Comparison

PDFelement vs CamNote

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

Head to head
About

PDFelement

This application offers comprehensive PDF management, including advanced editing, AI-powered summarization and translation, and efficient scanning with OCR. It helps organize, convert, and secure documents for work, study, and personal use.

Highlights
  • AI Chat with PDF
  • Scan and OCR
  • PDF to Office Conversion
  • Edit PDF like Word
  • Password Protection
  • Compress PDF
Features
Read full description

PDFelement is optimized for the latest Liquid Glass experience, with a more refined interface, clearer navigation, and smoother interactions for your PDF workflow. AI PDF Editor, PDF Reader, PDF Scanner, PDF Converter, PDF Signer. One app for work, study, and everyday life. Customize Your Toolbar Arrange your PDF tools the way you work. Reorder, show, or hide toolbar items to keep your favorite actions within easy reach and create a cleaner, faster, and more efficient workspace. AI PDF • Chat with PDF: Ask questions and get instant, accurate answers from your PDFs. • AI Summarize PDF: Turn lengthy contracts, reports, and documents into concise key points. • AI Translate: Translate selected text instantly across 60+ languages. • Generate Mind Map: Transform PDF content into clear visual mind maps. • AI Record: Record, transcribe, and convert voice notes into editable text for efficient note-taking. Edit PDF Like Word • Edit PDF: Edit PDF text, images, links, and watermarks with ease. • Font Editing: Keep the original font, erase content, and adjust font size, spacing, and formatting effortlessly. Professional PDF Reader • Liquid Mode: Optimize PDFs for comfortable reading on any screen. • Bookmarks: Save and jump to important pages instantly. • Read Aloud: Listen to PDFs with your preferred voice and playback speed. Scan & OCR • PDF Scanner: Scan receipts, invoices, contracts, IDs, and certificates into high-quality PDFs. • OCR: Extract editable text from scanned documents and images. • Multi-Page Scan: Combine multiple scans into a single PDF. PDF Converter • PDF to Word, Excel, PowerPoint & Images: Convert PDFs into editable Office files or JPG, PNG, and more. • Create PDF: Convert Microsoft Office documents and images into PDFs. Annotate PDF • Markup & Notes: Highlight, underline, draw, and add sticky notes. • Comments: Review documents with professional commenting tools. • Measure: Measure distance, perimeter, and area directly inside PDFs. Create PDF • Blank PDF: Start with customizable paper templates. • Image to PDF: Create PDFs from photos or camera scans. Manage PDF • Compress PDF: Reduce file size while maintaining quality. • Merge PDF: Combine multiple PDFs into one document. • Organize Pages: Add, delete, rotate, extract, split, and rearrange PDF pages. Fill & Sign • Fill PDF Forms: Complete interactive PDF forms quickly and accurately. • E-Sign PDF: Add typed or handwritten signatures. • Custom Stamps: Create reusable stamps with text, drawings, or images. Store & Share PDF • PDFelement Cloud: Access your PDFs anytime, anywhere across your devices. • Protect PDF: Secure sensitive files with passwords and encryption. • Share PDF: Share documents via links, email, AirDrop, or social apps. PDF Templates • Professional Templates: Browse resumes, invoices, planners, contracts, invitations, and more. • Easy Customization: Personalize colors, fonts, and layouts in seconds. • Business & Education Ready: Create polished documents for work, school, and everyday use. MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account upon confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period. You can manage or cancel your subscription anytime in your App Store account settings. Terms of Use: https://www.wondershare.com/company/terms_conditions.html Privacy Policy: https://www.wondershare.com/privacy.html

About

CamNote

Easily extract, edit, and act on text from your photos. Recognize key information like dates, phone numbers, and URLs, and sync your notes across devices with iCloud. Supports multiple languages and dark mode.

Highlights
  • Extract text from photos
  • Auto-recognize key information
  • Take actions on recognized text
  • iCloud data sync
  • Dark mode support
  • Folder management
Features
Read full description

CamNote aims to saving your time from managing photos that contain texts, you can easily edit, search and even take further actions on the texts appeared in your photos. Features: 1. Extract all the texts from one or multiple photos. 2. Auto-recognize key information like date, phone numebr, location, email address, URL and QR code. 3. Further actions can be taken on key information, by different types like create calendar event or open location in Map, etc. 4. Fully support iCloud to sync your data on all your devices. 5. Fully support dark mode. 6. Support both Camera and Document Camera. 7. Support searching for note title or note content. 8. Support folder management. CamNote currently support to recognize 8 languages: 1. English 2. French 3. Italian 4. German 5. Spanish 6. Portuguese 7. Simplified Chinese 8. Traditional Chinese Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

PDFelement4 screens
CamNote4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: CamNote at none against PDFelement's shown. CamNote also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and update cadence (every 2 days vs every 10 days). PDFelement's advantage is ratings volume (7.6K vs 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. PDFelement sells 18 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and CamNote sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

CamNote holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PDFelement has 7.6K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PDFelement ships an update every 10 days, CamNote every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
PDFelement versus CamNote: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPDFelementCamNote
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (7.6K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews76.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings7.6K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 10 daysEvery 2 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size196 MB2 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperWondershare Technology Group Co.,LTD若宣 殷

Customer experience

PDFelement

All ratings7,572 ratings
Positive90.7%
Neutral2.4%
Negative6.9%
Written reviews836 reviews
Positive76.1%
Neutral3.6%
Negative20.3%

CamNote

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

PDFelement

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Login issues and inability to restore purchases
  • Corrupted scanned files or loss of progress
  • Inconsistent behavior when editing PDF text
  • Compatibility problems with older devices or OS versions

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add dark mode option
  • Improve cloud integration and file management
  • Enhance OCR accuracy and capabilities
  • Introduce multi-tab support for better workflow
  • Add more customization options for toolbars and UI

CamNote

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

18 purchases

PDFelement

Subscriptions16
  • Monthly Subscription (AI)$3.991 Month
  • PDF Editor& Converter& Scanner$6.991 Month
  • PDF Editor & Scanner Pro(iOS)$6.991 Month
Show 13 more
  • Weekly Subscription (iOS)$6.997 Days
  • Quarterly Subscription (iOS)$9.993 Months
  • Weekly Subscription (iOS)7 Days trial$9.997 Days
  • Weekly Subscription (iOS)$9.997 Days
  • Monthly Subscription (All)$19.991 Month
  • Annual Subscription (iOS)$24.991 Year
  • PDF Editor & Scanner Pro7 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Annual Subscription (iOS)2 variants$29.991 Year
  • Annual Subscription (iOS)3 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Quarterly Subscription (All)$39.993 Months
  • Annual Subscription (iOS+Win)$99.991 Year
  • Annual Subscription (iOS+Mac)$99.991 Year
  • Annual Subscription (All)$109.991 Year
One-time2
  • PDF Editor & Scanner Pro$39.99
  • iOS$39.99
2 purchases

CamNote

Subscriptions2
  • CamNote Premium Monthly$0.991 Month
  • CamNote Premium Yearly$5.991 Year

Questions

Is PDFelement free?
PDFelement is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is CamNote free?
CamNote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, PDFelement or CamNote?
CamNote is rated higher. PDFelement averages 4.6 out of 5 from 7.6K ratings, while CamNote averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do PDFelement or CamNote have ads?
PDFelement shows ads; CamNote does not.
Which is updated more often, PDFelement or CamNote?
PDFelement ships an update every 10 days, and CamNote every 2 days. Most recently, PDFelement was updated on October 17, 2026 and CamNote on October 2, 2026.

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