Comparison

Scan Doc AI vs Private Scan

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

Head to head
About

Scan Doc AI

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Scan Doc AI is a powerful, free document scanner that turns your iPhone and iPad into a portable scanner. Scan documents, IDs, receipts, and more with your camera. Organize files into folders, batch scan multiple pages, and export as PDF — all from your phone. Features: • Camera scanning with auto-detection • PDF export & sharing • Folder organization • Batch scanning (multiple pages) • OCR text recognition • QR code scanner • 6 languages: English, Romanian, Spanish, French, German, Italian • Works offline — no account needed • Dark mode interface Pro features available for a one-time $2.99 lifetime purchase: • Cloud backup • Advanced filters • Custom watermarks • Priority support • And more No subscription. No ads. Your documents stay on your device.

About

Private Scan

Features
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PrivateScan turns paper into clean, searchable PDFs entirely on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac. No accounts, no cloud processing, no tracking, no subscription. THE PRIVATE ONE Most scanner apps send your documents to servers for processing. PrivateScan never does. Scanning, filters, text recognition, and even AI naming all run on your device using Apple frameworks and an optional on-device model. The app keeps your documents, their names, and their text on your device unless you send them. It does send anonymous usage and crash reports so we can fix crashes and improve it; they never include your documents, their names, their text or their images, and you can turn them off in Settings > Privacy. SCAN ANYTHING Point the camera at a page and PrivateScan finds the edges, straightens the result, and cleans it up. Scan books as open spreads and split them into facing pages, capture whiteboards without glare, compose ID cards and passports onto a single page (free, while others charge for this), and import photos or PDFs. Keep everything organized in folders with color labels. SIGN AND EDIT Draw a signature once and place it on any page. Reorder, split, and combine documents. Rescue bad lighting with enhance, black & white, grayscale, and whiteboard filters. FIND ANY DOCUMENT Search reads every scanned word, so a receipt, a contract, or a letter is one search away. Premium unlocks text recognition that runs on your device, even offline, and smart naming with a small on-device AI model (a one-time 1.8 GB download) that titles each scan for you, so receipts stop being called "Scan 47". Translate extracted text without it leaving your phone. EXPORT ANY WAY YOU WORK PDF, JPG, PNG, Word, Excel, TXT, and RTF, with file size presets, your own watermark, and password protected PDFs. Word and Excel exports build real .docx and .xlsx files entirely on your device, so even your editable documents never touch a server. Excel export finds the tables in a scan and turns them into rows and columns you can edit. Excel export requires iOS 26. LOCK IT DOWN Turn on the app lock and PrivateScan requires Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode every time it opens. Files are protected with iOS data protection so they stay encrypted while your device is locked. A privacy shield hides your documents in the app switcher. YOUR DEVICES, YOUR CLOUD iCloud sync is off by default. Turn it on and your documents sync through your own private iCloud, protected by your Apple Account. We run no servers and could not read your documents if we wanted to. ONE PRICE, FOREVER Scanning is free. A single purchase unlocks premium: text extraction, AI smart naming, Word and Excel export, password protected PDFs, exports without watermarks, and no limits on pages or exports. No subscription. Buy it once, own it forever, share it with your family through Family Sharing. Your documents stay on your device. The privacy policy says exactly what the anonymous reports carry and how to turn them off: https://freedom-terminal.com/privatescan/privacy/

Screenshots

Private Scan4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: Private Scan at 3 against Scan Doc AI's —. Scan Doc AI's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price and in-app purchases 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

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. Scan Doc AI sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Private Scan sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Scorecard2 real differences Ā· 4 level
Scan Doc AI versus Private Scan: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterScan Doc AIPrivate Scan
PriceFreeFree
Update frequency—Every 2 days
Ads—No
In-app purchasesYesYes
Devices—iPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size33 MB39 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlexandru Vlad TanasescuVishut Dhar

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Scan Doc AI

One-time1
  • Scan Doc AI Pro$2.99
1 purchases

Private Scan

One-time1
  • PrivateScan Premium$9.99

Questions

Is Scan Doc AI free?
Scan Doc AI is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Private Scan free?
Private Scan is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

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