Comparison

PDF Merger vs Pattern

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

Head to head
About

PDF Merger

Features
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PDF Merger 2.0 is the fastest, most private way to combine, split, compress, scan, OCR, and sign PDFs on iPhone and iPad โ€” now with built-in AI Chat powered by Gemini. โ€” NEW IN 2.0 โ€” โ€ข AI Chat (Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite) โ€” Ask any PDF anything. Summaries, lookups, totals, translations. Opt-in, with no chat history stored on our servers. 5 free questions/week. โ€ข OCR (on-device) โ€” Recognise text on scanned PDFs in 30+ languages. Searchable, copyable, exportable. โ€ข Page Extraction โ€” Pull any page into its own PDF in one tap. โ€ข Page Numbering โ€” Add numbers to every page with custom format & position. โ€ข E-Signature โ€” Stamp a saved signature image with date. โ€ข Cover Page Bundler โ€” Auto-generate a cover with title + table of contents. โ€ข Insert Blank Page โ€” Perfect for chapter breaks. โ€ข 40+ Languages โ€” Fully localized UI and App Store keywords. โ€ข iPad Polished โ€” Sidebar layout, drag-and-drop, Apple Pencil ready. โ€” CORE FEATURES โ€” โ€ข Merge PDFs โ€” Drag, drop, and reorder unlimited files into one PDF. โ€ข Split PDFs โ€” Extract page ranges or single pages with one tap. โ€ข Compress PDFs โ€” Shrink size up to 80% while preserving readability. โ€ข Rotate Pages โ€” Fix sideways scans, per-page or in batch. โ€ข Add Watermark โ€” Text or image, adjustable opacity and position. โ€ข Password Lock โ€” AES-128 encrypted PDFs. โ€ข Document Scanner โ€” Camera-to-PDF with auto-crop and perspective correction. โ€ข JPG to PDF โ€” Photos to PDF with auto-cropping. โ€ข PDF to Images โ€” Each page as JPG or PNG. โ€ข Apple Intelligence โ€” Smart Summary + Auto-Rename, fully on-device. โ€” PRIVACY-FIRST โ€” โ€ข PDF processing stays 100% on your device. โ€ข AI Chat is opt-in. When enabled, only the text of the PDF you're asking about is sent to Gemini, cached for 1 hour, and never stored beyond that. โ€ข No tracking, no analytics, no advertising. โ€ข Files live in your private app sandbox; deleted when you delete them. โ€” PRO TIER (optional) โ€” Unlock unlimited merges, larger batches, watermark removal, password protection, document scanner, OCR, e-signature, AI Chat, Apple Intelligence Smart Summary, and every new feature with a single subscription or one-time Lifetime purchase. โ€ข Weekly โ€” try Pro for less than a coffee โ€ข Yearly โ€” save 70% โ€ข Lifetime โ€” pay once, own forever Subscriptions auto-renew unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the renewal date. Payment is charged to your Apple ID. Manage in Settings โ†’ Apple ID โ†’ Subscriptions. โ€” DESIGNED FOR iOS โ€” โ€ข Built natively with SwiftUI + PDFKit for iOS 17+. โ€ข Optimized for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Pencil. โ€ข Full Dark Mode support. โ€ข Dynamic Type accessibility throughout. โ€ข VoiceOver labels on every interactive control. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.freeprivacypolicy.com/live/dca821a0-9b8b-48a6-9565-d1c64344a313

About

Pattern

Features
Read full description

Pattern reads the seven days you just lived and tells you what they mean. Apple Watch already tracks your sleep, HRV, heart rate and steps. Your calendar already holds every meeting and focus block. None of those apps look across the lines. Pattern does โ€” fully on your device. Each morning you get one short paragraph: "Tuesdays your HRV drops 12% โ€” the days you had three back-to-back meetings before noon." No number dumps, no medical advice, no charts to interpret. The pattern itself. Deep Work sessions are built in. Tap to start a 25, 50 or 90 minute focus block โ€” the timer is wall-clock anchored so it survives the screen locking. Each session gets a one-tap reflection: deep, shallow, or interrupted. Over time Pattern correlates which sessions actually moved you, and adjusts what it suggests next. Everything stays local. The language model runs on device โ€” Apple Foundation Models on iOS 26, or a downloaded open-source model. Your health data, your calendar, your reflections, your sessions โ€” all live in a Files-visible folder on your iPhone. No account, no sync, no servers.

Screenshots

PDF Merger3 screens
Pattern3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Pattern at every 3 days against PDF Merger's every 9 months. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. PDF Merger sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days and Pattern sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PDF Merger ships an update every 9 months, Pattern every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and September 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 5 level
PDF Merger versus Pattern: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPDF MergerPattern
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 9 monthsEvery 3 days โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size2 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAhmet BostanckliogluMustafa Ergisi

In-app purchases

3 purchases

PDF Merger

Subscriptions2
  • Pro โ€” Weekly3 Days trial$1.997 Days
  • Pro โ€” Yearly$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • PDF Merger Lifetime$59.99
1 purchases

Pattern

One-time1
  • Pattern Full Access$9.99

Questions

Is PDF Merger free?
PDF Merger is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pattern free?
Pattern is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do PDF Merger or Pattern have ads?
Neither PDF Merger nor Pattern shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PDF Merger or Pattern?
PDF Merger ships an update every 9 months, and Pattern every 3 days. Most recently, PDF Merger was updated on September 19, 2026 and Pattern on September 17, 2026.

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