scrolling issues and page loading delays
  • Incompatibility with certain PDF formats

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to edit text formatting (font, size, color)
  • Support for multiple open documents
  • Improved Apple Pencil integration
  • Bookmark/favorite feature for frequently used PDFs
  • Expanded cloud storage integration (OneDrive, Google Drive, etc.)

Lumin

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Lost work and unsaved changes
  • Inability to open/access files
  • Frequent login issues
  • Compatibility problems on mobile

Requested features

4 requests
  • Offline mode support
  • Split-screen functionality
  • Improved highlight/annotation tools
  • Better Google Drive integration

In-app purchases

None

PDF Reader

No in-app purchases

None

Lumin

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is PDF Reader free?
PDF Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Lumin free?
Lumin is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, PDF Reader or Lumin?
Lumin is rated higher. PDF Reader averages 4.3 out of 5 from 3.9K ratings, while Lumin averages 4.5 from 895 ratings.
Do PDF Reader or Lumin have ads?
Lumin shows ads; PDF Reader does not.
Which is updated more often, PDF Reader or Lumin?
PDF Reader ships an update every 2 months, and Lumin every 8 days. Most recently, PDF Reader was updated on September 23, 2026 and Lumin on September 21, 2026.

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