# Adobe Scan vs PDF Scanner App

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Adobe Scan at 83% against PDF Scanner App's 28%. Adobe Scan also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.5) and ratings volume (1.6M vs 6.3K). PDF Scanner App's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.0). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Adobe Scan sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and PDF Scanner App sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Adobe Scan holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Adobe Scan has 1.6M ratings behind it against 6.3K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 83% of Adobe Scan's written reviews are positive against 28% of PDF Scanner App's.

Adobe Scan ships an update fortnightly, PDF Scanner App every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Adobe Scan | PDF Scanner App |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.9 (1.6M ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/adobe-scan-pdf-and-ocr-scanner/id1199564834/reviews)** | [4.5 (6.3K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdf-scanner-app-scan-document/id1414756292/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **1.6M** | 6.3K |
| Positive reviews | **82.6% of reviews** | 27.8% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| Update frequency | **Fortnightly** | Every 3 weeks |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | **#11** | — |
| Size | 398 MB | 92 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | **13.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Adobe Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/331646274) | [Smart Tool Studio](https://appshunter.io/developer/1080080426) |

## What reviewers say

### Adobe Scan

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

**Currently charting:** #11 Top Grossing · Business, #33 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 (12)**

| 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 | $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 Scanner App

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdf-scanner-app-scan-document/id1414756292)

Transform your phone into a powerful mobile scanner. Quickly scan, sign, and share documents in various formats. Features OCR, QR code scanning, and robust editing tools for professional document management.

**Highlights:** Scan documents to PDF, JPEG, TXT, OCR for text recognition, QR code and barcode scanning, Electronic signature addition, Document editing and cropping, Cloud storage integration, File management with PIN protection

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

**In-app purchases (10)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Fax Premium (One Month) | $4.99 | per month |
| Premium (One Week) | $6.99 | per 7 days |
| Premium (One Month) | $7.99 | per month |
| One Month -PDFScanner Premium | $9.99 | per month |
| One Month -eScanner Premium | $9.99 | per month |
| Promotion PDF subscription | $19.99 | per year |
| Fax Premium (One Year) | $47.99 | per year |
| Scanner APP Premium | $59.99 | per year |
| One Year -PDFScanner Premium | $59.99 | per year |
| Lifetime-PDFScanner Purchase | $69.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- ⭐ Excellent scanning quality
- 📝 Useful text recognition
- 🔍 Convenient document management

**What reviewers complain about**

- 💰 Expensive subscription model
- 📢 Intrusive ads and popups
- 🤯 Buggy and unreliable performance
- 🤔 Confusing and unintuitive UI

**Reported bugs**

- Scans not saving properly
- Subscription issues and billing problems
- Compatibility problems with older devices

**Requested features**

- Add ability to edit scanned documents
- Improve OCR accuracy
- Provide more customization options


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Adobe Scan free?

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

### Is PDF Scanner App free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Adobe Scan or PDF Scanner App?

Adobe Scan is rated higher. Adobe Scan averages 4.9 out of 5 from 1.6M ratings, while PDF Scanner App averages 4.5 from 6.3K ratings.

### Do Adobe Scan or PDF Scanner App have ads?

Both Adobe Scan and PDF Scanner App show ads.

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

Adobe Scan ships an update fortnightly, and PDF Scanner App every 3 weeks. Most recently, Adobe Scan was updated on September 24, 2026 and PDF Scanner App on September 22, 2026.

---

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