# Adobe Scan vs PDF Maker

The clearest difference is update cadence: Adobe Scan at fortnightly against PDF Maker's every 5 months. Adobe Scan also leads on ratings volume (1.6M vs 85) and review sentiment (82% vs 61%). PDF Maker's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 18.0). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Adobe Scan sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and PDF Maker sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Adobe Scan holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Adobe Scan has 1.6M ratings behind it against 85, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 82% of Adobe Scan's written reviews are positive against 61% of PDF Maker's.

Adobe Scan ships an update fortnightly, PDF Maker every 5 months. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | Adobe Scan | PDF Maker |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.9 (1.6M ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/adobe-scan-pdf-and-doc-scanner/id1199564834/reviews)** | [4.7 (85 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdf-maker-scanner-and-convert/id1232567191/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **1.6M** | 85 |
| Positive reviews | **82.1% of reviews** | 61.4% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| Update frequency | **Fortnightly** | Every 5 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | **#11** | — |
| Size | 400 MB | 20 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | **12.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Adobe Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/331646274) | [Kruti Patel](https://appshunter.io/developer/1228160192) |

## What reviewers say

### Adobe Scan

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/adobe-scan-pdf-and-doc-scanner/id1199564834)

**Currently charting:** #11 Top Grossing · Business, #38 Top Free · Business (US App Store)

Transform your mobile device into a powerful document scanner. Easily convert paper documents, receipts, and IDs into professional-looking PDFs or JPEGs. Enhance scans with automatic straightening, stain removal, and editable text conversion.

**Highlights:** High-speed bulk scanning, Convert paper to PDF/JPEG, Automatic straightening, Magic eraser for cleanup, Extract pages, Image to text OCR, Organize into folders

**In-app purchases (13)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Adobe Scan Premium | $3.99 | per month |
| Adobe Scan Plus - Monthly | $4.99 | per month |
| Adobe PDF Pack | $9.99 | per month |
| Adobe Scan Premium - Monthly | $9.99 | per month |
| Adobe Scan Premium | $9.99 | per month |
| Scan premium - monthly | $14.99 | per month |
| Adobe Scan Plus - Yearly | $19.99 | per year |
| Adobe Scan Premium | $29.99 | per year |
| Adobe Scan Premium | $49.99 | per year |
| Adobe Scan Premium | $59.99 | per year |
| Adobe Scan Premium | $69.99 | per year |
| Adobe Scan Premium | $69.99 | per year |
| Adobe PDF Pack | $89.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Easy to use
- 👍 Intuitive interface
- 🚀 Quick scanning
- 👍 Convenient for on-the-go
- 🚀 High-quality scans

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional crashes or freezes
- 🐛 Issues with auto-cropping and alignment
- 🔒 Privacy concerns around cloud storage
- 💰 Expensive premium features

**Reported bugs**

- Scans not saving properly
- Compatibility issues with older devices
- Problems with multi-page document scanning

**Requested features**

- Add option to save scans locally without cloud sync
- Improve edge detection and auto-cropping accuracy
- Implement multi-language OCR support
- Allow manual control over scan settings and adjustments


### PDF Maker

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdf-maker-scanner-and-convert/id1232567191)

Easily transform your photos and scanned documents into professional PDF files. This app allows you to import images, scan documents with automatic edge detection, apply filters, and edit pages before sharing your creations via email and other platforms.

**Highlights:** Photo to PDF conversion, Built-in scanner with auto-cropping, Apply filters (B&W, Grayscale), Manual cropping, PDF page rotation and deletion, Insert pages into existing PDFs, Share PDFs via email

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Upgrade to Pro | $2.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Fast and efficient
- 🆓 Free to use (mostly)
- 👍 Intuitive interface
- 👍 Good for creating PDFs

**What reviewers complain about**

- 👎 Poor quality/resolution
- 👎 Images are cut off/cropped
- 👎 App crashes/closes unexpectedly
- 👎 Unusable after purchase
- 👎 Poor German translation

**Reported bugs**

- PDFs are cut off
- App crashes after purchase
- Trial version issues after upgrade
- App closes by itself
- Images are cut off in exported PDFs

**Requested features**

- Option to delete PDFs
- Adjust size for letter format


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Adobe Scan free?

Adobe Scan is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is PDF Maker free?

PDF Maker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Adobe Scan or PDF Maker?

Adobe Scan is rated higher. Adobe Scan averages 4.9 out of 5 from 1.6M ratings, while PDF Maker averages 4.7 from 85 ratings.

### Do Adobe Scan or PDF Maker have ads?

Both Adobe Scan and PDF Maker show ads.

### Which is updated more often, Adobe Scan or PDF Maker?

Adobe Scan ships an update fortnightly, and PDF Maker every 5 months. Most recently, Adobe Scan was updated on October 29, 2026 and PDF Maker on October 29, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*