Comparison

Adobe Scan vs PDF Reader & PDF Editor

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

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 Reader & PDF Editor

This app is a comprehensive tool for managing PDF documents. It allows users to quickly view, annotate, edit, and organize PDFs, as well as convert images to PDF. Advanced features like merging, splitting, and password protection are also available.

Highlights
  • Fast PDF viewing
  • PDF annotation and markup
  • Add e-signatures
  • Image to PDF conversion
  • Merge and split PDFs
  • File management and sorting
  • Password protection for files
Features
Read full description

Looking for a simple and easy-to-use document reading app? PDF Reader is exactly what you need! It’s an ultimate PDF Viewer that allows you to fast open, read and manage your files in one place. Work with this powerful PDF Reading tool to complete your document tasks effortlessly and boost your productivity. This ultra-fast PDF Reader lets you view and annotate PDFs in just a few seconds. It is not only a reading app, you can also use it to add signatures, bookmark PDF pages, convert images to PDFs, merge/split PDF files and organize your files. It’s also a handy PDF editor for students, allowing you to edit and share your paper anytime, anywhere. Download this superior office app to support your work and study, you will have both a PDF viewer, ebook reader, and PDF editor at the same time. Simple, convenient, and lightweight, really worth a try! Handy PDF Viewer • Fast open and view documents • Directly go to the desired page • One-click switch between light and dark mode Easily Read PDF • Page by page and continuous scrolling mode • Horizontal and vertical viewing mode • Quickly search files and texts by keywords • Zoom in and zoom out pages Annotate and Edit PDF • Markup paragraphs with highlight colors • Take notes with underline, strikethrough, etc. • Add e-signatures to PDF files (coming soon) • Doodle on PDF files • Edit text & add images to PDFs Rich PDF Tools • Image to PDF - Easily convert images to PDF files • Merge - Merge multiple PDF files into one • Split - Split and extract PDF pages to multiple PDF documents • Manage pages - Add, delete, and reorder with ease • Print - Print PDF files quickly from your phone • Compress - Compress PDF files to reduce their size to meet your needs • Create - Create blank PDFs with one tap Manage Files • Lock - Set password to lock PDF files and protect them from prying eyes • Sort - You can sort PDF files by file name, size, and last modified time • Delete/Rename/Favorite - You can rename files, delete files, and add files to Favorite • Share - Share files with others and collaborate conveniently #Features coming soon# 1. Fill PDF forms 2. Recognize and extract text from images (OCR) 3. Fast conversion between PDF and Word, Excel, PPT, etc. 4. AI assistant for instant chat, summarization, and translation … Subscription Terms and Details - Get unlimited access to all features: ① USD $9.99/month ② USD $29.99/year with 7-day trial - The payment will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase. - The subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. - Subscription may be managed and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to Account Settings after purchase. - The account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. - Any unused portion of a free trial period will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication. Privacy policy: https://pdfreader.abishkking.com/privacypolicy.html Term of use: https://pdfreader.abishkking.com/terms.html We will keep working hard to optimize the app and improve the user experience. Please feel free to contact us at pdfreaderiosfeedback@gmail.com if you have any suggestions.

Screenshots

Adobe Scan4 screens
PDF Reader & PDF Editor4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Adobe Scan at 83% against PDF Reader & PDF Editor's 51%. Adobe Scan also leads on ratings volume (1.6M vs 777) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). PDF Reader & PDF Editor's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). 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. Adobe Scan sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and PDF Reader & PDF Editor sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. 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 777, 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 51% of PDF Reader & PDF Editor's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Adobe Scan ships an update fortnightly, PDF Reader & PDF Editor every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Adobe Scan versus PDF Reader & PDF Editor: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAdobe ScanPDF Reader & PDF Editor
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (1.6M ratings) — better4.7 (777 ratings)
Positive reviews82.6% of reviews — better51.2% of reviews
Number of ratings1.6M — better777
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#11 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS18.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size398 MB113 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAdobe Inc.ABISHKKING LIMITED.

Customer experience

Adobe Scan

All ratings1,586,882 ratings
Positive97.6%
Neutral1.3%
Negative1.1%
Written reviews3,809 reviews
Positive82.6%
Neutral2.9%
Negative14.4%

PDF Reader & PDF Editor

All ratings777 ratings
Positive91.1%
Neutral1.8%
Negative7.1%
Written reviews86 reviews
Positive51.2%
Neutral0.0%
Negative48.8%

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 Reader & PDF Editor

From 777 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Quick PDF editing and responsiveness
  • 👍 Image to PDF conversion is useful
  • 👍 Handles large files seamlessly
  • 👍 Option to sort and lock PDFs
  • 👍 Merge, split, and manage files effortlessly

Room to improve

  • 👎 Aggressive premium push with popups
  • 👎 Not intuitive outside of basic PDF editing
  • 👎 Charges are costly compared to free apps
  • 👎 Free trial is misleading, charged immediately
  • 👎 Billing errors and unexpected charges

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 Reader & PDF Editor

Reported bugs

15 issues
  • Popups for premium are hard to close
  • Free trial is deceptive, charged immediately
  • Merge/split functions stopped working after one use
  • App crashes when opening documents
  • App crashes after a minute of use
Show 10 more
  • Does not find or open saved PDFs
  • Does not use iPad screen size
  • Persistent navigation bar is unsightly
  • Gets stuck in interminable loops
  • Cannot navigate hyperlinks in documents
  • Does not remember the last reading position
  • Text cannot be edited or written
  • Nothing happens when clicking editing buttons
  • Cannot open large files like blueprints
  • Freezes on opening files

Requested features

10 requests
  • Add bookmark functionality
  • Add dark mode
  • Add ability to view file outlines
  • Add ability to add bookmarks
  • Add text selection for copying in edit mode
Show 5 more
  • Add PDF compression feature
  • Add iPad version
  • Allow text editing
  • Improve drawing tools (multiple colors/thicknesses)
  • Improve navigation bar

In-app purchases

12 purchases

Adobe Scan

Subscriptions12
  • Adobe Scan Premium$3.991 Month
  • Adobe Scan Plus - Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Adobe PDF Pack$9.991 Month
Show 9 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$69.991 Year
  • Adobe Scan Premium1 Year trial$69.991 Year
  • Adobe PDF Pack$89.991 Year
4 purchases

PDF Reader & PDF Editor

Subscriptions4
  • Monthly Premium$9.991 Month
  • Annual Premium$29.991 Year
  • Annual Premium7 Days trial$29.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Annual Premium14 Days trial$29.991 Year

Questions

Is Adobe Scan free?
Adobe Scan is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PDF Reader & PDF Editor free?
PDF Reader & PDF Editor is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Adobe Scan or PDF Reader & PDF Editor?
Adobe Scan is rated higher. Adobe Scan averages 4.9 out of 5 from 1.6M ratings, while PDF Reader & PDF Editor averages 4.7 from 777 ratings.
Do Adobe Scan or PDF Reader & PDF Editor have ads?
Both Adobe Scan and PDF Reader & PDF Editor show ads.
Which is updated more often, Adobe Scan or PDF Reader & PDF Editor?
Adobe Scan ships an update fortnightly, and PDF Reader & PDF Editor every 2 months. Most recently, Adobe Scan was updated on September 24, 2026 and PDF Reader & PDF Editor on September 21, 2026.

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