# PDF Translator vs Babel Reader

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Babel Reader at none against PDF Translator's 13. Babel Reader also leads on review sentiment (50% vs 17%) and update cadence (every 4 days vs monthly). PDF Translator's advantage is ratings volume (477 vs 23) and device support (4 vs 2). On price, ads and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. PDF Translator sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per 7 days. Babel Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

Babel Reader holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PDF Translator has 477 ratings behind it against 23, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 17% of PDF Translator's written reviews are positive against 50% of Babel Reader's.

PDF Translator ships an update monthly, Babel Reader every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and September 19, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | PDF Translator | Babel Reader |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.2 (477 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdf-translator-document-and-ocr/id1575283633/reviews) | **[4.5 (23 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/babel-reader-translate-pdf/id1612499370/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **477** | 23 |
| Positive reviews | 17.2% of reviews | **50.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| Update frequency | Monthly | **Every 4 days** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Ad-supported** |
| Size | 99 MB | 16 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | **14.0** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac** | iPhone, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Alex Gameli Heyman](https://appshunter.io/developer/1529812783) | [Seedvector LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1580599801) |

## What reviewers say

### PDF Translator

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdf-translator-document-and-ocr/id1575283633)

Instantly translate and edit PDF documents and various file formats across 136 languages. Preserve formatting and layout with powerful translation and editing tools. Access translations seamlessly from any app.

**Highlights:** Translate PDFs, images, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Edit PDF text and images, Translate multilingual PDFs, Choose translation engine (Google/Microsoft), Unlimited page and MB translation, Language Detection, Scan, convert, and translate photos

**Features:** Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (13)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| PDF Translator Weekly | $7.99 | per 7 days |
| PDF Editor Monthly | $9.99 | per month |
| PDF Translator Lite | $12.99 | per month |
| PDF Translator Standard | $19.99 | per month |
| PDF Translator Premium | $69.99 | per month |
| PDF Editor Yearly Access | $99.99 | per year |
| PDF Translate 3 Pages | $0.99 | one-time |
| PDF Translate 10 Pages | $2.99 | one-time |
| PDF Translate 20 Pages | $3.99 | one-time |
| PDF Translate 50 Pages | $12.99 | one-time |
| PDF Translate 100 Pages | $19.99 | one-time |
| PDF Translator 200 Pages | $39.99 | one-time |
| PDF Translate 500 Pages | $84.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- ✅ Preserves document layout and formatting
- ✅ Maintains images and graphics in PDFs
- ✅ Fast translation processing
- ✅ Supports multiple language pairs
- ✅ Responsive customer support (when contacted)

**What reviewers complain about**

- 💰 Expensive pricing model (€0.99-€3+ per page)
- ❌ Frequent server errors and crashes
- ❌ Translation failures despite payment
- ❌ Credits deducted without successful translation
- ❌ Poor translation quality (gibberish, garbled text)

**Reported bugs**

- Server errors preventing translation completion
- App crashes when opening or uploading PDFs
- Credits deducted despite failed translations
- Text rendered as gibberish or random characters
- Overlapping of original and translated text

**Requested features**

- Subscription-based pricing (monthly/yearly/lifetime) instead of per-page
- Free trial with full functionality before purchase
- Automatic language detection without manual selection
- Batch processing for multiple documents
- Edit functionality for translated text


### Babel Reader

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/babel-reader-translate-pdf/id1612499370)

Read foreign language PDFs with on-the-fly page translation. This tool supports text-based PDFs and allows seamless comprehension of documents in different languages while you read.

**Highlights:** Translate current page while reading, Supports text-based PDFs, Foreign language document comprehension, Seamless reading experience

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is PDF Translator free?

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

### Is Babel Reader free?

Babel Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, PDF Translator or Babel Reader?

Babel Reader is rated higher. PDF Translator averages 4.2 out of 5 from 477 ratings, while Babel Reader averages 4.5 from 23 ratings.

### Do PDF Translator or Babel Reader have ads?

Both PDF Translator and Babel Reader show ads.

### Which is updated more often, PDF Translator or Babel Reader?

PDF Translator ships an update monthly, and Babel Reader every 4 days. Most recently, PDF Translator was updated on October 17, 2026 and Babel Reader on September 19, 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.*