# Foxit PDF Editor vs PDF Reader

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PDF Reader at none against Foxit PDF Editor's 5. PDF Reader also leads on review sentiment (77% vs 68%) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). Foxit PDF Editor's advantage is rating (4.5 vs 4.3) and update cadence (monthly vs every 2 months). On price, ratings volume, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Foxit PDF Editor sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. PDF Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

Foxit PDF Editor holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4.8K and 3.9K respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 68% of Foxit PDF Editor's written reviews are positive against 77% of PDF Reader's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Foxit PDF Editor ships an update monthly, PDF Reader every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Foxit PDF Editor | PDF Reader |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.5 (4.8K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/foxit-pdf-editor/id507040546/reviews)** | [4.3 (3.9K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdf-reader-pdfelement/id1150215996/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **4.8K** | 3.9K |
| Positive reviews | 68.3% of reviews | **76.7% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Monthly** | Every 2 months |
| Monetization | Freemium | **Free** |
| Size | 328 MB | 173 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | **15.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [FOXIT SOFTWARE INCORPORATED](https://appshunter.io/developer/386527261) | [Wondershare Technology (Hunan) Co.,Ltd.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1721309409) |

## What reviewers say

### Foxit PDF Editor

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/foxit-pdf-editor/id507040546)

This mobile app offers comprehensive PDF management, allowing users to view, edit, annotate, and convert PDF files on the go. It includes AI-powered features for summarization, translation, and text enhancement, alongside robust tools for creating, signing, and protecting documents.

**Highlights:** AI-powered PDF summarization and translation, Edit text and images within PDFs, Convert PDFs to and from various formats, Annotate and add handwritten signatures, Create PDFs from scans or other files, Secure PDF files with passwords and redaction, Cloud service integration for file access

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (5)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Foxit AI Assistant - Monthly | $4.99 | per month |
| PDF Editor - Monthly | $6.99 | per month |
| PDF Editor - Yearly | $39.99 | per year |
| Foxit AI Assistant - Yearly | $49.99 | per year |
| PDF Editor+ Yearly | $139.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Excellent PDF reader
- 👍 User-friendly interface
- 🔓 Robust annotation tools
- 💡 Convenient cloud integration
- 🔊 Helpful text-to-speech feature

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
- 🔒 Subscription required for full functionality
- 💰 Expensive subscription cost
- 🖌️ Poor Apple Pencil support
- 📂 Unreliable cloud sync

**Reported bugs**

- Subscription not recognized after OS update
- Pages go blank when switching apps
- Handwriting and text input issues
- Inconsistent behavior when rotating device
- Corrupted files and data loss

**Requested features**

- Allow custom highlight/text color
- Improve page navigation and bookmarking
- Integrate with more cloud storage providers
- Add OCR and text extraction capabilities
- Enhance annotation tools for better precision


### PDF Reader

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdf-reader-pdfelement/id1150215996)

This app offers a superior PDF reading experience with its innovative Liquid Mode, which optimizes documents for mobile screens. It also provides robust tools for annotating, signing, managing, and sharing your PDF files, catering to both work and study needs.

**Highlights:** Liquid Mode for optimized mobile reading, Annotation tools (pencil, text, highlighting), Handwritten signature insertion, File management (move, merge, copy, delete), Cloud service integration (Wondershare, iCloud), Create blank PDFs and folders

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Efficient PDF editing
- 💡 Useful annotation tools
- 🚀 Convenient for students/professionals
- 👍 Great value for free app

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes and glitches
- 🔒 Privacy concerns with account requirement
- 👎 Unintuitive user interface
- 🐛 Unreliable saving/syncing
- 👎 Limited functionality compared to paid version

**Reported bugs**

- Text boxes appearing randomly
- Inability to select/edit text in some PDFs
- Scrolling issues and page loading delays
- Incompatibility with certain PDF formats

**Requested features**

- Ability to edit text formatting (font, size, color)
- Support for multiple open documents
- Improved Apple Pencil integration
- Bookmark/favorite feature for frequently used PDFs
- Expanded cloud storage integration (OneDrive, Google Drive, etc.)


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Foxit PDF Editor free?

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

### Is PDF Reader free?

PDF Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Foxit PDF Editor or PDF Reader?

Foxit PDF Editor is rated higher. Foxit PDF Editor averages 4.5 out of 5 from 4.8K ratings, while PDF Reader averages 4.3 from 3.9K ratings.

### Do Foxit PDF Editor or PDF Reader have ads?

Neither Foxit PDF Editor nor PDF Reader shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Foxit PDF Editor or PDF Reader?

Foxit PDF Editor ships an update monthly, and PDF Reader every 2 months. Most recently, Foxit PDF Editor was updated on September 24, 2026 and PDF Reader on September 23, 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.*