Comparison

PDF Reader vs PDF Vault

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

Head to head
About

PDF Reader

Easily view PDF documents on your mobile device or tablet. Upload files via WiFi, open encrypted PDFs with a password, and enjoy adaptive screen sizing for comfortable reading. Protect your documents with app lock and gesture passwords.

Highlights
  • View PDF documents
  • WiFi file upload
  • Encrypted PDF support
  • Adaptive screen size
  • Read Word, Excel, PPT
  • App lock and gesture password
Features
Read full description

PDF Reader, Easy read PDF documents for Mobile and Pad . WiFi easy Upload PDF documents to the phone. Support to view encrypted PDF documents, long press the document to enter the password. Document adaptive screen size, easy to read. Support read word, excel, ppt and other format documents. APP lock, gesture password, protect privacy, protect document security.

About

PDF Vault

This ultra-lightweight application offers a comprehensive suite of PDF tools, including text-to-speech functionality, digital signing, document scanning, organization, and instant translation. It's designed for efficiency and ease of use, saving device space while enhancing productivity for work, study, or personal tasks.

Highlights
  • Text-to-speech for PDFs
  • Digital document signing
  • Scan paper documents to PDF
  • Organize and manage PDF files
  • Instant document translation
  • Ultra-lightweight and fast
Features
Read full description

Your private PDF workspace, built for people who take their documents seriously. Ask your PDFs questions, understand complex documents, translate, scan, sign, listen, and manage your files in one lightweight app. PDF Vault combines powerful PDF tools with a privacy-first approach: your documents stay on your device. ASK YOUR PDF ANYTHING Have a long report, contract, research paper, manual, or other document? Just ask. Ask PDF lets you ask questions about the content of your document and get answers based on the information inside it. Find important details, understand complex sections, summarize information, and explore your documents without searching through page after page. Your documents stay private and are processed on your device. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Your documents are personal. PDF Vault is designed with privacy at its core. Your PDF data never leaves your device. No document uploads are required for the core PDF experience. Your files remain under your control while you work with them. ALL THE PDF TOOLS YOU NEED Listen to PDFs Turn your documents into spoken audio with built-in text-to-speech. Listen while working, commuting, studying, or simply when you prefer to hear rather than read. Translate PDFs Translate documents and understand content in other languages without leaving your PDF workspace. Scan documents Turn paper documents into digital PDFs using your device camera. Built-in OCR helps make scanned documents searchable and usable. Sign PDFs Sign documents quickly and conveniently. Add your signature and complete documents without printing them. Read and organize Open, read, manage, and organize your PDF files in a clean, focused workspace designed to stay out of your way. LIGHTWEIGHT AND FOCUSED PDF Vault is built to give you the tools you actually need without turning your device into a document-management maze. Whether you are working with contracts, invoices, academic papers, reports, forms, manuals, or personal documents, PDF Vault keeps everything you need close at hand. FOR WORK, STUDY, AND EVERYDAY DOCUMENTS Use PDF Vault at work to understand reports and contracts. Use it at university to explore research papers and study materials. Use it at home to manage forms, manuals, receipts, and other important documents. ONE PRIVATE WORKSPACE FOR YOUR PDFs Read. Ask. Translate. Scan. Sign. Listen. Organize. PDF Vault brings essential PDF tools together while keeping privacy at the center of the experience. PDF Vault Unlimited gives you unlimited access to all PDF Vault features while directly supporting our mission to provide the best privacy-first PDF tool where your data never leaves your device. Terms of Service: https://macmonsters.com/pdf-reader-terms-of-service.html

Screenshots

PDF Reader4 screens
PDF Vault2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: PDF Vault at none against PDF Reader's shown. PDF Vault also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 9 months) and review sentiment (50% vs 33%). PDF Reader's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.1). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support 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. PDF Reader sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and PDF Vault sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PDF Reader ships an update every 9 months, PDF Vault fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
PDF Reader versus PDF Vault: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPDF ReaderPDF Vault
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.5 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews33.3% of reviews50.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 9 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS13.0 — better18.1
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer小玲 白Dmytro Skorokhod

Customer experience

PDF Reader

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral33.3%
Negative33.3%

PDF Vault

Written reviews6 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral16.7%
Negative33.3%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

PDF Reader

One-time1
  • Permanently remove ads$1.99
2 purchases

PDF Vault

Subscriptions2
  • Mox PDF Tool Unlimited Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Mox PDF Tool Unlimited Annually7 Days trial$19.991 Year

Questions

Is PDF Reader free?
PDF Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PDF Vault free?
PDF Vault is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do PDF Reader or PDF Vault have ads?
PDF Reader shows ads; PDF Vault does not.
Which is updated more often, PDF Reader or PDF Vault?
PDF Reader ships an update every 9 months, and PDF Vault fortnightly. Most recently, PDF Reader was updated on October 2, 2026 and PDF Vault on September 26, 2026.

Other comparisons