iPDF local vs Silo PDF
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side ā with what reviewers say about each.
iPDF local
Read full descriptionHide full description
Edit and sign PDFs directly on your iPhone, iPad or Mac with Apple silicon. Scan documents using the camera on your iPhone or iPad. iPDF local is your private PDF workspace for everyday document tasks. Open PDFs, add text, highlight content, draw, manage pages or scan documents with a modern interface and without unnecessary cloud dependency. EDIT PDFs WITH EASE ⢠Add text and edit your own text objects ⢠Draw with a pen or highlight content ⢠Add circles, rectangles and stamps ⢠Adjust color, opacity, background and line width ⢠Move, rotate, resize or delete objects ⢠Rotate, reorder, add and remove PDF pages ⢠Create new PDFs ⢠Scan documents with the camera on supported iPhones and iPads ⢠Export and share PDFs PRIVATE AND LOCAL The local PDF editor does not require an account with us. Documents and drafts are stored locally. You decide when to export them or process them with a server you configured yourself. No unnecessary cloud. No data collection by iPDF local. Your documents stay under your control. PRO FOR POWERFUL WORKFLOWS With Pro, iPDF local also becomes a powerful frontend for your own document infrastructure. STIRLING PDF Connect your own Stirling PDF server for advanced tools including: ⢠Merge and split PDFs ⢠Compress files ⢠OCR ⢠Crop and rotate pages ⢠Protect PDFs ⢠Add watermarks ⢠Convert documents ⢠Sanitize PDFs ⢠And more Stirling PDF tools NEXTCLOUD Browse files in your private Nextcloud, open documents directly in iPDF local and return finished files to your own workflow. PAPERLESS-NGX Search your Paperless-ngx archive, open documents in iPDF local and send finished documents back to your document system. FOR EVERYONE ā AND POWER USERS You do not need your own server to use iPDF local as a PDF editor. But if you already use Stirling PDF, Nextcloud or Paperless-ngx, iPDF local grows into an exceptionally powerful mobile document workflow. Start for free. Basic includes local editing, page controls and single-page scans. Pro adds handwritten signatures, editable sharing, multi-page scans, non-PDF imports and server integrations. Conversions and server tools require the corresponding service you configure. Unlock Pro Lifetime once ā no new subscription required. The current price for your region is shown before purchase. The editor adds PDF content; it does not reconstruct existing PDF body text. Handwritten signatures are not qualified digital signatures. iPDF local is an independent app and is not affiliated with Stirling PDF, Nextcloud or Paperless-ngx.
Silo PDF
Read full descriptionHide full description
PDF tools that stay on your phone. Pay once. Use forever. Silo is a private, on-device PDF toolkit for iPhone and iPad. Open a document, edit it, save the result. Nothing is ever uploaded. No account. No subscription. No tracking. Just a fast, focused PDF app that respects what's inside your files. EVERYTHING RUNS ON YOUR DEVICE Open a packet sniffer next to any other PDF tool and watch what happens when you compress a document: your file is uploaded to a server, often in another country. Open one next to Silo and watch nothing happen. Compress, OCR, redact, scan, watermark ā every operation runs locally using Apple's own frameworks. Your contracts, tax returns, medical records and client documents never leave your iPhone. ONE PAYMENT. NEVER AGAIN. Most serious PDF apps on iOS are now yearly subscriptions. Silo is a one-time purchase. You pay once and the app is yours ā no recurring fee, no expiring license, no surprise "Pro+" tier next year, no upsell screen tucked behind every button. The price you pay is the price. FREE FOREVER ⢠Beautiful PDF viewer with smooth scroll and pinch-zoom ⢠Set Silo as your default PDF viewer on iOS 26 ⢠Recents, search, and Files app integration ⢠Merge multiple PDFs in any order ⢠Split a PDF by range, by count, or by specific pages ⢠Rotate pages, individually or all at once ⢠Convert images to a single PDF PRO TOOLS ā UNLOCK ONCE ⢠Document scanner ā Apple's edge-detection camera, multi-page output ⢠Compress for email or web with target-size presets ⢠OCR ā make scanned PDFs searchable, powered by Apple Vision ⢠Redact ā find and remove SSNs, EINs, phone numbers, emails and dates ⢠Reorder and delete pages with drag-to-reorder thumbnails ⢠Password protect with user and owner passwords ⢠Watermark with custom text, opacity, rotation and tiling ⢠Extract selected pages into a new PDF BUILT ON APPLE FRAMEWORKS Silo uses Apple's PdfKit for rendering, the Vision framework for OCR, and VisionKit for the document scanner. There are no third-party PDF servers, no cloud-OCR APIs, no analytics SDKs and no crash reporters that read your file contents. The only network calls Silo makes are to Apple and to RevenueCat to verify your purchase. Both are listed in Settings ā Privacy. WHAT SILO WILL NEVER DO Silo has a privacy nutrition label of "Data Not Collected" in the App Store. That's the strongest possible privacy label Apple awards. It means we have no idea who you are, what you've processed, or how you use the app. We can't tell you because we never receive anything. ⢠Upload your files anywhere ⢠Require an account or sign-in ⢠Charge a subscription ⢠Show ads ⢠Track you ⢠Sell your data ⢠Add a paid "Pro+" tier later PRIVACY MANIFEST Silo's privacy manifest declares "App Functionality only" file access with zero data collection. You can verify this in the App Privacy section above. We don't collect names, emails, contacts, identifiers or usage data. We literally cannot see your documents because we never receive them. A NOTE ON LANGUAGE Silo's interface is in English in v1. Tool names and labels are not localized yet. PDF operations themselves are language-agnostic ā merge, split, compress, sign and watermark work on documents in any language. The OCR engine is tuned for English; it will pick up other Latin-script languages but accuracy is highest on English text. Pay once. Keep your files. Get back to work.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Silo PDF at 15.1 against iPDF local's 17.6. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. iPDF local sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Silo PDF sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
| Parameter | iPDF local | Silo PDF |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | ā |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod ā better |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 15.1 ā better |
| Further details ā not scored | ||
| Size | 28 MB | 50 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Thomas Rhode | Saulo Marchi |
In-app purchases
iPDF local
- Lifetime Purchase$8.99
Silo PDF
- Silo Pro: Redact, Watermark$24.99









