LightPDF vs PDF Compressor
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
LightPDF
This app offers a comprehensive suite of tools for managing PDF documents on your mobile device. It leverages AI to summarize, chat with, and convert PDFs, along with scanning capabilities, text extraction, and editing features. It also includes an ID photo maker and watermark removal.
- AI Chat with PDFs
- Phone Scanner to PDF
- PDF to Word/JPG/Excel Converter
- OCR Text Extraction
- PDF Editing and Annotation
- ID Photo Maker
- Watermark Removal
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LightPDF, AI-powered, is a must-have PDF toolkit for your mobile device. You can use it to summarize and chat with PDFs and other documents, and quickly get the key information from the files! And it takes advantage of AI to help you easily scan paperwork to PDFs, extract texts and remove specific objects. It can be your PDF converter, editor, reader, on-the-go mobile scanner, cloud-based PDF storage, and ID photo maker. Try LightPDF to convert, OCR, scan, edit, read, annotate, comment, compress, and merge PDFs easily and quickly to get a high-quality result. And its sharing and collaborating feature can help you communicate smoothly with your colleagues on the same PDF document, and improve your teamwork productivity. What LightPDF can do: Smart AI Chat Assistant for PDFs - Ask questions to the chatbot about your file and it will answer you with cited sources - Quickly output results in markdown and table formats - Chat with PDFs, scans, Excel, Word, PPT, and ePub documents Intelligent Phone Scanner - Take photos of your papers, cards, books, and more to turn them into PDF format. Work as your pocket PDF scanner - Extract and copy texts from paper works - Remove handwriting from the test paper - Advanced filter features for better scanning result Powerful PDF Converter with OCR - Convert PDF to Word, JPG, PNG, Excel, PPT, and TXT, as well as turn Word, PPT, Excel, JPG, PNG, and CAD formats to PDF - Equipped with OCR technology to recognize and turn PDF scans and photos into docx, xlsx, pptx, pdf, and txt formats - Convert multiple documents at the same time and quickly get your work done Cloud-based PDF Editor & Reader - Edit, sign, and add images to a PDF file - Highlight, draw markups, and insert notes into PDF - Reduce PDF file size with a few touches - Combine multiple PDF documents into one - Read PDFs, add bookmarks, search and annotate - Print PDFs directly from your devices - Auto-sync PDFs in order to work with PDFs on the go. No more worry about losing data Handy ID Photo Maker - Create ID and passport photos with ease. It allows you to remove the background, change the background color, and produce a new photo with the selected size - Unblur the photo to enhance its quality and make it clear Image Watermark Removal - AI automatically recognizes and removes watermarks from images, eliminating the need for manual smudging like in Photoshop. It is particularly effective for large logos and full-screen watermarks, enhancing learning efficiency. New Way for Teamwork - Share files via links with your team and invite multiple people to view, edit, highlight, sign, and add comments on the same PDF at the same time - Set permissions to keep PDF security under control - Upload the file to the cloud, and access it on any device - Star files as favorites to quickly find and open them Subscriptions will be charged to your credit card through your iTunes account. Your subscription will automatically renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. After purchase, please manage your subscriptions in the App Store Account Settings. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you need any help or have suggestions on LightPDF, please feel free to contact us. We can't keep making progress without your voice. Email: support@lightpdf.com Customer Service Center: https://lightpdf.com/contact FAQ: https://lightpdf.com/faqs/lightpdf-editor-faq Privacy Policy:https://lightpdf.com/privacy Terms of Service:https://lightpdf.com/terms
PDF Compressor
Easily reduce the size of PDF files by up to 90% without sacrificing quality. This tool offers multiple compression levels and batch processing, making it ideal for emailing documents, saving storage, and meeting upload size limits.
- Compress PDFs up to 90%
- 6 compression levels
- Batch compression
- Organize with folders
- Secure file processing
- Manage and preview files
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Compress PDF files in seconds — reduce file size by up to 90% without losing quality! PDF Compressor is the fastest and easiest way to compress PDF files right from your iPhone or iPad. Whether you need to email a large document, save storage space, or upload a PDF with a size limit, our powerful compression engine shrinks your files while keeping them crystal clear. WHY CHOOSE PDF COMPRESSOR? SUPER FAST COMPRESSION Compress your PDF files in just a few taps. Import, choose a quality level, and get your compressed PDF in seconds. UP TO 90% SMALLER Dramatically reduce PDF file size. Turn a 30 MB document into just a few hundred KB — perfect for email attachments, messaging apps, and online uploads. 6 COMPRESSION LEVELS Choose the perfect balance between size and quality: • No Quality Loss – keeps original quality (~10% reduction) • Light Compression – best for text-heavy documents (~30%) • Balanced – great for long-term storage (~50%) • Web Optimized – ideal for sharing online or by email (~55%) • Screen Optimized – perfect for reading on screens (~60%) • Print Quality – high-quality output ready for printing (~40%) BATCH COMPRESSION Compress multiple PDF files at the same time and save hours of work. ORGANIZE WITH FOLDERS Create folders to keep your work, school, and personal PDFs perfectly organized. Share an entire folder at once. MANAGE YOUR FILES Open, preview, share, rename, move, or delete your compressed PDFs anytime. Track your total storage saved and average reduction right from the home screen. YOUR PRIVACY MATTERS Your files are processed securely and deleted immediately after compression. We never store or access your documents. BEAUTIFUL DESIGN A clean, modern interface that automatically adapts to light & dark mode, with full support for the latest iOS design. PERFECT FOR: • Students – compress lecture notes, assignments, and study materials • Professionals – email contracts, reports, and presentations without size limits • Everyone – free up storage space on your device and in the cloud HOW IT WORKS: 1. Import your PDF files from Files, or any app 2. Choose your compression level 3. Tap "Compress now" and you're done! Your compressed PDFs are ready to share, save, or organize in seconds. PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION PDF Compressor offers optional in-app purchases and auto-renewable subscriptions to unlock unlimited compressions and premium features. • Payment will be charged to your Apple ID account at confirmation of purchase. • Subscriptions automatically renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. • Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. • You can manage and cancel your subscriptions anytime in your App Store account settings after purchase. • Any unused portion of a free trial period will be forfeited when you purchase a subscription. Privacy Policy: https://techcreativelab.com/apps/pdf-compressor/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://techcreativelab.com/apps/pdf-compressor/terms.html Download PDF Compressor now and make your PDFs smaller, faster, and easier to share!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: PDF Compressor at 5.0 against LightPDF's 4.1. PDF Compressor also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 2 weeks). LightPDF's advantage is ratings volume (54 vs 1) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 18.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Both are free to download. LightPDF sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $13.99 per 7 days and PDF Compressor sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
PDF Compressor holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: LightPDF has 54 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
LightPDF ships an update every 2 weeks, PDF Compressor every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | LightPDF | PDF Compressor |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.1 (54 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 88.4% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 54 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 113 MB | 26 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Wangxu Technology Co., Ltd | TechCreative Lab LLC |
Customer experience
LightPDF
PDF Compressor
Bugs and requests
LightPDF
Reported bugs
5 issues- App requests more money after payment
- Paid subscription not unlocking features
- Trial period charged despite cancellation
- Scans cut off PDF to 3 pages or under
- Performance issues
Requested features
3 requests- iPad support
- Edit text in the exact same font
- More advanced editing features
PDF Compressor
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
LightPDF
- LightPDF Weekly Subscription$13.997 Days
- LightPDF Monthly Subscription2 variants$19.991 Month
- LightPDF Yearly Subscription$47.991 Year
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- LightPDF Annual Subscription$49.991 Year
- LightPDF Yearly Subscription3 Days trial$59.991 Year
- iOS LightPDF - 1 Week$9.99
- 買一年送一年$79.99
- 1年購入で1年おまけ$84.99
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- 2 zum Preis von 1$99.99
- 3-Year Subscription$99.99
- Mac LightPDF Lifetime Plan$109.99
- Buy 3 yrs Get 3 yrs Free$149.99
PDF Compressor
- Week$1.997 Days
- Month$6.991 Month
- Year$29.991 Year









