Comparison

PDF Reader vs ApowerPDF Editor

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

ApowerPDF Editor

Easily modify PDF documents on your mobile device. Edit text, change fonts, manage images, and organize pages. Save your work to the cloud for access across devices.

Highlights
  • Edit PDF text and fonts
  • Add, rotate, and resize images
  • Manage PDF pages (add, delete, reorder)
  • Save documents to cloud storage
  • View PDF content with thumbnail navigation
Features
Read full description

ApowerPDF Editor is exactly what you need to modify PDF documents on the go and improve productivity for your study and work. With ApowerPDF Editor you can: Modify PDF without Hassle - Tap anywhere to edit PDF text. - Change PDF font and color. - Cut, copy, paste and delete text in a PDF. - Add, rotate, replace, and delete PDF images. - Adjust PDF image size with pinch-to-zoom gesture. Manage PDF Pages with One Tap - Add blank PDF pages to a PDF document. - Rotate and delete PDF pages. - Drag and drop to move PDF pages. Save PDF to Cloud With this PDF editor’s VIP account, you can not only save the document to your iOS devices, but also store it to our cloud service. It allows you to log in to your account on any mobile device to get the saved document and continue to work on it. View PDF Content Using this PDF reader, you can browse through your PDF documents, and also jump to a specified page by tapping the thumbnail. This PDF editor currently only supports editing native PDF documents, so if your files are scanned PDF or created from images, the content in the PDF cannot be modified. Thank you! If you need any help or have any advice for us, please contact us! We'll feedback to you ASAP. Support: https://www.apowersoft.com/support/ Forum: https://www.apowersoft.com/community/ Feedback: https://www.apowersoft.com/support/submit-ticket/ Terms of Use: https://www.apowersoft.com/terms If you think this app helps you, your positive a review would be much appreciated. Follow us on social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/apowersoft Twitter: https://twitter.com/apowersoft YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCokXyc9VxEx1KvbJlrcp6zw

Screenshots

PDF Reader4 screens
ApowerPDF Editor4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: PDF Reader at 77% against ApowerPDF Editor's 31%. PDF Reader also leads on rating (4.3 vs 1.8) and in-app purchases (none vs 4). ApowerPDF Editor's advantage is update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 2 months) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads and 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

Both are free to download. ApowerPDF Editor sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. PDF Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PDF Reader holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 1.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PDF Reader has 3.9K ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 77% of PDF Reader's written reviews are positive against 31% of ApowerPDF Editor's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PDF Reader ships an update every 2 months, ApowerPDF Editor every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
PDF Reader versus ApowerPDF Editor: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPDF ReaderApowerPDF Editor
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (3.9K ratings) — better1.8 (5 ratings)
Positive reviews76.7% of reviews — better31.3% of reviews
Number of ratings3.9K — better5
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 4 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size173 MB82 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperWondershare Technology (Hunan) Co.,Ltd.Wangxu Technology Co., Ltd

Customer experience

PDF Reader

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

ApowerPDF Editor

All ratings5 ratings
Positive20.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative80.0%
Written reviews32 reviews
Positive31.3%
Neutral9.4%
Negative59.4%

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.)

ApowerPDF Editor

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

PDF Reader

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

ApowerPDF Editor

Subscriptions2
  • PDF Editor Monthly Bundle Plan$2.991 Month
  • PDF Editor Yearly Bundle Plan$6.991 Year
One-time2
  • PDF Editor (Monthly)$3.99
  • PDF Editor (Yearly)$9.99

Questions

Is PDF Reader free?
PDF Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ApowerPDF Editor free?
ApowerPDF Editor is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, PDF Reader or ApowerPDF Editor?
PDF Reader is rated higher. PDF Reader averages 4.3 out of 5 from 3.9K ratings, while ApowerPDF Editor averages 1.8 from 5 ratings.
Do PDF Reader or ApowerPDF Editor have ads?
Neither PDF Reader nor ApowerPDF Editor shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PDF Reader or ApowerPDF Editor?
PDF Reader ships an update every 2 months, and ApowerPDF Editor every 4 weeks. Most recently, PDF Reader was updated on October 11, 2026 and ApowerPDF Editor on October 10, 2026.

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