Comparison

Documents vs File Transfer

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Documents

This app acts as a comprehensive file manager, PDF editor, and document viewer for your mobile devices. It allows you to organize local files, extract archives, edit and sign PDFs, and convert various file formats. You can also scan documents and transcribe audio/video.

Highlights
  • File management and organization
  • ZIP and RAR archive extraction
  • PDF editing, viewing, and conversion
  • Document signing and form filling
  • File conversion and compression
  • Built-in document scanner
  • Audio and video transcription
Features
Read full description

Documents by Readdle is your file manager, document viewer, PDF editor, and archive extractor for iPhone and iPad. Browse and organize your files, extract ZIP and RAR archives, edit and sign PDFs, and convert or compress anything — all from one app. FILE MANAGER - Browse, organize, and manage local files and folders in one fast file browser, rename and color-tag them for quick access - Import files from your computer, download files directly from the web browser, or work with iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, and other cloud drives without downloading them ZIP & RAR ARCHIVE EXTRACTOR - Unzip and extract ZIP and RAR archives directly on your iPhone or iPad - Create new ZIP archives to compress and share multiple files at once - Compress large files and folders to save storage space PDF EDITOR, VIEWER & CONVERTER - View and read PDFs, books, and scanned documents with a fast built-in viewer - Edit or modify existing text directly inside a PDF - Highlight, add notes, and place stickers on PDFs and books - Merge multiple PDFs into one, or split, rotate, and reorder pages - Convert PDF to Word, JPG, PNG, HEIC, and other formats SIGN DOCUMENTS - Add your signature to PDF contracts and forms in seconds - Fill out forms and place text, checkmarks, and initials anywhere on a document - Store signed contracts securely and access them from any device FILE CONVERTER & COMPRESSOR - Convert between PDF, DOCX, JPG, JPEG, PNG, HEIC, WEBP, and more in a few taps - Compress PDFs, photos, and files to reduce size for email or upload limits - Create PDFs from photos, scans, or documents, and convert them back to editable formats SCANNER - Scan receipts, books, and documents with a built-in OCR document scanner - Save scans as searchable PDFs directly in Documents or your cloud drive ALSO INSIDE - Transcribe audio and video to text, then edit or export the transcript - Use Smart Eraser to remove unwanted objects from photos - Play music and video, and transfer files to your Mac or PC over Wi-Fi Documents is an App Store Editors' Choice winner. Read more about our terms and conditions here: https://documents.io/legal/privacy https://documents.io/legal/terms

About

File Transfer

Easily share files, photos, and videos between mobile devices or between your phone and computer without an internet connection. Supports a wide range of file formats and compressed archives.

Highlights
  • Offline file transfer
  • Mobile-to-mobile sharing
  • Mobile-to-computer transfer
  • Supports various file formats
  • Handles compressed archives
  • MP3 and MP4 player
Features
Read full description

File Transfer, No need to connect to the Internet, you can send files, photos, videos, etc. between mobile phones and mobile phones and computers. Send from mobile to mobile: - Multiple iOS devices connected to the same router (same LAN). - Support sending photos, videos, and documents in various formats - Support to open multiple file formats: DOC, Excel, PPT, TXT, RTF, Pages, JPG, GIF, PNG - Support opening compressed packages zip, rar, 7z, cbz, cbr, tar, gzip. Mobile phone and computer transfer: - Connect your phone and computer to the same WiFi - Support transfer files, photos, videos in the computer browser.

Screenshots

Documents4 screens
File Transfer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Documents at none against File Transfer's shown. Documents also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.3) and update cadence (every 6 days vs every 9 months). File Transfer's advantage is review sentiment (79% vs 71%) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 16.0). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Documents sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and File Transfer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Documents holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Documents has 635K ratings behind it against 164, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 71% of Documents's written reviews are positive against 79% of File Transfer's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Documents ships an update every 6 days, File Transfer every 9 months. The most recent releases landed on November 12, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Documents versus File Transfer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDocumentsFile Transfer
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (635K ratings) — better4.3 (164 ratings)
Positive reviews70.6% of reviews79.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings635K — better164
Update frequencyEvery 6 days — betterEvery 9 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#72 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size421 MB64 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperReaddle Technologies Limited云云 唐

Customer experience

Documents

All ratings635,332 ratings
Positive95.1%
Neutral2.2%
Negative2.7%
Written reviews3,037 reviews
Positive70.6%
Neutral7.0%
Negative22.5%

File Transfer

All ratings163 ratings
Positive80.4%
Neutral8.6%
Negative11.0%
Written reviews24 reviews
Positive79.2%
Neutral12.5%
Negative8.3%

Bugs and requests

Documents

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Disappearing downloaded files and folders
  • Unreliable audio playback with skipping and pausing
  • Inability to open certain file types after updates
  • Syncing issues between local storage and cloud services

Requested features

5 requests
  • Customizable volume controls for audio playback
  • Improved PDF annotation tools
  • Option to expand/collapse all bookmarks in documents
  • Ability to permanently delete files
  • Faster file transfer and syncing between devices

File Transfer

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

9 purchases

Documents

Subscriptions9
  • Documents Plus1 Month trial$9.991 Month
  • Documents Plus7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Documents Plus3 Days trial$9.991 Month
Show 6 more
  • Documents VPN3 Days trial$12.491 Month
  • Documents VPN7 Days trial$12.491 Month
  • Documents Plus7 Days trial$14.991 Month
  • Documents Plus3 Days trial$14.991 Month
  • Documents Plus7 Days trial2 variants$49.991 Year
  • Documents VPN7 Days trial$89.991 Year
1 purchases

File Transfer

One-time1
  • Professional Version$1.99

Questions

Is Documents free?
Documents is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is File Transfer free?
File Transfer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Documents or File Transfer?
Documents is rated higher. Documents averages 4.8 out of 5 from 635K ratings, while File Transfer averages 4.3 from 164 ratings.
Do Documents or File Transfer have ads?
File Transfer shows ads; Documents does not.
Which is updated more often, Documents or File Transfer?
Documents ships an update every 6 days, and File Transfer every 9 months. Most recently, Documents was updated on November 12, 2026 and File Transfer on November 3, 2026.

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