Comparison

PDFelement vs PDF Editor

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

AI PDF Editor, PDF Reader, PDF Scanner, PDF Converter, PDF Signer. One app for work, study, and everyday life. What's New 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

PDF Editor

Edit, sign, and annotate PDF documents with ease. This app allows you to fill forms, add stamps, manage pages, and even chat with your PDFs for content understanding and translation.

Highlights
  • Marking and annotation tools
  • Signature creation and saving
  • Stamp insertion and customization
  • Page editing (merge, split, rotate)
  • Form filling (standard and interactive)
  • PDF chat for content analysis
  • Bookmark management
Features
Read full description

PDF Editor is a powerful and user-friendly tool specifically designed for handling PDF files. It integrates a wealth of features that empower you when dealing with PDF files. Here is a detailed overview of its core features: - Marking & Annotation PDF Editor offers a variety of marking tools, including highlights, underlines, strikethroughs, etc., and allows the customization of the color of the markings. You can quickly select text and add markings, or create shapes with custom colors, such as rectangles, circles, lines, arrows, etc. Furthermore, it allows you to insert text boxes and annotations in the PDF, and customize the font size and color. - Viewing and Printing You can freely adjust the display size of the PDF. Additionally, it offers a convenient recent file access feature, making opening recent PDF files a breeze. When you need to print PDF files, its intuitive print function can meet your needs. - Signature It offers various ways to create signatures, including through the mouse, keyboard, or image files. You can save multiple signatures for quick use when needed. - Stamping PDF Editor allows you to freely insert stamps into PDF documents. It comes with a variety of stamp styles, including approval, confidential, final, etc., and supports the customization of stamp content and color. - Bookmarking: PDF Editor allows you to view all bookmarks in the PDF document and quickly jump to the bookmark's location. You can also create new bookmarks at any location in the document, and support renaming, deleting, and one-click expanding/collapsing of bookmarks. - Page Editing: PDF Editor offers powerful page editing features, including merging and splitting PDFs, adding pages from other PDF files, and adding blank pages at any location. In addition, it supports extracting pages from PDFs, as well as rotating, rearranging, and deleting pages. - Form Filling PDF Editor supports filling and saving standard PDF forms, and also supports filling interactive PDF forms, such as text boxes, checkboxes, list boxes, etc. - PDF Chat Users can use the PDF chat feature to understand the content of the PDF and perform operations such as text polishing and translation. In summary, PDF Editor is a comprehensive, easy-to-use PDF processing tool that can effectively help you handle various PDF files. PDF Editor is free to download and offers 7-days trials for monthly subscriptions. We offer four auto-renewing subscription options: - 1 month: $4.99 - 1 year: $29.99 - one-time purchase for $39.99 - Offer limited to one 7 day trial per user. After the first 7 days, subscription renews automatically unless cancelled before the end of the 7 day trial. Subscription may be cancelled at any time within the iTunes and App Store Apple ID Settings. All prices include applicable local sales taxes - Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase - Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the period - Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal - Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase - Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication. Privacy Policy: https://sites.google.com/view/pdf-editor-for-adobe-acrobat/home/privacy-policy Terms of Service: https://sites.google.com/view/pdf-editor-for-adobe-acrobat/home/terms-of-service

Screenshots

PDFelement4 screens
PDF Editor4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: PDFelement at 76% against PDF Editor's 33%. PDFelement also leads on ratings volume (7.6K vs 57) and rating (4.6 vs 4.3). PDF Editor's advantage is ads (none vs shown). 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 PDF Editor sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PDFelement holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PDFelement has 7.6K ratings behind it against 57, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of PDFelement's written reviews are positive against 33% of PDF Editor's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PDFelement ships an update every 10 days, PDF Editor every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
PDFelement versus PDF Editor: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPDFelementPDF Editor
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (7.6K ratings) — better4.3 (57 ratings)
Positive reviews75.9% of reviews — better33.0% of reviews
Number of ratings7.6K — better57
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS15.014.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size200 MB22 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperWondershare Technology Group Co.,LTDAppDash LLC

Customer experience

PDFelement

All ratings7,566 ratings
Positive90.7%
Neutral2.4%
Negative6.9%
Written reviews826 reviews
Positive75.9%
Neutral3.6%
Negative20.5%

PDF Editor

All ratings57 ratings
Positive78.9%
Neutral8.8%
Negative12.3%
Written reviews109 reviews
Positive33.0%
Neutral2.8%
Negative64.2%

User reviews

PDFelement

From 7.6K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Efficient PDF editing
  • 💡 Comprehensive feature set
  • 🔒 Secure document handling
  • 👍 Intuitive interface

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes or glitches
  • 🔋 High battery consumption
  • 🔒 Mandatory account required
  • 🔒 Unclear licensing and subscription model
  • 🐛 Syncing issues between devices

PDF Editor

From 57 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Efficient PDF management
  • 👍 User-friendly interface
  • 💡 Versatile digital companion
  • 🚀 Time-saving features
  • 👍 Personalized digital workspace

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
  • 🔒 Subscription-based model
  • 👎 Difficult to edit PDFs
  • 👎 Limited free features
  • 👎 Confusing user experience

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

PDF Editor

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Crashes when searching PDFs
  • Inability to restore purchases
  • Repeated prompts to purchase despite being a paid user
  • Locked PDFs after making edits
  • Incompatibility with certain devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved PDF text editing capabilities
  • Seamless integration with cloud storage
  • Customizable view settings and defaults
  • Ability to disable link highlighting
  • Clear save button and auto-save functionality

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
3 purchases

PDF Editor

Subscriptions2
  • PDF Month Subscription7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • PDF Year Subscription3 Days trial$39.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$49.99

Questions

Is PDFelement free?
PDFelement is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PDF Editor free?
PDF Editor is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, PDFelement or PDF Editor?
PDFelement is rated higher. PDFelement averages 4.6 out of 5 from 7.6K ratings, while PDF Editor averages 4.3 from 57 ratings.
Do PDFelement or PDF Editor have ads?
PDFelement shows ads; PDF Editor does not.
Which is updated more often, PDFelement or PDF Editor?
PDFelement ships an update every 10 days, and PDF Editor every 6 weeks. Most recently, PDFelement was updated on September 24, 2026 and PDF Editor on September 23, 2026.

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