# PDFelement vs PDF Chef

The clearest difference is ads: PDF Chef at none against PDFelement's shown. PDFelement's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.4). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. PDFelement sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and PDF Chef sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

PDFelement ships an update every 10 days, PDF Chef every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 13, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | PDFelement | PDF Chef |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.6 (7.6K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdfelement-pdf-editor-and-scan/id1516765045/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **7.6K** | — |
| Positive reviews | 76.2% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days | **Every 9 days** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Size | 202 MB | 64 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.0** | 17.4 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Wondershare Technology Group Co.,LTD](https://appshunter.io/developer/298647757) | [DHANANJAY BABASAHEB BHOSALE](https://appshunter.io/developer/6806303066) |

## What reviewers say

### PDFelement

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

This app offers a comprehensive suite of tools for managing PDF documents, including editing, scanning, converting, and signing. It leverages AI for advanced features like summarizing, translating, and chatting with your PDFs, streamlining workflows for work, study, and daily life.

**Highlights:** AI PDF editing and chat, Edit text, images, and links, Scan documents to PDF with OCR, Convert PDFs to Word, Excel, PPT, Annotate and markup PDFs, Fill and sign PDF forms, Compress and merge PDFs

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support, iPhone Duo support

**In-app purchases (9)**

| 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 |
| Annual Subscription (iOS) | $29.99 | per year |
| 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 Chef

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdf-chef/id6811619417)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Family Sharing

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| PDF Chef Pro Monthly | $3.99 | per month |
| PDF Chef Pro Lifetime | $49.00 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is PDFelement free?

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

### Is PDF Chef free?

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

### Do PDFelement or PDF Chef have ads?

PDFelement shows ads; PDF Chef does not.

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

PDFelement ships an update every 10 days, and PDF Chef every 9 days. Most recently, PDFelement was updated on November 13, 2026 and PDF Chef on November 10, 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.*