PDF Reader vs UPDF
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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.
UPDF
This app is a powerful PDF editor for mobile devices, offering AI-powered features for summarizing, translating, and chatting with documents. It allows users to read, edit, annotate, convert, and sign PDFs, as well as scan paper documents into editable files. Manage all your PDF files and protect them with security features.
- AI-powered summarization and translation
- Edit text, images, and watermarks in PDFs
- Annotate with various markup tools
- Convert PDFs to Word, Excel, and PPT
- Scan documents to editable PDFs
- Sign and fill PDF forms
- Organize and protect PDF files
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UPDF for iOS is an AI-powered PDF editor for iPhone and iPad. Read, edit, annotate, convert, sign, and AI chat with your PDFs — all from your iOS device. Summarize lengthy documents, translate full PDFs, scan paper to PDF, and manage all your files in one place. Amazing features of UPDF for iOS: Edit PDF - Edit text in PDF (change color, font style, font size) - Edit images in PDF (rotate, extract, replace, and crop images) - Edit watermark in PDF (add, edit, delete and favor watermark) - Edit links in PDF (add, edit, copy, and delete) AI Assistant - Summarize, translate, explain, and rephrase lengthy PDFs in minutes. - Engage in a chat with UPDF AI and ask it any questions you have. - Summarize or translate PDF by pages. - Export conversations to Markdown or TXT files. - NEW AI Bookmark Agent: Auto-generate bookmarks and get instant section summaries for any PDF. - NEW AI Semantic Search: Search your PDF by meaning, not just exact words. - NEW AI Editing Suite: Rewrite, refine tone, or correct grammar directly. Read PDF - Flexible reading: vertical and horizontal scrolling, single page or two-page view - Dark mode to protect your eyes - Add and manage bookmarks with AI Bookmark Agent's help - Search text in PDF - Present PDF as a slideshow - Text-to-speech support Annotate PDF - Annotate PDFs using markup tools: pencil, highlight, underline, strikethrough, squiggly line - Add text boxes, text comments, callouts, sticky notes - Add shapes, stamps, and stickers to PDFs - Free-hand drawing on PDF pages OCR PDF - Convert scanned documents and images into searchable and editable PDFs - Recognize text in 38 languages Scan to PDF - Scan physical documents to PDF with your camera - Scan ID cards onto one page - Crop, rotate, and filter scanned images Convert PDF - Convert PDF to Word, Excel, PPT, and images Organize PDF Pages - Insert, replace, extract, split, rotate, remove, and reorder pages in PDFs - Merge multiple PDFs into one file - Copy, paste, and share specific pages in a PDF Sign PDF & Fill PDF Form - Create handwritten signatures - Import and add image signatures - Fill PDF form and add e-signatures - Save signatures to cloud for cross-platform use Create PDF - Create PDF with blank, lined, dotted, grid, and graph papers - Combine multiple files/images into one PDF Protect PDF - Password-protect PDFs to restrict opening, editing, and printing - Add or remove watermarks - Add digital signatures Manage Files - Upload, create, rename, move, copy, duplicate, and organize files or folders - Unzip files by simply tapping .zip files - Search for files - Supports two-finger multiple selections and operations - Move files or folders to trash, and find deleted items in the trash - Protect PDF files with a password or unlock protected PDF files - Compress one or multiple files into a zip file Security Space - Protect your privacy by moving files or folders to Security Space - Enable Face ID & Passcode to access your Security Space Import File - Import files from Photos albums - Import files from the Files App - Transfer files from a computer over the same Wi-Fi View files in All Formats - Browse dozens of different file formats including PDFs, Office documents (.doc, .docx, .ppt, .pptx, .xls, .xlsx), Pages, Keynotes, and Numbers with a single app - Open other formats such as text, HTML, XML, Web Archive, Images (JPG, JPEG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, SVG, BMP), video, audio *** Pro Features of In-App Purchase *** - Use UPDF across all platforms including desktops and mobiles - Free Users will get 1 GB of Cloud Storage; Paid users will get 10 GB of Cloud Storage for free - Advanced PDF features such as Convert PDF with OCR, batch process, etc. are available on the desktop - Unlimited use of Scan to PDF (Free trial only scans up to 5 pages) - Unlimited use of Security Space (Trial version stores up to 10 items) - Secure App with passcode/TouchID/FaceID Need help? Email us at support@superace.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PDF Reader at none against UPDF's 13. PDF Reader also leads on ratings volume (3.9K vs 694). UPDF's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months) and rating (4.6 vs 4.3). On price, review sentiment, 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
Both are free to download. UPDF sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. PDF Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.
UPDF holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PDF Reader has 3.9K ratings behind it against 694, 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 84% of UPDF's.
PDF Reader ships an update every 2 months, UPDF fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PDF Reader | UPDF |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (3.9K ratings) | 4.6 (694 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 76.7% of reviews | 84.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 3.9K — better | 694 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 173 MB | 195 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Wondershare Technology (Hunan) Co.,Ltd. | Superace Software Technology Co., Ltd. |
Customer experience
PDF Reader
UPDF
User reviews
PDF Reader
From 3.9K App Store ratingsWhat 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
UPDF
From 694 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Excellent PDF editor
- 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
- 🔒 Secure file management
- 💡 Powerful features like AI-powered summarization
- 🚀 Fast and responsive performance
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes or stability issues
- 💡 Need for more customization options
- 💡 Lack of integration with third-party cloud storage
- 🐛 Issues with handwriting recognition and annotation
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.)
UPDF
Reported bugs
3 issues- Inability to edit text directly in PDF files
- Inconsistent behavior when switching between devices
- Occasional loss of editing progress when app is minimized
Requested features
5 requests- Add password protection for PDF files
- Improve file organization and folder management
- Implement keyboard shortcuts for power users
- Expand OCR capabilities and text extraction
- Allow custom signature and stamp imports
In-app purchases
PDF Reader
No in-app purchases
UPDF
- Monthly Subscription$9.991 Month
- UPDF AI Unlimited$15.001 Month
- UPDF AI Standard$15.001 Month
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- UPDF Pro + AI Unlimited$18.991 Month
- Quarterly Subscription$19.003 Months
- Annual Subscription$49.991 Year
- UPDF AI Standard$69.001 Year
- UPDF AI Unlimited$79.001 Year
- UPDF Pro + AI Standard$98.991 Year
- UPDF Pro + AI Unlimited$118.991 Year
- Perpetual License$79.99
- Perpetual License$128.99
- UPDF & AI Add-on for iOS$148.99






