Comparison

Reader vs PDF Vault

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

Head to head
About

Reader

This app provides a distraction-free reading and annotation experience for PDF documents on iOS. Seamlessly sync your annotated files with your Mac for further editing and workflow integration via iCloud.

Highlights
  • Distraction-free reading
  • PDF annotation
  • iCloud sync with Mac
  • Companion to macOS app
Read full description

The iOS companion to the macOS Reader PDF viewer. Here you can read with no distractions and annotated, then work further with your documents back on your Mac using iCloud.

About

PDF Vault

This ultra-lightweight application offers a comprehensive suite of PDF tools, including text-to-speech functionality, digital signing, document scanning, organization, and instant translation. It's designed for efficiency and ease of use, saving device space while enhancing productivity for work, study, or personal tasks.

Highlights
  • Text-to-speech for PDFs
  • Digital document signing
  • Scan paper documents to PDF
  • Organize and manage PDF files
  • Instant document translation
  • Ultra-lightweight and fast
Features
Read full description

Your private PDF workspace, built for people who take their documents seriously. Ask your PDFs questions, understand complex documents, translate, scan, sign, listen, and manage your files in one lightweight app. PDF Vault combines powerful PDF tools with a privacy-first approach: your documents stay on your device. ASK YOUR PDF ANYTHING Have a long report, contract, research paper, manual, or other document? Just ask. Ask PDF lets you ask questions about the content of your document and get answers based on the information inside it. Find important details, understand complex sections, summarize information, and explore your documents without searching through page after page. Your documents stay private and are processed on your device. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Your documents are personal. PDF Vault is designed with privacy at its core. Your PDF data never leaves your device. No document uploads are required for the core PDF experience. Your files remain under your control while you work with them. ALL THE PDF TOOLS YOU NEED Listen to PDFs Turn your documents into spoken audio with built-in text-to-speech. Listen while working, commuting, studying, or simply when you prefer to hear rather than read. Translate PDFs Translate documents and understand content in other languages without leaving your PDF workspace. Scan documents Turn paper documents into digital PDFs using your device camera. Built-in OCR helps make scanned documents searchable and usable. Sign PDFs Sign documents quickly and conveniently. Add your signature and complete documents without printing them. Read and organize Open, read, manage, and organize your PDF files in a clean, focused workspace designed to stay out of your way. LIGHTWEIGHT AND FOCUSED PDF Vault is built to give you the tools you actually need without turning your device into a document-management maze. Whether you are working with contracts, invoices, academic papers, reports, forms, manuals, or personal documents, PDF Vault keeps everything you need close at hand. FOR WORK, STUDY, AND EVERYDAY DOCUMENTS Use PDF Vault at work to understand reports and contracts. Use it at university to explore research papers and study materials. Use it at home to manage forms, manuals, receipts, and other important documents. ONE PRIVATE WORKSPACE FOR YOUR PDFs Read. Ask. Translate. Scan. Sign. Listen. Organize. PDF Vault brings essential PDF tools together while keeping privacy at the center of the experience. PDF Vault Unlimited gives you unlimited access to all PDF Vault features while directly supporting our mission to provide the best privacy-first PDF tool where your data never leaves your device. Terms of Service: https://macmonsters.com/pdf-reader-terms-of-service.html

Screenshots

Reader2 screens
PDF Vault2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Reader at weekly against PDF Vault's fortnightly. Reader also leads on device support (5 vs 3) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 18.1). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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. Reader sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and PDF Vault sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Reader ships an update weekly, PDF Vault fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Reader versus PDF Vault: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterReaderPDF Vault
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews55.6% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyWeekly — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS14.0 — better18.1
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperThe Augmented Text Company LTDDmytro Skorokhod

Customer experience

Reader

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews27 reviews
Positive55.6%
Neutral14.8%
Negative29.6%

PDF Vault

Written reviews6 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral16.7%
Negative33.3%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Reader

One-time1
  • Ask AI Subscription$1.99
2 purchases

PDF Vault

Subscriptions2
  • Mox PDF Tool Unlimited Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Mox PDF Tool Unlimited Annually7 Days trial$19.991 Year

Questions

Is Reader free?
Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PDF Vault free?
PDF Vault is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Reader or PDF Vault have ads?
Neither Reader nor PDF Vault shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Reader or PDF Vault?
Reader ships an update weekly, and PDF Vault fortnightly. Most recently, Reader was updated on September 27, 2026 and PDF Vault on September 26, 2026.

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