Comparison

SMART vs PDFast

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

Head to head
About

SMART

Easily scan, create, edit, and sign PDF documents directly from your device. Organize your files with folders, merge multiple documents, and export them to various destinations. Offers both a free version with coin-based function unlocks and a comprehensive Pro subscription for maximum productivity.

Highlights
  • Scan documents with camera
  • Import from photo albums and cloud storage
  • Add digital signatures
  • Edit PDFs with text and notes
  • Merge multiple PDF files
  • Organize files in folders
  • Export to various destinations
Features
Read full description

Scan it, let it name itself, find it instantly — SMART-PDF is the document scanner that thinks along with you. All documents stay local on your device: no cloud, no account, full privacy. Premium comes with a 7-day free trial. COMPLETELY NEW IN VERSION 4 - Smart naming: SMART-PDF reads your scan and automatically suggests a fitting document name — no more “Document 17” - Full-text search: search the content of all your PDFs, right from iOS search (Spotlight) too - Document dates: keep track of cancellation deadlines and due dates directly on the document — with reminders and calendar export - AI summary: summarize documents and folders on-device (Apple Intelligence, iOS 26 or later) - Live Text: select, copy and translate text right inside your documents - Quick Scan: start scanning instantly — via Siri, Action Button, widget or Control Center - Share extension: send PDFs from any app straight into your library SCAN & IMPORT - Scan documents with your camera, with automatic edge detection - Import pictures from your photo library - Import existing PDFs from iCloud Drive, Dropbox & co. EDIT & SIGN - Sign PDFs — multiple signatures per file, freely scalable - Add comments, text, symbols and highlights - Page editor: reorder and delete pages, set bookmarks - Merge documents into collections — with automatic bookmark creation ORGANIZE & PROTECT - Clear folders and collections, sort them your way - Password-protected folders with Face ID / Touch ID - Biometric app lock SHARE & EXPORT - Share via e-mail, AirDrop or messenger — optionally protected with a PDF password - Convenient AirPrint printing - Export your whole library as a ZIP archive PRIVACY All scanned and imported documents are stored exclusively on your device. No forced cloud, no account, your content is never shared. SUBSCRIPTION (PREMIUM) - Ad-free - Unlimited folders, documents, signatures, merges and exports - Terms: 1, 3, 6 or 12 months, each with automatic renewal FREE VERSION - No monthly fixed costs - Displays advertising - Collect coins and redeem them for features; optional coin purchases Coin values: - Create a folder (1 coin) - Sign a PDF (1 coin) - Share/export a PDF (1 coin per file) - Scan with more than 10 pages (1 coin) - 3 more documents in a full folder (1 coin) - Merge documents (2 coins) SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS - Payment will be charged to your App Store account at confirmation of purchase. - The subscription renews automatically unless auto-renewal is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period; the cost depends on the selected plan. - Subscriptions can be managed and cancelled at any time in your account settings. - When switching from the free version to the subscription, collected coins are saved and become available again after the subscription ends. Terms of use: https://deine-dokumente.de/agb-nutzungsbedingungen Privacy policy: https://deine-dokumente.de/datenschutz

About

PDFast

Features
Read full description

PDFast — Your All-in-One PDF Toolkit Everything you need to work with PDFs, right in your pocket. POWERFUL TOOLS: • Join PDFs — Merge multiple files into one • Split PDF — Extract specific pages • Compress — Reduce file size instantly Images ↔ PDF — Convert photos to PDF and back • Rotate — Fix page orientation • Protect — Add password encryption • Watermark — Add text watermarks • Scanner — Scan documents with camera • Sign PDF — Add your signature • OCR — Recognize text in scanned documents • PDF → Word — Convert to editable format • Page Numbers — Add numbering to pages • Unlock — Remove password protection • Add Text — Place text anywhere on PDF • PDF Reader — Read and annotate with highlights, drawings, stickers WHY PDFAST? • Works 100% offline — your files never leave your device • Beautiful, intuitive interface • Lightning-fast processing • Supports 10 languages • No subscription — one-time purchase, yours forever Download PDFast and take control of your PDFs today!

Screenshots

SMART4 screens
PDFast4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: SMART at Free against PDFast's $3.99. PDFast's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On update cadence, in-app purchases, 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

SMART is free to download; PDFast costs $3.99 up front. SMART sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and PDFast sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SMART ships an update every 3 weeks, PDFast every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
SMART versus PDFast: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSMARTPDFast
PriceFree — better$3.99
Rating4.7 (9 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews95.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings9 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBartnitzky, Böttcher und Springer GbRVladimir Rodzaevskiy

In-app purchases

10 purchases

SMART

Subscriptions4
  • SMART-PDF Premium – 1 month7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • SMART-PDF Premium – 3 months7 Days trial$6.993 Months
  • SMART-PDF Premium – 6 months7 Days trial$11.996 Months
Show 1 more
  • SMART-PDF Premium – 12 months7 Days trial$22.991 Year
One-time6
  • 10 SMART-PDF Coins$0.99
  • 100 SMART-PDF Coins$5.99
  • 150 SMART-PDF Coins$8.99
Show 3 more
  • 250 SMART-PDF Coins$13.99
  • 500 SMART-PDF Coins$17.99
  • 750 SMART-PDF Coins$22.99
1 purchases

PDFast

One-time1
  • Lifetime Access$3.99

Questions

Is SMART free?
SMART is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PDFast free?
PDFast costs $3.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Do SMART or PDFast have ads?
SMART shows ads; PDFast does not.
Which is updated more often, SMART or PDFast?
SMART ships an update every 3 weeks, and PDFast every 5 weeks. Most recently, SMART was updated on October 15, 2026 and PDFast on October 7, 2026.

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