Comparison

PaperScan vs Smart PDF Document Scanner

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

Head to head
About

PaperScan

Easily digitize various paper documents like invoices, receipts, and recipes. Automatically crop, straighten, and enhance scans for outstanding quality. Upload to cloud storage or share via email and print.

Highlights
  • Automatic document recognition and capture
  • Automatic cropping and straightening
  • Scans various document types
  • High scan quality in any lighting
  • Creates PDF files
  • Batch upload to cloud storage
  • Share via email, print, and AirDrop
Read full description

Scan invoices, business cards, tickets, cookbook recipes and all other kinds of paper documents with PaperScan. Upload them to Dropbox, GoogleDrive or DocuWare and share with others. PaperScan helps you to overcome your daily paper flood. And the best thing is - the app is both free and ad-free. Features: - Automatically recognizes documents and triggers image capture - Automatically crops and straightens the captured document - Scans all kinds of documents: big ones, small ones, invoices, receipts, tickets - you name it - Outstanding scan quality in any lighting conditions - Creates PDF - Upload to Dropbox, GoogleDrive and DocuWare in batch mode - Email, print and AirDrop for single documents - Simple and intuitive

About

Smart PDF Document Scanner

Transform your phone into a powerful document scanner. Capture, enhance, and organize your important papers with tack-sharp scans and a color-coded tagging system. Easily share PDFs for business or personal use.

Highlights
  • Tack-sharp document scanning
  • Automatic edge detection and perspective correction
  • Color, grayscale, and black-and-white scan options
  • FlashAssist for low-light scanning
  • Color-coded tagging system for organization
  • Quickly scan and share PDFs
Features
Read full description

Ditch the office scanner! Just snap a photo of your document, and get a PDF file you can instantly send to your colleagues, all from your phone or iPad. TACK SHARP SCANS That processor in your phone is quite a little monster. Smart Scanner uses it fully to make the best possible scans. Even full-page articles come out tack-sharp and easy to read. It automatically detects the page edges and corrects for perspective. Pick full-color scans, grayscale, or black-and-white for maximum legibility. FlashAssist can take perfect scans even in poor lighting conditions. You can even change the correction and enhancement settings after the fact. POWERFUL COLOR-CODED ORGANIZATION Scanning is just half the problem. You need a good way to keep all your documents organized, and easy to find later. Smart Scanner uses a simple tagging system that is much easier and more powerful than the regular folder system. File documents under custom color-coded categories with just a couple taps. Browse and sort files by category with a couple more. It's the way filing should work. FOR ALL YOUR SCANNING NEEDS + Quickly scan and send contracts and forms + Keep scans of important documents in your pocket, separate form the Photo Library + Scan all your travel receipts for easy expense reports + Keep digital copies of your notes and sketches + Scan articles to read later + And more! TIPS AND TRICKS Here are a few tips to get the best scans: + Place your document on a darker surface to improve the edge auto-detection. + You can drag the corners of the blue rectangle to fine tune it after taking a photo. + Make sure there is adequate lighting. Use the flash in low-light conditions. + You can tap on a page to edit its scan settings (including edges) after the fact.

Screenshots

PaperScan4 screens
Smart PDF Document Scanner4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: PaperScan at none against Smart PDF Document Scanner's shown. PaperScan also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.4) and ratings volume (747 vs 10). Smart PDF Document Scanner's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 71%) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PaperScan holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PaperScan has 747 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 71% of PaperScan's written reviews are positive against 100% of Smart PDF Document Scanner's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PaperScan ships an update every 4 months, Smart PDF Document Scanner every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
PaperScan versus Smart PDF Document Scanner: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPaperScanSmart PDF Document Scanner
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (747 ratings) — better4.4 (10 ratings)
Positive reviews70.9% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings747 — better10
Update frequencyEvery 4 months — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterAd-supported
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS15.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size23 MB19 MB
Age rating4++4
DeveloperDocuWare GmbHQrayon, LLC

Customer experience

PaperScan

All ratings747 ratings
Positive95.4%
Neutral2.0%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews103 reviews
Positive70.9%
Neutral8.7%
Negative20.4%

Smart PDF Document Scanner

All ratings10 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative10.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

PaperScan

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Image disappears after scanning instead of displaying
  • App freezes and requires multiple restarts to show scans
  • Edge detection fails 50% of the time
  • DocuWare integration not transferring documents properly
  • Autoscan unreliable and inconsistent
Show 1 more
  • Boundary re-registration issues after outline detection

Requested features

5 requests
  • Direct save to Photos app instead of Files only
  • Improved edge detection algorithm
  • Better autoscan reliability and speed
  • Manual brightness control options
  • UI/design improvements

Smart PDF Document Scanner

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

PaperScan

No in-app purchases

None

Smart PDF Document Scanner

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is PaperScan free?
PaperScan is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Smart PDF Document Scanner free?
Smart PDF Document Scanner is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, PaperScan or Smart PDF Document Scanner?
PaperScan is rated higher. PaperScan averages 4.8 out of 5 from 747 ratings, while Smart PDF Document Scanner averages 4.4 from 10 ratings.
Do PaperScan or Smart PDF Document Scanner have ads?
Smart PDF Document Scanner shows ads; PaperScan does not.
Which is updated more often, PaperScan or Smart PDF Document Scanner?
PaperScan ships an update every 4 months, and Smart PDF Document Scanner every 5 months. Most recently, PaperScan was updated on September 30, 2026 and Smart PDF Document Scanner on September 25, 2026.

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