Comparison

PDF Reader vs Compress PDF

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

Compress PDF

Read full description

Compress PDF — Shrink File Size, 100% On Your Device Is a PDF too large to email, upload, or submit? Compress PDF reduces file size in seconds, right on your iPhone or iPad — without ever sending your document to a server. COMMON PROBLEMS THIS SOLVES - An application portal rejects your file for exceeding its size limit - A form, registration, or submission system caps uploads at a few MB - Your email provider blocks large attachments - A scanned document or photo-heavy PDF is taking up way too much storage - You just want a faster, lighter file to share If any of that sounds familiar, Compress PDF fixes it in a few taps. 100% OFFLINE — NOTHING IS EVER UPLOADED Unlike most PDF compressor apps, which quietly send your files to a server to process them, Compress PDF works entirely on-device. Your contracts, IDs, scans, and personal documents never leave your phone. No account, no sign-up, no cloud dependency — just fast, private compression, even with no internet connection. 5 COMPRESSION LEVELS — PICK ONE, OR TAKE FULL CONTROL - High Quality — light compression, virtually no visible quality loss - Medium — balanced size reduction - Standard (Recommended) — a smart default so you don't have to think about it - Low Quality — maximum size reduction when you need the smallest file possible - Custom — full manual control over JPEG quality, image resolution/DPI, color mode (grayscale or black & white), metadata removal, thumbnail removal, and font optimization — with a live estimated size preview as you adjust Most competing apps give you a single "compress" button and hope for the best. Compress PDF gives you a real dial when you need one, so you can hit an exact size target for a strict upload portal instead of guessing. BATCH COMPRESS MULTIPLE PDFs AT ONCE Select several files and compress them together in a single batch job. A dedicated progress screen shows the true status of every file — waiting, compressing, done, failed, or skipped — instead of one vague spinner. When it's finished, Share All or Export All bundles every result into a single zip so you're not tapping through separate share sheets one file at a time. HANDLES PASSWORD-PROTECTED PDFs Locked PDF? The app detects it and asks for the password instead of silently failing partway through. A COMPLETE PDF WORKFLOW, NOT JUST A COMPRESSOR - Built-in viewer to preview any PDF before or after compressing — vertical or book-style scrolling, pinch-to-zoom, rotate, jump-to-page, print, and share - Export or Save to any location you choose — not locked into app-only storage - History tracks every compression with before/after size and % saved, searchable by name, with quick re-share, re-export, or delete BUILT FOR EVERYONE Available in 20 languages with full right-to-left support for Arabic and Urdu. Light, dark, and system themes, each fully designed. Set your default compression level once so returning visits don't require re-picking settings. WHO IT'S FOR - Students and professionals submitting documents with a strict size cap - Anyone emailing large scans, reports, or contracts - People freeing up storage without sacrificing document quality - Power users who want manual control over DPI, quality, and color — not just a black-box "compress" button Compress PDF is free to use, with ads. Pro is an auto-renewable subscription (in-app purchase) that removes all ads and lifts the batch-size limit for unlimited files per batch — support ongoing development and get early access to new features. Download Compress PDF and shrink your files in seconds — privately, offline, and exactly the way you want. Terms of use: https://codifyappsprivacy.blogspot.com/p/terms-of-use.html

Screenshots

PDF Reader4 screens
Compress PDF4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PDF Reader at none against Compress PDF's 3. PDF Reader also leads on ads (none vs shown). Compress PDF's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). On price, 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. Compress PDF sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days. PDF Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PDF Reader ships an update every 2 months, Compress PDF every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
PDF Reader versus Compress PDF: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPDF ReaderCompress PDF
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (3.9K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews76.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings3.9K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size173 MB33 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperWondershare Technology (Hunan) Co.,Ltd.Muhammad Awais Younas

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.)

Compress PDF

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

PDF Reader

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Compress PDF

Subscriptions3
  • Premium Week$2.997 Days
  • Premium Month$7.991 Month
  • Premium Year$49.991 Year

Questions

Is PDF Reader free?
PDF Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Compress PDF free?
Compress PDF is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do PDF Reader or Compress PDF have ads?
Compress PDF shows ads; PDF Reader does not.
Which is updated more often, PDF Reader or Compress PDF?
PDF Reader ships an update every 2 months, and Compress PDF every 3 weeks. Most recently, PDF Reader was updated on September 23, 2026 and Compress PDF on September 9, 2026.

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