Comparison

PDF Reader vs Printer Pilot

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

Printer Pilot

Features
Read full description

Paper in, answers out. Printer Pilot scans, prints, edits and actually understands your documents. PRINT WITHOUT THE DANCE Send PDFs, documents and photos to any AirPrint or Wi-Fi printer near you. Pick paper size, orientation, copies and page range, check the preview, done. No drivers, no desktop. SCAN LIKE YOU MEAN IT Point the camera at any page. Edges snap into place, shadows are lifted, and multi-page documents stay in order. Import PDFs and photos too - everything becomes a clean, searchable PDF thanks to on-device text recognition. ASK YOUR DOCUMENTS QUESTIONS This is where Printer Pilot stops being just a scanner. Summarize a 40-page lease in one tap using your monthly AI credits - every account gets 50 free each month. Premium unlocks chat with any document (answers grounded in what it actually says), structured extraction of dates, amounts and parties, and smart naming that files "IMG_2041" as "Lease Agreement - Riverside Apt". A REAL PDF TOOLKIT (PREMIUM) Fill and sign with a drawn or typed signature. Edit text, white out what should not be there, stamp what should. Merge files, reorder pages, rotate, delete. Build contracts from templates and export them ready to send. A LIBRARY THAT FOLLOWS YOU Your documents, organized and backed up with iCloud. Premium adds cloud sync across devices. FREE AND PREMIUM Scanning, printing and your library are free, with 50 AI credits monthly. Printer Pilot Premium is a monthly auto-renewing subscription that adds 1,500 monthly AI credits, document chat, smart naming, structured extraction, the full PDF toolkit and cloud sync. The exact price for your region is shown before you subscribe. Payment is charged to your Apple ID account; the subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in Settings. Privacy: https://printerpilot.app/privacy Terms: https://printerpilot.app/terms Support: https://printerpilot.app/support

Screenshots

PDF Reader4 screens
Printer Pilot4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PDF Reader at none against Printer Pilot's 2. Printer Pilot's advantage is update cadence (every 8 days vs every 2 months). On price, ads, 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. Printer Pilot sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. PDF Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PDF Reader ships an update every 2 months, Printer Pilot every 8 days. Both last shipped on October 14, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
PDF Reader versus Printer Pilot: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPDF ReaderPrinter Pilot
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (3.9K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews76.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings3.9K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 8 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size173 MB101 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperWondershare Technology (Hunan) Co.,Ltd.Sohaib Ali

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.)

Printer Pilot

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

PDF Reader

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Printer Pilot

Subscriptions2
  • Printer Pilot Premium7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Printer Pilot Yearly Premium7 Days trial$99.991 Year

Questions

Is PDF Reader free?
PDF Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Printer Pilot free?
Printer Pilot is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do PDF Reader or Printer Pilot have ads?
Neither PDF Reader nor Printer Pilot shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PDF Reader or Printer Pilot?
PDF Reader ships an update every 2 months, and Printer Pilot every 8 days. Most recently, PDF Reader was updated on October 14, 2026 and Printer Pilot on October 14, 2026.

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