Comparison

Elemental vs iLovePDF

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

Head to head
About

Elemental

This free utility allows users to easily draw chemical structures and reactions on their mobile devices. It offers features like property calculation, file sharing via email and Dropbox, and a built-in periodic table. Users can also export structures as image files or MOL/RXN formats.

Highlights
  • Draw chemical structures and reactions
  • Calculate cheminformatics properties
  • Tweet chemical structures
  • Dropbox integration
  • Open MOL/RXN files
  • Email structures as files/images
  • Built-in Periodic Table
Features
Read full description

Elemental from Dotmatics the FREE Chemistry Sketch Utility Elemental is now a Universal App that support iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. Elemental is the Dotmatics chemistry sketch utility provided at no charge within many Dotmatics products. We are happy to provide this as a FREE app on the iTunes store. - Tap to draw chemical structures - Calculate cheminformatics properties - Tweet a Molecule! - Dropbox upload support & file association back from the Dropbox App - Open MOL/RXN files from E-mails (tap and hold an attachment) - Copy images to camera roll/clipboard - Double tap to undo - Sketch chemical reactions - Built-in Periodic Table - Email your structure as a MOL/RXN file and PNG image - Emails also contain MW, MolFormula and predicted LogP Draw molecules with ease! Suggestions are really welcome at this time. We intend to add a heap of features over the coming months and to keep this app FREE.

About

iLovePDF

Edit, convert, annotate, and sign PDF documents on the go. This app offers tools to scan, merge, split, compress, and protect your files, enhancing productivity for work and study.

Highlights
  • Scan documents to PDF
  • Convert JPG/Office to PDF
  • Edit and annotate PDFs
  • Fill and e-sign forms
  • Compress and merge PDFs
  • Split and rotate PDFs
  • Protect PDFs with passwords
Features
Read full description

Read, convert, annotate and sign PDF in just a few seconds with this handy document scanner and editor. Boost your productivity with every tool you need to work on the go. PHONE SCANNER • iPhone and iPad Scanner: Snap a photo of anything and save it to PDF. Multipage PDF option available. • Text recognition (OCR):Turn any scanned text or image into PDF with high accuracy. PDF CONVERTER • JPG to PDF: Take a picture of a document and save it to PDF. • MS Office Converter: Convert office documents to PDF files. Turn your PDF files into editable Office formats such as Word, Excel, Powerpoint. • Extract images from PDF: Extract images from your PDF document with high quality. Convert your own images to single or multiple PDF files. PDF EDITOR • Annotate PDF: Simply highlight the relevant text in your PDF. Add notes and annotations to PDF document, leave comments, draw or insert images to PDF. Choose your format of annotation. • Fill and sign forms: Quickly fill out a PDF form typing text and e-sign it using your finger. • PDF Reader: View, edit and modify PDF files stored in the Cloud or on your device whenever you need. OPTIMIZE, ORGANIZE AND PROTECT DOCUMENTS • Compress PDF: Reduce the filesize of your document while keeping visual quality. • Merge PDF: Combine multiple documents into a single PDF file. • Split PDF: Split PDF pages or extract pages to multiple PDF documents with high quality. • Rotate PDF: Rotate specific PDF pages and adjust their fit within your document. • PDF Protection: Remove or add PDF passwords. • Add page numbers to PDF: Customize your PDF files. Choose position, typography, and size of your page numbers. • Watermark PDF: Choose an image or a text and add it to your PDF document. Select position, transparency or typography for the best result. Connect to your Google Drive and Dropbox account to select and share documents from the Cloud. Upgrade to Premium and enjoy all the benefits with this all-in-one versatile PDF editor. iLovePDF Premium is available for purchase via an auto-renewable subscription as follows: • Annual or Monthly subscription available. • Payment will be charged to your iTunes account. • Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. • Subscriptions may be managed and discontinued by the user. Account Settings after purchase: • No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during an active subscription period. • Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription. Terms of use: https://www.ilovepdf.com/help/terms Privacy Policy: https://www.ilovepdf.com/help/privacy

Screenshots

Elemental1 screens
iLovePDF4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: iLovePDF at 4.8 against Elemental's 2.2. iLovePDF also leads on ratings volume (51K vs 18). Elemental's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 6 weeks). On price, review sentiment, ads 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. iLovePDF sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $5.49 per month. Elemental asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

iLovePDF holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 2.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: iLovePDF has 51K ratings behind it against 18, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of Elemental's written reviews are positive against 77% of iLovePDF's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Elemental ships an update every 3 weeks, iLovePDF every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on July 6, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Elemental versus iLovePDF: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterElementaliLovePDF
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.2 (18 ratings)4.8 (51K ratings) — better
Positive reviews73.4% of reviews77.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1851K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS8.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB247 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDotmatics LimitediLovePDF

Customer experience

Elemental

All ratings18 ratings
Positive27.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative72.2%
Written reviews79 reviews
Positive73.4%
Neutral3.8%
Negative22.8%

iLovePDF

All ratings51,353 ratings
Positive94.1%
Neutral2.1%
Negative3.8%
Written reviews1,793 reviews
Positive77.4%
Neutral3.9%
Negative18.7%

Bugs and requests

Elemental

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

iLovePDF

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashes when processing large files
  • Lost annotations and highlights
  • Incorrect text output from OCR
  • Inability to print zoomed PDFs

Requested features

5 requests
  • More PDF editing tools
  • Improved OCR accuracy
  • Ability to save custom stamps
  • Native file integration on iOS
  • Smoother pen/annotation tools

In-app purchases

None

Elemental

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

iLovePDF

Subscriptions4
  • iLovePDF Premium Monthly$5.491 Month
  • iLovePDF Premium Monthly3 Days trial$5.491 Month
  • iLovePDF Premium Yearly7 Days trial$44.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • iLovePDF Premium7 Days trial$44.991 Year

Questions

Is Elemental free?
Elemental is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is iLovePDF free?
iLovePDF is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Elemental or iLovePDF?
iLovePDF is rated higher. Elemental averages 2.2 out of 5 from 18 ratings, while iLovePDF averages 4.8 from 51K ratings.
Do Elemental or iLovePDF have ads?
Neither Elemental nor iLovePDF shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Elemental or iLovePDF?
Elemental ships an update every 3 weeks, and iLovePDF every 6 weeks. Most recently, Elemental was updated on July 6, 2026 and iLovePDF on September 29, 2026.

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