Comparison

Adobe Scan vs PDF Maker

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

Head to head
About

Adobe Scan

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
Read full description

Major update: The new Digitize tool lets you scan handwritten notes and whiteboards into editable, searchable documents that look digitally created. Currently available in beta. Adobe Scan is free to download and turns your mobile device into a powerful PDF and document scanner that helps you create, save, and organize your paper documents as digital files. 6 WAYS TO USE ADOBE SCAN 1) Save time with a fast document scanner: Use High-speed scan to bulk scan documents and turn stacks into PDFs in seconds. 2) Clean up scans with Magic eraser: Auto-detect and remove thumbs, shadows, stains and creases so your document scans look clear and professional. 3) Make a PDF with your phone: Convert paper documents or printed images into PDFs or JPEGs with the mobile PDF and photo scanner. 4) Use the Extract pages tool to choose the pages you need from any multi-page scan and save them as a new PDF. 5) Turn images to text: Use the image-to-text feature to make words in your scans searchable and editable with OCR. 6) Scan anything: Receipts, IDs, notes, recipes, photos, business cards, whiteboards – scan documents into PDF or JPEG files you can work with on your phone, tablet, or computer. CAPTURE WITH PRECISION • The Straighten tool fixes pages that come out curved or tilted while you scan, even if all four corners aren’t visible in the scan. • Advanced scanning technology detects borders, sharpens content, and makes your scans editable and searchable. ENHANCE YOUR SCANS • Edit in text lets you scan words, and handwritten text, to make it editable. • The Modify tool helps you crop, rotate, resize, and adjust colors in your scans. • Reorder pages and preview before saving. • Adjust the brightness and contrast of your scans in just a few taps. ORGANIZE YOUR DOCUMENTS • Scan paperwork and create custom folders for work documents, personal files, school forms, or ID scans. • Contact details are pulled straight from business cards so you can save them to your phone contacts in seconds. • Scans are automatically saved to Adobe Document Cloud for instant access and sharing. • Set a password to keep that important scan secure while you send it. SMART LIBRARY • This powerful doc scanner finds documents and receipts in your photo library and turns them into PDFs. • Touch up scans or photos directly from your camera roll. REUSE & SHARE • Open PDFs directly in Adobe Scan, without leaving the app. Then use tools like Modify, Edit, and Share. • Make high-quality PDFs that unlock text from images – from scanned contracts to study notes – so you can copy, edit, and reuse. • Export your scans to Word, Excel, or PowerPoint for new formats, then share. DO MORE WITH ACROBAT READER • Open your PDF scan in Acrobat Reader to comment, highlight, fill forms, and sign documents. • Access and share securely across Scan, Reader, and Acrobat on web and mobile. IN-APP PURCHASE • Subscribe for even more scanning power. Subscriptions work across Scan and Reader mobile apps and Acrobat on the web. • Combine scans into one file so you can take multiple scans and consolidate into one document. • Increase OCR capacity from 5 to 100 pages so that you can find text in multiple images. Download this free mobile scanner to convert important photos and documents into PDF and JPEG files to help you stay organized. Adobe Scan is the PDF converter trusted by millions worldwide. Terms & Conditions: Your use of this application is governed by the Adobe General Terms of Use http://www.adobe.com/go/terms_linkfree_en and the Adobe Privacy Policy http://www.adobe.com/go/privacy_policy_linkfree_en Do not sell or share my personal information www.adobe.com/go/ca-rights-linkfree

About

PDF Maker

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
Read full description

PDF Maker is a PDF converter app that will help you capture Photos and Import from Photo Library and convert it into PDF documents. With this app you can scan various images and create your own PDF file. After create PDF file you can share it via Email and many more options. * Built in Scanner. - Scan document automatically and crop document by detecting the document edge. * Apply filter. - By filter option apply coloured photo to Black & white and Grayscale. * Crop. - Manually crop the document. * Annotation. - Apply diffrent type of annotation on PDF. *PDF Option. - Rotate PDF Page. - Insert blank page or add page from files app. - Insert scan page into existing PDF. - Delete PDF Page. - Copy PDF Page. More than 500 photos convert into single PDF at a time. It's free app. Convert unlimited Photos to PDF Document. # AVAILABLE IN 11 DIFFERENT LANGUAGE English, Español, Français, Deutsch, Português (Br.),Português, Italiano, 中文 (Simplified), Русский, 日本語, 한국어

Screenshots

Adobe Scan4 screens
PDF Maker4 screens

Verdict

The call

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.

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. 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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

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

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Adobe Scan versus PDF Maker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAdobe ScanPDF Maker
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (1.6M ratings) — better4.7 (85 ratings)
Positive reviews82.1% of reviews — better61.4% of reviews
Number of ratings1.6M — better85
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 5 months
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#11 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size400 MB20 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAdobe Inc.Kruti Patel

Customer experience

Adobe Scan

All ratings1,601,238 ratings
Positive97.6%
Neutral1.3%
Negative1.1%
Written reviews3,985 reviews
Positive82.1%
Neutral3.0%
Negative14.9%

PDF Maker

All ratings85 ratings
Positive92.9%
Neutral1.2%
Negative5.9%
Written reviews57 reviews
Positive61.4%
Neutral5.3%
Negative33.3%

User reviews

Adobe Scan

From 1.6M App Store ratings

What we love

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

Room to improve

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

PDF Maker

From 85 App Store ratings

What we love

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

Room to improve

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

Bugs and requests

Adobe Scan

Reported bugs

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

Requested features

4 requests
  • 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

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • PDFs are cut off
  • App crashes after purchase
  • Trial version issues after upgrade
  • App closes by itself
  • Images are cut off in exported PDFs
Show 2 more
  • App crashes
  • App closes after error message to buy paid version

Requested features

2 requests
  • Option to delete PDFs
  • Adjust size for letter format

In-app purchases

13 purchases

Adobe Scan

Subscriptions13
  • Adobe Scan Premium$3.991 Month
  • Adobe Scan Plus - Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Adobe PDF Pack$9.991 Month
Show 10 more
  • Adobe Scan Premium - Monthly7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Adobe Scan Premium$9.991 Month
  • Scan premium - monthly$14.991 Month
  • Adobe Scan Plus - Yearly$19.991 Year
  • Adobe Scan Premium7 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Adobe Scan Premium7 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Adobe Scan Premium7 Days trial$59.991 Year
  • Adobe Scan Premium7 Days trial$69.991 Year
  • Adobe Scan Premium1 Year trial$69.991 Year
  • Adobe PDF Pack$89.991 Year
1 purchases

PDF Maker

One-time1
  • Upgrade to Pro$2.99

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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