Comparison

PDF Lite vs Crimson Pdf

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

Head to head
About

PDF Lite

Features
Read full description

PDF Lite is a complete PDF editor that works offline. No account and no uploads to us: your documents stay on your iPhone or iPad, or in your own iCloud Drive if you turn sync on. Open any PDF straight from Mail, Safari, WhatsApp or Files with "Open in PDF Lite" or the share sheet, then edit, sign, convert and protect it on the device. EDIT • Edit existing text: change words, font, size, bold, italic, colour and alignment • Add text and images, then move, resize or replace them later • Watermarks, headers and footers, Bates numbers, backgrounds, links and bookmarks FILL & SIGN • Fill any form; type text, ticks, dates and initials • Draw or type your signature • Certified digital signatures (PAdES) with your own ID, and signature validation • Design forms: add fields, auto-detect them, set the tab order, export the data CONVERT • Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, web pages, RTF, text and CSV to PDF, on the device • PDF to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, HTML, RTF, text or images • Turn photos into PDF; compress PDFs for email SCAN & OCR • Scan paper documents with the camera • ID card mode puts the front and back on one page at real size • Receipt mode reads the shop, date and total and names the file for you • Book mode splits two-page spreads; enhanced, grayscale and black-and-white filters • On-device text recognition makes scans searchable and copyable READ • Read Aloud highlights each word as it is spoken • Reading mode reflows text with adjustable size, sepia and night themes • Apple Pencil palette with marker and eraser, double tap and squeeze; tabs on iPad • Summarize a document or ask it questions with Apple Intelligence on supported devices, and translate PDFs with Apple's on-device translation. Nothing is sent to a server. ORGANISE & SYNC • Merge, split, reorder, rotate, extract, crop and delete pages • Optional iCloud Drive folder, in sync on your iPhone, iPad and Mac; both versions kept if a file changes on two devices • Shortcuts and Siri actions, Spotlight search and Home and Lock Screen widgets PROTECT & REVIEW • AES-256 passwords and print, copy and edit restrictions • True redaction that removes text, not just covers it • Highlight, comment, stamps and a comment manager • Compare two versions of a document and see every change • PDF/A conversion and an accessibility checker Reading and opening PDFs, scanning, iCloud Drive sync, Spotlight and widgets are free. Premium tools are available with a yearly subscription or a one-time lifetime purchase. PRIVACY & TERMS Privacy Policy: https://nahitfidanci.com/pdf-lite/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Crimson Pdf

This app offers a comprehensive suite of PDF editing and management tools, all processed locally on your device. Convert, scan, sign, and organize documents with advanced features like OCR and form filling. It prioritizes user privacy with no data collection or network requests for core functions.

Highlights
  • Convert PDFs to various formats (Word, Excel, images)
  • Scan documents with OCR and auto edge detection
  • Sign and annotate PDFs with Apple Pencil support
  • Organize pages, merge, split, and compress files
  • Fill and save PDF forms
  • 100% on-device processing for privacy
  • Available in 17 languages
Features
Read full description

Crimson Pdf is the everyday PDF toolkit for iPhone and iPad. Convert, scan, sign, edit and protect documents — all 100% on-device. Nothing uploaded, nothing tracked, completely free with no in-app purchases or ads. Whether you're sending an invoice from a coffee shop, signing a lease before a viewing, or compressing a 200-page report for email, Crimson handles it in seconds. Powered by Apple's native PDFKit, VisionKit and PencilKit frameworks for instant offline processing. ■ CONVERT — 10 TOOLS Turn PDFs into Word (DOCX / RTF), Excel (XLSX), PowerPoint (PPTX), images (JPG / PNG), plain text and CSV. Convert back the other way: images, Word (.docx / .doc / RTF / HTML / TXT), Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint slides into clean PDFs. ■ SCAN & OCR Snap any printed page with the built-in scanner — auto edge detection, perspective correction, multi-page output. Extract searchable text from photos and PDFs using Apple's on-device Vision framework. Nothing is sent to a server. ■ SIGN & ANNOTATE Draw your signature with Apple Pencil or finger using PencilKit, then stamp it onto any contract. Highlight, add sticky notes, and erase — all with precise tap targeting on the page. ■ ORGANIZE Merge, split, rotate, reorder pages. Compress to shrink a 10 MB PDF down to ~1 MB before sharing. Lock with a password. Add page numbers (1, 1/12, or Page 1 of 12 styles) and watermarks for confidential drafts. ■ FORMS Detect and fill PDF form fields automatically. Save filled copies without flattening so you can edit later. ■ DESIGNED FOR iOS Built entirely with SwiftUI for iOS 17 and above. Clean light theme, smooth gradient animations, haptic feedback, dynamic type and accessibility support. Files surface in the iOS Files app — no walled garden. ■ PRIVACY FIRST — NO DATA COLLECTED Every conversion, scan and OCR pass runs on your device. No cloud uploads, no analytics, no tracking, no third-party processing. Crimson Pdf makes zero network requests for its core functionality. ■ MULTI-LANGUAGE Available in 17 languages: English, Vietnamese, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese (Brazilian & European), Arabic, Hindi, Bengali, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Turkish, Chinese (Simplified & Traditional). Crimson Pdf is completely free. Every tool is unlocked from day one — no ads, no subscriptions, no in-app purchases.

Screenshots

PDF Lite4 screens
Crimson Pdf4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Crimson Pdf at none against PDF Lite's 4. PDF Lite's advantage is device support (3 vs 1). On price, ads and iOS requirement 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. PDF Lite sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $15.99 per year. Crimson Pdf asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
PDF Lite versus Crimson Pdf: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPDF LiteCrimson Pdf
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size46 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFerda Nahit FidanciNguyen Trong Nhan

In-app purchases

4 purchases

PDF Lite

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Yearly7 Days trial$15.991 Year
  • PDF Lite Premium1 Year trial$15.991 Year
One-time2
  • PDF Lite Lifetime$23.99
  • PDF Lite Unlock$31.99
None

Crimson Pdf

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is PDF Lite free?
PDF Lite is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Crimson Pdf free?
Crimson Pdf is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do PDF Lite or Crimson Pdf have ads?
Neither PDF Lite nor Crimson Pdf shows ads.

Other comparisons