# PDF Pro vs PDFelement

The clearest difference is monetization model: PDFelement at free with in-app purchases against PDF Pro's subscription. PDFelement also leads on update cadence (every 11 days vs every 2 months) and review sentiment (76% vs 60%). PDF Pro's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, rating, ratings volume and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. PDF Pro sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and PDFelement sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for PDF Pro against 4.6 for PDFelement. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 7K and 7.6K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 60% of PDF Pro's written reviews are positive against 76% of PDFelement's.

PDF Pro ships an update every 2 months, PDFelement every 11 days. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | PDF Pro | PDFelement |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.7 (7K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdf-pro-reader-editor-forms/id454936656/reviews)** | [4.6 (7.6K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdfelement-pdf-editor-and-scan/id1516765045/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 7K | **7.6K** |
| Positive reviews | 60.0% of reviews | **76.2% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Every 11 days** |
| Monetization | Subscription | **Free with in-app purchases** |
| Size | 97 MB | 199 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | **15.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | [Dominic Rodemer](https://appshunter.io/developer/309872333) | [Wondershare Technology Group Co.,LTD](https://appshunter.io/developer/298647757) |

## What reviewers say

### PDF Pro

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdf-pro-reader-editor-forms/id454936656)

Edit, annotate, and read PDF documents on your iPhone and iPad. Highlight text, add notes, shapes, voice recordings, and photos. Search your entire PDF library, fill out forms, and sign documents.

**Highlights:** Edit and annotate PDFs, Highlight text and add notes, Embed audio and photo annotations, Full-text search of PDF library, Fill out and sign PDF forms, Organize PDFs with folders and tags, Import from cloud storage

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

**In-app purchases (10)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Offer - Monthly - iOS | $2.99 | per month |
| Premium - Monthly - iOS | $3.99 | per month |
| Premium - Monthly - macOS | $4.99 | per month |
| Offer - Annual - iOS | $12.99 | per year |
| Offer - Annual - macOS | $22.99 | per year |
| Premium  - Annual - iOS | $24.99 | per year |
| Offer - iOS + macOS | $29.99 | per year |
| Premium - Annual - macOS | $44.99 | per year |
| Premium - iOS + macOS | $49.99 | per year |
| Premium - macOS + iOS | $49.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 User-friendly interface
- 🚀 Fast and efficient
- 💡 Excellent PDF management features
- 🔒 Secure and reliable
- 🎨 Great annotation tools

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
- 💰 Expensive subscription model
- 🔍 Inconsistent search functionality
- 📖 Loses last read position
- 🖋️ Unreliable handwriting support

**Reported bugs**

- Annotations and highlights randomly disappearing
- Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
- Corrupted PDF files after editing
- Slow performance on older devices
- Inconsistent behavior when switching between PDFs

**Requested features**

- Improved bookmarking and note-taking
- Seamless iCloud/cloud storage integration
- Customizable keyboard shortcuts
- Advanced text editing and OCR capabilities
- Better organization and folder management


### PDFelement

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdfelement-pdf-editor-and-scan/id1516765045)

This app offers a comprehensive suite of tools for managing PDF documents, including editing, scanning, converting, and signing. It leverages AI for advanced features like summarizing, translating, and chatting with your PDFs, streamlining workflows for work, study, and daily life.

**Highlights:** AI PDF editing and chat, Edit text, images, and links, Scan documents to PDF with OCR, Convert PDFs to Word, Excel, PPT, Annotate and markup PDFs, Fill and sign PDF forms, Compress and merge PDFs

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support, iPhone Duo support

**In-app purchases (9)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly Subscription (AI) | $3.99 | per month |
| PDF Editor& Converter& Scanner | $6.99 | per month |
| PDF Editor & Scanner Pro（iOS） | $6.99 | per month |
| Weekly Subscription (iOS) | $6.99 | per 7 days |
| Quarterly Subscription (iOS) | $9.99 | per 3 months |
| Weekly Subscription (iOS) | $9.99 | per 7 days |
| Weekly Subscription (iOS) | $9.99 | per 7 days |
| Annual Subscription (iOS) | $29.99 | per year |
| iOS | $39.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Efficient PDF editing
- 💡 Comprehensive feature set
- 🔒 Secure document handling
- 👍 Intuitive interface

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional crashes or glitches
- 🔋 High battery consumption
- 🔒 Mandatory account required
- 🔒 Unclear licensing and subscription model
- 🐛 Syncing issues between devices

**Reported bugs**

- Login issues and inability to restore purchases
- Corrupted scanned files or loss of progress
- Inconsistent behavior when editing PDF text
- Compatibility problems with older devices or OS versions

**Requested features**

- Add dark mode option
- Improve cloud integration and file management
- Enhance OCR accuracy and capabilities
- Introduce multi-tab support for better workflow
- Add more customization options for toolbars and UI


## Frequently asked questions

### Is PDF Pro free?

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

### Is PDFelement free?

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

### Which has better reviews, PDF Pro or PDFelement?

PDF Pro is rated higher. PDF Pro averages 4.7 out of 5 from 7K ratings, while PDFelement averages 4.6 from 7.6K ratings.

### Do PDF Pro or PDFelement have ads?

PDFelement shows ads; PDF Pro does not.

### Which is updated more often, PDF Pro or PDFelement?

PDF Pro ships an update every 2 months, and PDFelement every 11 days. Most recently, PDF Pro was updated on November 6, 2026 and PDFelement on November 6, 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.*