Comparison

Synology Drive vs NorthScan

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

Head to head
About

Synology Drive

Access and manage files stored on your Synology NAS from your mobile device. This app allows you to view various file types, including office documents, and offers convenient file management features like syncing, searching, and sharing on the go.

Highlights
  • Access Synology NAS files on the go
  • View documents, spreadsheets, and slides
  • Sync files
  • Search files
  • Share files
  • Move and label files
Features
Read full description

**To use this app and enjoy its features, you must own Synology NAS and install the latest Synology Drive Server.** Synology Drive iOS mobile app allows you to easily access and manage files in your Synology Drive on the go. In addition to common file types, such as documents, images, videos, and music, the app's user-friendly in-app viewer can open Synology Office documents, spreadsheets, and slides. Convenient management features, such as syncing, searching, sharing, moving, and applying labels to files, are all available in the app, allowing users to complete tasks efficiently anytime, anywhere.

About

NorthScan

Features
Read full description

Scan it today. Find it tomorrow. NorthScan turns your iPhone and iPad into a fast, precise document scanner — and a searchable archive you'll actually be able to find things in. Capture receipts, contracts, notes, and IDs into crisp, clean PDFs, then search, organise, and share them in seconds. Everything stays private on your device by default, with iCloud sync only if you want it. Beautifully sharp scans Automatic edge detection and capture, so pages come out straight and clean A precise manual crop tool with a magnifying loupe, live angle readouts, and perspective and deskew correction Enhancement presets that make text crisp and pages bright — without touching your originals Dedicated modes for whiteboards, books, and receipts Find anything, instantly On-device text recognition makes every scan searchable Search by title, date, page count, tags, or the words inside your documents Organise with folders and tags, and recover mistakes from Recently Deleted Spotlight, Home Screen widgets, Shortcuts, and Home Screen quick actions Private by design Documents and text recognition stay on your device No accounts, no analytics, no third-party trackers iCloud sync is optional and entirely your choice — and syncs only to your own private iCloud Included free Unlimited scanning, on-device OCR, folders and tags, redaction and privacy scan, PDF and image export, and importing existing PDFs — all local to your device, with no page limits and no watermarks on your scans. NorthScan Plus An optional subscription that adds: iCloud sync across your iPhone and iPad App Lock with Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode The advanced PDF toolkit — password protection, compression presets, watermarks, split, merge, page extraction, and metadata editing Batch tools — process, rename, tag, file, OCR, and export many documents at once Document Intelligence — on-device suggested titles, summaries, tags, and folders Custom export presets Scan it today. Find it tomorrow. What's New (Version 1.0) Welcome to NorthScan! Scan any document into a crisp, searchable PDF, organise it with folders and tags, and find it again in seconds — all kept private on your device. We'd love your feedback. NorthScan Plus is available as an auto-renewing subscription. NorthScan Plus Monthly — $2.49 per month NorthScan Plus Yearly — $19.99 per year Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. Your subscription automatically renews unless it is cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel your subscription in your Apple Account settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial, if offered, is forfeited when you purchase a subscription. Terms of Use: https://getnorthvault.com/northscan/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://getnorthvault.com/northscan/privacy/

Screenshots

Synology Drive4 screens
NorthScan4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Synology Drive at none against NorthScan's 2. NorthScan's advantage is update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 3 months). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. NorthScan sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Synology Drive asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Synology Drive ships an update every 3 months, NorthScan every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Synology Drive versus NorthScan: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSynology DriveNorthScan
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (4.4K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews33.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings4.4K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details — not scored
Size279 MB13 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSynology Inc.Muhammad Rashid

Bugs and requests

Synology Drive

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Unable to log in with 2FA
  • Sync tasks get stuck or fail
  • Folders not showing content
  • Incompatibility with latest iOS versions
  • Duplicated files and folders after sync

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add support for offline folder sync
  • Improve integration with iOS Files app
  • Implement document editing capabilities
  • Add option to customize file/folder naming
  • Enhance audio/video playback features

NorthScan

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Synology Drive

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

NorthScan

Subscriptions2
  • NorthScan Plus Monthly$1.991 Month
  • NorthScan Plus Annual$14.991 Year

Questions

Is Synology Drive free?
Synology Drive is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is NorthScan free?
NorthScan is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Synology Drive or NorthScan have ads?
Neither Synology Drive nor NorthScan shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Synology Drive or NorthScan?
Synology Drive ships an update every 3 months, and NorthScan every 5 weeks. Most recently, Synology Drive was updated on October 26, 2026 and NorthScan on October 24, 2026.

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