# Adobe Scan vs CaptainScanner

The clearest difference is ads: CaptainScanner at none against Adobe Scan's shown. CaptainScanner also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 82%) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). Adobe Scan's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (1.6M vs 48). On price, rating, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Adobe Scan sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and CaptainScanner sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Adobe Scan against 4.8 for CaptainScanner. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Adobe Scan has 1.6M ratings behind it against 48, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 82% of Adobe Scan's written reviews are positive against 100% of CaptainScanner's.

Adobe Scan ships an update fortnightly, CaptainScanner every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Adobe Scan | CaptainScanner |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.9 (1.6M ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/adobe-scan-pdf-and-doc-scanner/id1199564834/reviews)** | [4.8 (48 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/captainscanner-pdf-scanner/id6448680565/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **1.6M** | 48 |
| Positive reviews | 82.1% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | **Fortnightly** | Every 4 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | **#12** | — |
| Size | 400 MB | 13 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | **16.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Adobe Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/331646274) | [Tech Plus Beyond Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1624620203) |

## What reviewers say

### Adobe Scan

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

**Currently charting:** #12 Top Grossing · Business, #40 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


### CaptainScanner

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/captainscanner-pdf-scanner/id6448680565)

Easily transform paper documents, receipts, and notes into digital PDFs. Organize, edit, sign, and share your files seamlessly. Protect your sensitive documents with password protection and access them across devices with cloud storage.

**Highlights:** Scan documents from camera or import files, Add text, annotations, and signatures, Rearrange and merge PDF pages, Convert PDFs to JPG or PNG, Password protection for PDFs, Cloud storage integration, Dark mode

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Premium \| Yearly | $5.99 | per year |
| Lifetime Access | $39.99 | one-time |
| Lifetime Access | $89.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Adobe Scan free?

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

### Is CaptainScanner free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Adobe Scan or CaptainScanner?

Adobe Scan is rated higher. Adobe Scan averages 4.9 out of 5 from 1.6M ratings, while CaptainScanner averages 4.8 from 48 ratings.

### Do Adobe Scan or CaptainScanner have ads?

Adobe Scan shows ads; CaptainScanner does not.

### Which is updated more often, Adobe Scan or CaptainScanner?

Adobe Scan ships an update fortnightly, and CaptainScanner every 4 months. Most recently, Adobe Scan was updated on October 31, 2026 and CaptainScanner on October 24, 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.*