PDF Reader Pro Edition® vs Smart PDF Editor
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PDF Reader Pro Edition®
This powerful application allows users to read, manage, edit, and annotate PDF files on iOS devices. It offers real-time online collaboration, form filling, and advanced annotation tools. Create, organize, and secure your PDF documents with ease.
- Real-time online collaboration and chat
- Fillable PDF forms
- Extensive annotation tools (highlight, notes, signature)
- EasyReview mode for text markup
- Create new PDF files
- Secure Vault folder
- Built-in scanner
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**Winner of the Tabby Awards for best iPad- Productivity/Documents App** PDF Reader Pro Edition is the best app to read, manage and annotate PDF files and it works beautifully on iOS 12. The most powerful PDF reader, carefully designed and optimized specially for the iPhone & iPad. The best mobile PDF reader for your iPad Pro and Apple Pencil. Part of the @work campaign by Apple. Some of the great features of PDF Reader Pro Edition are: • Real-time online collaboration & chat Now you can collaborate and add annotations with other users on the same file over the internet in real time and you can chat about your progress simultaneously. They will be able to see what changes you are making as you make them all in real time. • PDF forms support Now you can fill out PDF forms directly on your iPad/iPhone. • Full Annotations/highlight support Now you can add notes directly from your iPad anywhere on the document. Highlighter, stamps, sticky notes, text boxes, underlines, strikeout, dynamic stamps (with date & time), freehand drawing, signature, free highlight, lines, arrows, rectangles and ovals, fully compatible with Apple Preview and Adobe Acrobat. • New EasyReview mode With this new amazing feature you are able to mark up PDF documents faster and easier than ever before. Just tap on the part of text where you need to make changes and correct it in the text editor (similar to Word). The text will be marked as removed and the new text will have a different color so you can easily identify it. When you save the PDF file all the modifications will appear as standard annotations (replace text and insert text annotations). • Fresh new user interface specially design to merge beautifully with iOS 12. • Create new PDF files Extract and email pages from a PDF file or create a new document using pages from an existing file. • Share & collaborate Connect with all your colleagues and friend to share and collaborate your PDF files and annotations in real time. • Rotate function You can rotate a single page or the whole document. • Vault folder Securely store your important PDF files. • Bookmarks/Outlines Bookmark pages on your PDF files. Add outlines to create or modify a table of contents for your document directly from your iPad. • Reflow mode • Full Web browser to download PDF files from the web • Scanner Create multipage documents in PDF format. • Document manager Copy, cut, paste and delete your documents. Organize your PDFs into folders. • PDF hyperlinks support Jump back and forth within the document. Jump back button to quickly go back to the page you came from. • Text search Easily find any word on your PDF file. • Save email attachments Open attachments directly from the Mail app, you can also open PDF files from any other application using the Open in function. • Download PDF files from Safari Use the Open in function to download a PDF file from Safari to PDF Reader Pro Edition. • Transfer files You can easily and securely copy your PDF files from your Mac or PC using Airdrop, the USB or WiFi sharing feature. • Print Print your PDF files and annotations directly from the app. • Email your files Email your PDF files directly from the app, you can email the entire document with all annotations or you can also email specific pages from a PDF file. You can also email a flatten copy of a PDF file, this option will compress and flatten your annotations onto the document to prevent them from being modified. • Cloud support Download/upload your PDF files to iCloud, Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, SugarSync & OneDrive. • Great for presentations Use Airplay or an HDMI cable to show your documents on an external display while you annotate them in real time. • The only mobile PDF Reader application that supports Vitrium* protected PDF files (Like University of Phoenix ebooks) Join the hundred of thousands users already enjoying all the great features of PDF Reader Pro Edition. More amazing features coming soon!
Smart PDF Editor
This app is a PDF editor designed for efficient ink annotations, especially with a stylus. It helps professionals sign and share documents, and students take notes on study materials. Organize your files with a built-in manager.
- Ink annotation optimized
- Digital signature tool
- Document review and sharing
- Note-taking on documents
- Built-in file manager
- Color-coded categories
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Smart PDF is a PDF editor specially optimized for ink annotations. Use it with an Apple Pencil for the ultimate ease in note taking. Great for professionals Quickly sign and send documents. Review, annotate and share files with your colleagues. Great for students If you spend a lot of time reading and studying documents on your iPad, then Smart PDF is an indispensable tool for getting the most out of your study time. Take notes on documents in class, or while studying at home. Keep all your files organized with the built-in file manager, with color-coded categories. We hope you enjoy Smart PDF! -- The App Makers @ Qrayon
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: PDF Reader Pro Edition® at 4.4 against Smart PDF Editor's 3.8. PDF Reader Pro Edition® also leads on ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (54% vs 21%). Smart PDF Editor's advantage is monetization model (ad-supported vs paid). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
PDF Reader Pro Edition® holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PDF Reader Pro Edition® has 1.7K ratings behind it against 109, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 54% of PDF Reader Pro Edition®'s written reviews are positive against 21% of Smart PDF Editor's.
PDF Reader Pro Edition® ships an update every 4 months, Smart PDF Editor every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PDF Reader Pro Edition® | Smart PDF Editor |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (1.7K ratings) — better | 3.8 (109 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 54.3% of reviews — better | 20.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1.7K — better | 109 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months — better | Every 7 months |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Ad-supported — better |
| Best chart rank | #147 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 66 MB | 11 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | iTECH DEVELOPMENT SYSTEMS INC. | Qrayon, LLC |
Customer experience
PDF Reader Pro Edition®
Smart PDF Editor
Bugs and requests
PDF Reader Pro Edition®
Reported bugs
4 issues- App crashes when opening certain PDF files
- Annotations disappear or fail to save
- Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
- Slow performance on older iPad models
Requested features
4 requests- Add support for password-protected PDFs
- Improve annotation tools with better undo/redo
- Implement cloud storage integration (Dropbox, iCloud, etc.)
- Add ability to insert, delete, and rearrange PDF pages
Smart PDF Editor
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
PDF Reader Pro Edition®
No in-app purchases
Smart PDF Editor
No in-app purchases







