Comparison

CamScanner + | OCR Scanner vs Elfinbook

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

Head to head
About

CamScanner + | OCR Scanner

Transform your phone into a powerful scanner for documents, receipts, and notes. Optimize scan quality, extract text with OCR, and share files easily via email, cloud, or fax. Secure your documents with passcodes and sync them across all your devices.

Highlights
  • Mobile scanner for documents
  • Optimize scan quality
  • Extract text with OCR
  • Share PDF/JPEG files
  • Print via AirPrint
  • Fax documents
  • Secure important docs
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Scan docs into clear & sharp image/PDF, to email, fax, print or save to cloud. * Over 200,000 new registrations per day * App Store Best of 2014 * CamScanner, 50 Best iPhone Apps, 2013 Edition – TIME ----Paid App Features---- * All features that the free version has * Recognize and extract texts from a single page * Larger cloud space of 400M (200M for free version) * Export PDFs without watermark "Scanned by CamScanner" * Ad-free Features: *Mobile Scanner Use your phone camera to scan receipts, notes, invoices, whiteboard discussions, business cards, certificates, etc. *Optimize Scan Quality Smart cropping and auto enhancing make the texts and graphics look clear and sharp. *Extract Texts from Image OCR (optical character recognition) feature extracts texts from single page for further editing or sharing. (Paid app only) *Share PDF/JPEG Files Easily share documents in PDF or JPEG format with others via social media, email attachment or sending the doc link. *AirPrint & Fax Documents Instantly print out docs in CamScanner with nearby printer via AirPrint; directly fax docs to over 30 countries from the app. *Collaboration Invite friends or colleagues to view and comment on your scans in a group. (Registrants only) *Advanced Editing Making annotations or adding customized watermark on docs are made available for you. *Secure Important Docs Set passcode for viewing important docs; meanwhile, when sending doc link, you can set password to protect it. *Sync across Platforms Sign up to sync documents on the go. Just sign in to any smartphone, tablet or computer (visit CamScanner website) you own and you can view, edit and share any document. Premium Subscription Service: 1. Edit OCR results and notes of the doc, exporting as .txt file 2. Create Doc Collage for multiple pages 3. + 10G cloud space 4. + 40 extra collaborators 5. Send doc link with password protection and expiration date 6. Auto upload docs to Box, Google Drive, Dropbox, Evernote, One Drive and etc. 7. Batch download PDF files through web application of CS 8. Import PDF to Camscanner for editing 9. Scan academic questions to make practice tests for study 10. High Standard ID Scan and More... Payment models for Premium subscription: • Monthly Subscription: $4.99 per month, • Yearly Subscription: $35.99 for 1st year and $49.99/year starting from the next year, • Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. • Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current subscription period. • Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. • Any unused portion of a free trial period will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication. For Terms of Use, please visit https://www.camscanner.com/app/service?language=en-us For Privacy Policy, please visit https://www.camscanner.com/app/privacy?language=en-us CamScanner users scan and manage * Bill, Invoice, Contract, Tax Roll, Business Card… * Whiteboard, Memo, Script, Letter… * Blackboard, Note, PPT, Book, Article… * Credential, Certificate, Identity Documents… 3rd Party Cloud Storage Services Supported: -Box, Google Drive, Evernote, Dropbox, OneDrive We’d love to hear your feedback: isupport@intsig.com Follow us on Twitter: @CamScanner Like us on Facebook: CamScanner Follow us on Google+: CamScanner Check out other INTSIG’s products: CamCard - Business Card Reader CamDictionary - Snap Translator

About

Elfinbook

Transform handwritten notes into digital text with this app. Scan, enhance, and organize your notes, then sync them to the cloud. It offers a paper-like writing experience with digital convenience.

Highlights
  • Mobile scanning with camera
  • Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
  • Digital pen and writing pad
  • Note organization and search
  • Cloud sync and auto-backup
  • PDF and JPEG export
Features
Read full description

Instantly transform your handwritten notes into clear-written images right in the power of your own hand! Here comes the ELFINBOOK app that goes hand in hand with your ELFINBOOK notebook. With notes written in your eco-friendly, reusable and waterproof notebook, automatically sync it in your choice of cloud services like Evernote, Google Drive, OneCloud and more. Whether you are a student, teacher, engineer, designer, writer or an artist, you’re going to need the ELFINBOOK to fully experience the power of your ELFINBOOK notebook. This user-friendly app makes accessing notes, capture thoughts and saving them much easier and more accessible. We bring you the pleasure of the paper and pen experience with the ease of technology much easier and more fun, we give you the ELFINBOOK App! ¬¬------ INTEGRATES THE USE OF CAMERA FOR MOBILE SCANNING -With the use of your smartphone’s camera, scan handwritten notes for a high-quality image. -You also have the choice of cropping and auto-enhancing to make the texts and graphics sharp and clear. RECOGNIZES TEXTS FROM IMAGES -The help of the new and improved Optical Character Recognition (OCR) feature extracts texts from sketches and illustrations that makes it easy to edit, revise and share. MARVEL IN THE PAPER AND PEN EXPERIENCE -You can add photos, capture handwritten notes, and type text through the app’s writing pad. -Bask in the variety of pens available for you to use! You have fountain pen, rollerball pen, and highlighter. -What’s more is that it has an auto-advancing zoom that you can use like how you write on paper. ORGANIZE, SEARCH AND SECURE NOTES -Organize your notes in an easy-tree diagram to aid you while studying. -Comes with a portal system that you can use to pin frequently-viewed documents and it automatically sends notes to the portal document section. -Easily search for your handwritten notes as the application uses OCR technology. -To ensure privacy on your mobile app, you can add a password to safeguard your notes. AUTO-BACKUP AND AUTOMATIC CLOUD SYNC -In order not to lose your notes, we added an automatic cloud sync and auto-backup so that you can access them in your devices and retrieve them while you study or while you work. -To view your saved notes, visit the ELFINBOOK website. SHARING YOUR IDEAS MADE EASY -You can easily download your notes as PDF or JPEG format and send them through Google Drive, Dropbox, Evernote, ICloud, OneNote, WeChat or Email. ------ CONTACT US Email: elfinbook@hzqihui.cn Website: www.elfinbook.com Follow us on Twitter @Elfinbook13 For more information about our reusable notebooks, please visit ELFINBOOK.com. If you have any concerns and feedback regarding our ELFINBOOK app, you can comment down below and we’ll do our best to improve the app for you.

Screenshots

CamScanner + | OCR Scanner4 screens
Elfinbook4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: CamScanner + | OCR Scanner at 83% against Elfinbook's 38%. CamScanner + | OCR Scanner also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.4) and ratings volume (17K vs 354). Elfinbook's advantage is price (Free vs $0.99) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 3 months). On ads, 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

Elfinbook is free to download; CamScanner + | OCR Scanner costs $0.99 up front. CamScanner + | OCR Scanner sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Elfinbook sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

CamScanner + | OCR Scanner holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: CamScanner + | OCR Scanner has 17K ratings behind it against 354, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 83% of CamScanner + | OCR Scanner's written reviews are positive against 38% of Elfinbook's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

CamScanner + | OCR Scanner ships an update every 3 months, Elfinbook every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
CamScanner + | OCR Scanner versus Elfinbook: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCamScanner + | OCR ScannerElfinbook
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating4.9 (17K ratings) — better4.4 (354 ratings)
Positive reviews83.3% of reviews — better37.7% of reviews
Number of ratings17K — better354
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#24 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS12.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size228 MB215 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLinguan DataHangzhou Qihui Technology Co., Ltd

Customer experience

CamScanner + | OCR Scanner

All ratings17,235 ratings
Positive97.2%
Neutral1.2%
Negative1.6%
Written reviews1,801 reviews
Positive83.3%
Neutral2.8%
Negative13.9%

Elfinbook

All ratings353 ratings
Positive84.4%
Neutral5.7%
Negative9.9%
Written reviews114 reviews
Positive37.7%
Neutral14.9%
Negative47.4%

User reviews

CamScanner + | OCR Scanner

From 17K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 👍 Convenient scanning
  • 🚀 Efficient document management
  • 👍 Great for receipts and documents
  • 🚀 Reliable and stable

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Privacy concerns
  • 💰 Expensive subscription
  • 🐛 Bugs and crashes
  • 🔒 Forced account creation
  • 💰 Nickel-and-diming for features

Elfinbook

From 354 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 💡 Innovative concept (notebook + app)
  • ♻️ Reusable notebook
  • ✍️ Good handwriting recognition (sometimes)
  • 📄 Scans documents well

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes
  • ❌ Login/signup issues
  • 📉 Poor OCR accuracy
  • ⏳ Slow performance
  • 💸 Premium features required

Bugs and requests

CamScanner + | OCR Scanner

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Frequent crashes and freezes
  • Sync issues leading to lost documents
  • Unreliable faxing and emailing
  • Compatibility problems with newer iOS versions
  • Inconsistent scanning quality

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved cloud storage integration
  • Easier document organization
  • Better OCR and text recognition
  • Ability to edit/annotate scanned documents
  • Automatic backup and restore functionality

Elfinbook

Reported bugs

87 issues
  • App crashes immediately upon opening
  • App crashes during launch
  • Cannot export to PDF
  • Batch scan is too slow
  • OCR text recognition does not work
Show 82 more
  • App crashes when trying to take pictures
  • Premium membership disappears after reinstallation
  • App crashes when moving pictures
  • App crashes when trying to write something
  • Slow upload to cloud
  • Cannot log in or sign up
  • Camera not working
  • App crashes when capturing a new page
  • App crashes when moving picture order
  • Lost notes after upgrade
  • Failed to upgrade data
  • App crashes when trying to scan
  • App crashes after update
  • OCR cannot recognize Russian
  • OCR only works with English
  • OCR produces gibberish for German
  • OCR scan takes too long
  • App does not recognize text
  • Flash control icon missing
  • App does not sync documents
  • OCR not working properly
  • App stretches documents to A4 size
  • Cannot turn flash on or off
  • App signs out every time it's closed
  • App does not remember login details
  • Cannot set phone and email under account
  • OCR is not great, requires editing
  • No return/enter to start a new line when editing notes
  • Cannot register as a user
  • App stops and cannot go back
  • Email error code during registration
  • Unable to connect during registration
  • No registered message when trying to log in
  • Camera never works
  • App won't start after reinstallation
  • Paid app is unusable
  • Lost data in the cloud
  • Cannot link with Evernote
  • Password for Evernote is incorrect
  • Corrupted documents in the app
  • Documents become unrecoverable
  • Recognition button thinks text is in different languages
  • Writing reappears after heating
  • App crashes when scanning
  • Lifetime membership not staying connected
  • App lags
  • Does not keep user signed in to premium account
  • Often will not log in at all
  • OCR unreadable even with best penmanship
  • Password lost and cannot reset
  • No help from support
  • App is confusing and difficult to use
  • iPhone XS Max unusable after update
  • Cannot bind phone number to app
  • Cannot type or use options for phone number binding
  • OCR function not found
  • App written in Chinese, no translation
  • Imported document never arrived
  • Writing fades away when touched too much
  • App is a cheap knockoff
  • App is an insult
  • Pages are soft and indent, cannot be reused
  • Sync issues
  • OCR is bad
  • App not intuitive
  • Customer service is terrible
  • Cannot change phone number easily
  • Notebook pages stain easily
  • App is unstable
  • Lost all work notes
  • App doesn't detect margins of pages
  • App doesn't work on certain pages
  • Software is atrocious
  • Software is a letdown
  • Picture editing is basic
  • App doesn't support Traditional Chinese OCR
  • App doesn't support Russian OCR
  • App crashes during installation
  • App doesn't work after last update
  • App cannot be opened after update
  • App doesn't work after update
  • Cannot register with phone number

Requested features

18 requests
  • Improved OCR accuracy
  • Faster batch scanning
  • Better language support for OCR
  • More intuitive UI
  • Smoother syncing
Show 13 more
  • Google Drive integration
  • iCloud sync for iOS
  • Ability to set destination folders for scans
  • Improved camera detection of borders
  • Dark mode
  • Ability to hear environmental information and read documents via camera (for visually impaired)
  • Automatic scanning when over the document
  • Spanish language support
  • Option to scan with or without black frame
  • Better customer service response
  • Ability to change phone number/email easily
  • More advanced picture editing options
  • Improved pen holder placement on notebook

In-app purchases

7 purchases

CamScanner + | OCR Scanner

Subscriptions3
  • CamScanner Premium$4.991 Month
  • CamScanner Premium1 Year trial3 variants$49.991 Year
  • CamScanner Premium3 Days trial$49.991 Year
One-time4
  • One-page Fax$0.99
  • 600 cp + One chance to Draw$0.99
  • 3000 C-Points$4.99
Show 1 more
  • Ten-page Fax$8.99
7 purchases

Elfinbook

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Premium$1.991 Month
  • Annually Premium3 Days trial$10.491 Year
One-time5
  • Elfinbook Premium One Month$0.99
  • 1GB Cloud Space$1.99
  • 1 Month$2.99
Show 2 more
  • Elfinbook Premium One Year$7.99
  • 12 Months$14.99

Questions

Is CamScanner + | OCR Scanner free?
CamScanner + | OCR Scanner costs $0.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Elfinbook free?
Elfinbook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, CamScanner + | OCR Scanner or Elfinbook?
CamScanner + | OCR Scanner is rated higher. CamScanner + | OCR Scanner averages 4.9 out of 5 from 17K ratings, while Elfinbook averages 4.4 from 354 ratings.
Do CamScanner + | OCR Scanner or Elfinbook have ads?
Both CamScanner + | OCR Scanner and Elfinbook show ads.
Which is updated more often, CamScanner + | OCR Scanner or Elfinbook?
CamScanner + | OCR Scanner ships an update every 3 months, and Elfinbook every 2 weeks. Most recently, CamScanner + | OCR Scanner was updated on November 1, 2026 and Elfinbook on November 1, 2026.

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