Comparison

Scanem vs ScanBox OCR

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

Head to head
About

Scanem

Easily scan documents using your phone's camera and enhance their quality. This app allows you to customize, compress, sign, and secure your PDFs without watermarks or paywalls. Share your documents instantly in a private and efficient manner.

Highlights
  • Scan documents with camera
  • Enhance quality and readability
  • Compress PDF file size
  • Sign and markup PDFs
  • Lock PDFs with password
  • One-tap sharing
  • 100% private, on-device storage
Read full description

Scanem is a free PDF document scanner for iPhone. Use your camera to scan receipts, notes, and multi-page documents, then adjust the result before saving or sharing it. ■ FEATURES - Scan one or more pages: Capture paper documents with the built-in document camera, then crop or rotate pages as needed. - Adjust your scan: Choose color, grayscale, or black and white, apply enhancement, and set the PDF quality and dimensions. - Control file size: Use lower quality or smaller dimensions when you need a PDF that takes up less space and is easier to share. - Preview and rename: Review the complete PDF, check its file size, and change its name before exporting. - Mark up the document: Use the built-in PDF preview to add markup and make final edits before saving or sharing. - Save or share: Export the PDF to Files, Mail, and other apps. ■ HOW IT WORKS 1. Scan your document with the camera. 2. Review the pages and adjust the PDF. 3. Save it to Files or share it. ■ PRIVATE AND FREE - Your scanned documents are processed on your iPhone and are not uploaded by Scanem. - Every feature is free to use, with no subscriptions, paywalls, or watermarks. Scanem keeps document scanning simple, from the first page to the finished PDF. Terms of Use: - https://scannerapp.notion.site/scan-terms-of-use

About

ScanBox OCR

Read full description

Point. Frame. Done. Text Scanner turns your iPhone camera into an instant OCR tool - extract text from anything in seconds, in 13 languages. Scan signs, menus, receipts, documents, labels, handwritten notes, or whiteboards. Frame exactly what you want with the resizable scan box, tap Capture, and the text is ready to copy or share instantly. SCAN IN 13 LANGUAGES Switch between English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Ukrainian, Chinese (Simplified & Traditional), Japanese, and Korean — right from Settings. HOW IT WORKS • Aim your camera at any text • Drag or resize the scan box to frame exactly what you need • Tap Capture — result appears instantly • Copy, share, or scan again BUILT FOR PRIVACY Everything runs on-device using Apple's Vision framework. No photos saved. No data transmitted. No account required - ever. SCAN HISTORY Every capture saved locally on your device. Reference it later, swipe to delete, or clear all at once. Your history never leaves your phone. NO BLOAT • No account or sign-in • No internet connection required • No ads or tracking • No third-party SDKs

Screenshots

Scanem3 screens
ScanBox OCR4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: ScanBox OCR at 15.0 against Scanem's 26.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Scanem ships an update every 5 weeks, ScanBox OCR monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Scanem versus ScanBox OCR: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterScanemScanBox OCR
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (15 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings15 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLabi, LLCNeha Rathore

In-app purchases

None

Scanem

No in-app purchases

None

ScanBox OCR

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Scanem free?
Scanem is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ScanBox OCR free?
ScanBox OCR is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Scanem or ScanBox OCR have ads?
Neither Scanem nor ScanBox OCR shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Scanem or ScanBox OCR?
Scanem ships an update every 5 weeks, and ScanBox OCR monthly. Most recently, Scanem was updated on September 23, 2026 and ScanBox OCR on September 10, 2026.

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