# PDFelement vs PDF Scanner

The clearest difference is ads: PDF Scanner at none against PDFelement's shown. PDF Scanner also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 76%). PDFelement's advantage is update cadence (every 10 days vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (7.6K vs 45). On price, rating, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. PDFelement sells 18 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and PDF Scanner sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for PDFelement against 4.6 for PDF Scanner. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PDFelement has 7.6K ratings behind it against 45, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 76% of PDFelement's written reviews are positive against 100% of PDF Scanner's.

PDFelement ships an update every 10 days, PDF Scanner every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | PDFelement | PDF Scanner |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.6 (7.6K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdfelement-pdf-editor-viewer/id1516765045/reviews)** | [4.6 (45 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdf-scanner-scan-save-share/id6471893095/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **7.6K** | 45 |
| Positive reviews | 76.0% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | **Every 10 days** | Every 2 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 199 MB | 6 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Wondershare Technology Group Co.,LTD](https://appshunter.io/developer/298647757) | [Dominic Rodemer](https://appshunter.io/developer/309872333) |

## What reviewers say

### PDFelement

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdfelement-pdf-editor-viewer/id1516765045)

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:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (18)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly Subscription (AI) | $3.99 | per month |
| PDF Editor& Converter& Scanner | $6.99 | per month |
| PDF Editor & Scanner Pro（iOS） | $6.99 | per month |
| Weekly Subscription (iOS) | $6.99 | per 7 days |
| Quarterly Subscription (iOS) | $9.99 | per 3 months |
| Weekly Subscription (iOS) | $9.99 | per 7 days |
| Weekly Subscription (iOS) | $9.99 | per 7 days |
| Monthly Subscription (All) | $19.99 | per month |
| Annual Subscription (iOS) | $24.99 | per year |
| PDF Editor & Scanner Pro | $29.99 | per year |
| Annual Subscription (iOS) | $29.99 | per year |
| Annual Subscription (iOS) | $29.99 | per year |
| Quarterly Subscription (All) | $39.99 | per 3 months |
| Annual Subscription (iOS+Win) | $99.99 | per year |
| Annual Subscription (iOS+Mac) | $99.99 | per year |
| Annual Subscription (All) | $109.99 | per year |
| PDF Editor & Scanner Pro | $39.99 | one-time |
| iOS | $39.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

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

**What reviewers complain about**

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

**Reported bugs**

- 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**

- 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 Scanner

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdf-scanner-scan-save-share/id6471893095)

Transform your mobile device into a powerful document scanner. Easily digitize paper documents into high-quality PDF files with automatic detection, perspective correction, and color enhancements. Organize and share your scans with ease.

**Highlights:** Convert paper to multi-page PDFs, Automatic document detection, Perspective correction, Organize scans with tags, Share documents easily, High-resolution scans up to 300 dpi, Import photos from gallery

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| PDF Scanner Offer - Monthly | $0.99 | per month |
| PDF Scanner - Monthly | $1.99 | per month |
| PDF Scanner Offer - Annual | $8.99 | per year |
| PDF Scanner - Annual | $14.99 | per year |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is PDFelement free?

PDFelement is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is PDF Scanner free?

PDF Scanner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, PDFelement or PDF Scanner?

PDFelement is rated higher. PDFelement averages 4.6 out of 5 from 7.6K ratings, while PDF Scanner averages 4.6 from 45 ratings.

### Do PDFelement or PDF Scanner have ads?

PDFelement shows ads; PDF Scanner does not.

### Which is updated more often, PDFelement or PDF Scanner?

PDFelement ships an update every 10 days, and PDF Scanner every 2 months. Most recently, PDFelement was updated on October 21, 2026 and PDF Scanner on October 9, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*