Comparison

Elfinbook vs Scanner

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

Head to head
About

Elfinbook

Transform handwritten notes into digital text with this app. Scan, enhance, and organize your notes, then sync them to the cloud. It offers a paper-like writing experience with digital convenience.

Highlights
  • Mobile scanning with camera
  • Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
  • Digital pen and writing pad
  • Note organization and search
  • Cloud sync and auto-backup
  • PDF and JPEG export
Features
Read full description

Instantly transform your handwritten notes into clear-written images right in the power of your own hand! Here comes the ELFINBOOK app that goes hand in hand with your ELFINBOOK notebook. With notes written in your eco-friendly, reusable and waterproof notebook, automatically sync it in your choice of cloud services like Evernote, Google Drive, OneCloud and more. Whether you are a student, teacher, engineer, designer, writer or an artist, you’re going to need the ELFINBOOK to fully experience the power of your ELFINBOOK notebook. This user-friendly app makes accessing notes, capture thoughts and saving them much easier and more accessible. We bring you the pleasure of the paper and pen experience with the ease of technology much easier and more fun, we give you the ELFINBOOK App! ¬¬------ INTEGRATES THE USE OF CAMERA FOR MOBILE SCANNING -With the use of your smartphone’s camera, scan handwritten notes for a high-quality image. -You also have the choice of cropping and auto-enhancing to make the texts and graphics sharp and clear. RECOGNIZES TEXTS FROM IMAGES -The help of the new and improved Optical Character Recognition (OCR) feature extracts texts from sketches and illustrations that makes it easy to edit, revise and share. MARVEL IN THE PAPER AND PEN EXPERIENCE -You can add photos, capture handwritten notes, and type text through the app’s writing pad. -Bask in the variety of pens available for you to use! You have fountain pen, rollerball pen, and highlighter. -What’s more is that it has an auto-advancing zoom that you can use like how you write on paper. ORGANIZE, SEARCH AND SECURE NOTES -Organize your notes in an easy-tree diagram to aid you while studying. -Comes with a portal system that you can use to pin frequently-viewed documents and it automatically sends notes to the portal document section. -Easily search for your handwritten notes as the application uses OCR technology. -To ensure privacy on your mobile app, you can add a password to safeguard your notes. AUTO-BACKUP AND AUTOMATIC CLOUD SYNC -In order not to lose your notes, we added an automatic cloud sync and auto-backup so that you can access them in your devices and retrieve them while you study or while you work. -To view your saved notes, visit the ELFINBOOK website. SHARING YOUR IDEAS MADE EASY -You can easily download your notes as PDF or JPEG format and send them through Google Drive, Dropbox, Evernote, ICloud, OneNote, WeChat or Email. ------ CONTACT US Email: elfinbook@hzqihui.cn Website: www.elfinbook.com Follow us on Twitter @Elfinbook13 For more information about our reusable notebooks, please visit ELFINBOOK.com. If you have any concerns and feedback regarding our ELFINBOOK app, you can comment down below and we’ll do our best to improve the app for you.

About

Scanner

This app offers powerful document scanning with advanced image recognition for text extraction and translation. Easily create PDFs, scan IDs, and manage files efficiently for work or study.

Highlights
  • Fast document scanning
  • Automatic edge detection and cropping
  • Perspective correction
  • High-precision OCR text recognition
  • PDF file generation
  • Photo translation
  • ID scanning
Features
Read full description

Scanner is a powerful scanning software, provides document scanning, text recognition, document scanning, create PDF, photo translation and other practical functions. Software use of advanced image recognition technology, combined with automatic edge search, automatic cutting, perspective correction, can batch, fast, efficient processing of all kinds of documents, is your work, learning super good helper. Main function - Fast document scanning, automatic trimming, perspective correction, PDF editing kit available. - High precision character recognition technology, super recognition engine, fast recognition. - PDF file generation, automatic image batch conversion to PDF. - ID scanning, 1:1 reduction to A4 paper. - Batch export, copy and move - Photo translation, multi-language support. - Powerful file management. - Free to capture text content or individual areas on the picture. - Automatic segmentation, maximizing the restoration of original typesetting. Document scan Fast scan documents, automatic edge recognition, automatic clipping, perspective correction, provide a variety of filters for you to choose, one button generation of PDF format, support to add/remove watermark, adjust page number, size, set PDF open password, etc. OCR Recognition Using advanced image recognition technology (OCR), the text in the image is turned into editable content, which you can modify, copy, export, and translate into many languages at will. PDF generation To convert pictures taken or photos in albums to PDF format, you only need to set the conversion area, you can complete the automatic conversion. You can also export the converted PDF documents to your email, mobile phone, or major sharing platforms. ID scan Automatic scanning of various documents, 1:1 reduction to A4 paper, out to handle affairs, work and study necessary. Photo Translation Direct translation of photos or photo albums in the text content, support multiple languages, you can edit, save, share. Subscription specification If you confirm the purchase of the subscription product, iTunes will directly deduct the relevant subscription fee. If the subscription is not cancelled within 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period, the premium account will be automatically renewed for the next period. During the current subscription period, you cannot cancel the use of the current subscription period. You can manage or cancel the purchase through the Settings of your iTunes account. User Agreement: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Buffalo-tech/Buffalo-tech.github.io/refs/heads/main/UserAgreement_en Privacy Policy: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Buffalo-tech/Buffalo-tech.github.io/refs/heads/main/PrivacyPolicy_en Contact us Email address: qnscanner2021@163.com

Screenshots

Elfinbook4 screens
Scanner4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Scanner at 90% against Elfinbook's 38%. Scanner also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.4) and ratings volume (2.3K vs 353). Elfinbook's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 5 weeks) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 13). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Elfinbook sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Scanner sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Scanner holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Scanner has 2.3K ratings behind it against 353, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 38% of Elfinbook's written reviews are positive against 90% of Scanner's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Elfinbook ships an update every 2 weeks, Scanner every 5 weeks. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Elfinbook versus Scanner: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterElfinbookScanner
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (353 ratings)4.8 (2.3K ratings) — better
Positive reviews37.7% of reviews90.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3532.3K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.0 — better13
Further details — not scored
Size215 MB33 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHangzhou Qihui Technology Co., Ltd阳杰 刘

Customer experience

Elfinbook

All ratings353 ratings
Positive84.4%
Neutral5.7%
Negative9.9%
Written reviews114 reviews
Positive37.7%
Neutral14.9%
Negative47.4%

Scanner

All ratings2,255 ratings
Positive94.5%
Neutral1.9%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews62 reviews
Positive90.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative9.7%

User reviews

Elfinbook

From 353 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 💡 Innovative concept (notebook + app)
  • ♻️ Reusable notebook
  • ✍️ Good handwriting recognition (sometimes)
  • 📄 Scans documents well

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes
  • ❌ Login/signup issues
  • 📉 Poor OCR accuracy
  • ⏳ Slow performance
  • 💸 Premium features required

Scanner

From 2.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Fast scanning and text extraction
  • 💰 Free to use
  • 🌟 Great overall performance

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Concerns about privacy and security
  • 💰 Locked features behind paywall
  • 🐛 Reliability issues, app crashes or doesn't work
  • 🤖 Poor OCR accuracy, especially for Chinese text

Bugs and requests

Elfinbook

Reported bugs

87 issues
  • App crashes immediately upon opening
  • App crashes during launch
  • Cannot export to PDF
  • Batch scan is too slow
  • OCR text recognition does not work
Show 82 more
  • App crashes when trying to take pictures
  • Premium membership disappears after reinstallation
  • App crashes when moving pictures
  • App crashes when trying to write something
  • Slow upload to cloud
  • Cannot log in or sign up
  • Camera not working
  • App crashes when capturing a new page
  • App crashes when moving picture order
  • Lost notes after upgrade
  • Failed to upgrade data
  • App crashes when trying to scan
  • App crashes after update
  • OCR cannot recognize Russian
  • OCR only works with English
  • OCR produces gibberish for German
  • OCR scan takes too long
  • App does not recognize text
  • Flash control icon missing
  • App does not sync documents
  • OCR not working properly
  • App stretches documents to A4 size
  • Cannot turn flash on or off
  • App signs out every time it's closed
  • App does not remember login details
  • Cannot set phone and email under account
  • OCR is not great, requires editing
  • No return/enter to start a new line when editing notes
  • Cannot register as a user
  • App stops and cannot go back
  • Email error code during registration
  • Unable to connect during registration
  • No registered message when trying to log in
  • Camera never works
  • App won't start after reinstallation
  • Paid app is unusable
  • Lost data in the cloud
  • Cannot link with Evernote
  • Password for Evernote is incorrect
  • Corrupted documents in the app
  • Documents become unrecoverable
  • Recognition button thinks text is in different languages
  • Writing reappears after heating
  • App crashes when scanning
  • Lifetime membership not staying connected
  • App lags
  • Does not keep user signed in to premium account
  • Often will not log in at all
  • OCR unreadable even with best penmanship
  • Password lost and cannot reset
  • No help from support
  • App is confusing and difficult to use
  • iPhone XS Max unusable after update
  • Cannot bind phone number to app
  • Cannot type or use options for phone number binding
  • OCR function not found
  • App written in Chinese, no translation
  • Imported document never arrived
  • Writing fades away when touched too much
  • App is a cheap knockoff
  • App is an insult
  • Pages are soft and indent, cannot be reused
  • Sync issues
  • OCR is bad
  • App not intuitive
  • Customer service is terrible
  • Cannot change phone number easily
  • Notebook pages stain easily
  • App is unstable
  • Lost all work notes
  • App doesn't detect margins of pages
  • App doesn't work on certain pages
  • Software is atrocious
  • Software is a letdown
  • Picture editing is basic
  • App doesn't support Traditional Chinese OCR
  • App doesn't support Russian OCR
  • App crashes during installation
  • App doesn't work after last update
  • App cannot be opened after update
  • App doesn't work after update
  • Cannot register with phone number

Requested features

18 requests
  • Improved OCR accuracy
  • Faster batch scanning
  • Better language support for OCR
  • More intuitive UI
  • Smoother syncing
Show 13 more
  • Google Drive integration
  • iCloud sync for iOS
  • Ability to set destination folders for scans
  • Improved camera detection of borders
  • Dark mode
  • Ability to hear environmental information and read documents via camera (for visually impaired)
  • Automatic scanning when over the document
  • Spanish language support
  • Option to scan with or without black frame
  • Better customer service response
  • Ability to change phone number/email easily
  • More advanced picture editing options
  • Improved pen holder placement on notebook

Scanner

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Unable to scan documents properly
  • Charged for premium features without consent

Requested features

3 requests
  • Automatic image cropping
  • Integration with more cloud storage/email services
  • Improved OCR accuracy for different languages

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Elfinbook

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Premium$1.991 Month
  • Annually Premium3 Days trial$10.491 Year
One-time5
  • Elfinbook Premium One Month$0.99
  • 1GB Cloud Space$1.99
  • 1 Month$2.99
Show 2 more
  • Elfinbook Premium One Year$7.99
  • 12 Months$14.99
10 purchases

Scanner

Subscriptions7
  • Consecutive weekly3 Days trial$0.997 Days
  • Consecutive monthly$2.991 Month
  • Consecutive monthly$3.991 Month
Show 4 more
  • Consecutive quarter$7.993 Months
  • Continuous package year$14.991 Year
  • Consecutive year$25.491 Year
  • QNScanner+Consecutive year pro7 Days trial$30.991 Year
One-time3
  • 月度VIP$4.99
  • 2 years VIP$19.99
  • 终身VIP$29.99

Questions

Is Elfinbook free?
Elfinbook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Scanner free?
Scanner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Elfinbook or Scanner?
Scanner is rated higher. Elfinbook averages 4.4 out of 5 from 353 ratings, while Scanner averages 4.8 from 2.3K ratings.
Do Elfinbook or Scanner have ads?
Both Elfinbook and Scanner show ads.
Which is updated more often, Elfinbook or Scanner?
Elfinbook ships an update every 2 weeks, and Scanner every 5 weeks. Most recently, Elfinbook was updated on October 24, 2026 and Scanner on October 24, 2026.

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