Comparison

Libreto vs PDF

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

Head to head
About

Libreto

This app offers a comprehensive digital notebook, planner, and drawing studio for iPad and iPhone Duo, with streamlined PDF editing for iPhone. It features on-device AI and a private, notebook-like interface with customizable covers and page-turning effects.

Highlights
  • Digital notebook with customizable covers
  • Planner with daily, weekly, and monthly views
  • Full drawing studio with layers and brushes
  • PDF editor with annotation and redaction tools
  • On-device AI for handwriting recognition
  • Support for Apple Pencil and finger input
  • Export to PDF, image, text, Word, and Markdown
Features
Read full description

Libreto is a digital notebook, planner, PDF editor and full drawing studio for iPad and iPhone Duo, and a streamlined PDF editor and notes app for iPhone. A notebook that opens like one, private by design, with on-device AI included and one fair price. START WHERE YOU LEFT OFF Libreto opens on Start: your latest work up front, and a new Notepad, Planner or Sketchbook one tap away. Everything you make lives in one Library, sorted into notebooks, planners, sketches and PDFs. A NOTEBOOK THAT OPENS LIKE ONE Every notebook opens on its cover, full screen: your own photo, a seasonal design, or one you make. Slide the elastic band to the lock to open it, turn pages that curl like paper, and swipe a closed cover to reach the next notebook. MADE FOR IPHONE DUO Folded, the cover screen shows the notebook you were writing in, band and all. Unfold it and the notebook lies open across both pages, each one whole on the screen, right where you left off. Every control sits in one row at the top. NOTEBOOKS FOR APPLE PENCIL (iPad and iPhone Duo) Lined, dot grid, graph, Cornell and to-do paper, or a photo, in any paper colour. Ink thickens on slow strokes and tapers at the ends, like a real nib. Draw a rough line, box or circle and hold: it snaps clean. Underline, strike out or circle typed words and the mark stays with them. Type around photos, or lay out text frames with columns that run on from page to page. Search your handwriting and convert it to text on-device, in 20+ languages. Add stickers, washi tape, photos and AI art with Image Playground. No Pencil, or another iPhone? Write with a finger. PLANNERS, YOUR WAY (iPad and iPhone Duo) Daily, Weekly, Monthly and Pro planners, plus ready-made planners for school, work, fitness and money. Real dates, a tappable Contents page, and every day linked to its month. Light or Dark theme. DRAW & SKETCH (iPad and iPhone Duo) A full drawing studio: pressure brushes with textured tips, dual brushes, and brushes made from your own pictures. Layers, groups, Layer Sets, blend modes, layer masks and live adjustment layers you can change at any time. Vector shapes and text with gradients, tapered and dashed lines. Heal, clone, dodge, burn and liquify. Warp and rig your art, and draw on isometric planes. History with branches lets you step back to any point. Symmetry: vertical, horizontal, both axes or radial. Choose a Dark or Light look. Open and save PSD files, or export as PNG or PDF. PHOTO TOOLS IN SKETCH STUDIO (iPad and iPhone Duo) Develop RAW photos. Merge shots into panoramas, HDR images, or a crowd-free scene. Mask hair and fur with the Edge Mask Brush, and measure in real units. PDF TOOLS (iPad and iPhone) Highlights, ink, shapes, stickers and signatures, with undo and redo for every mark. Reorder, rotate, split and extract pages. On-device OCR and Scan Enhance for scans. Redact for real: the hidden text is destroyed, not just covered. Export as PDF, image, text, Word (RTF) or Markdown. LIBRETO INTELLIGENCE, ON YOUR DEVICE Ask questions about any PDF or notebook and get answers with tappable page citations. Summarize a document, a page range or a selection. Turn any document into flashcards and quizzes with spaced-repetition review. Record a lecture, then transcribe and summarize it on-device. All of it runs with Apple Intelligence, right on your device: nothing uploaded, nothing metered, no AI credits. Prefer no AI? One switch hides every AI button. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No ads. No tracking. No third-party AI. Your work stays on your devices, with optional private iCloud sync and App Lock with Face ID. MEMBERSHIP Unlock every premium feature for $19.99/year with a 3-day free trial, or $2.99/month. Prefer not to subscribe? Buy Libreto once for $59.99 and keep every feature, including future updates, forever. Terms of Use (Apple standard EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

PDF

Features
Read full description

Scan, edit, sign and OCR PDFs on your iPhone. Your files never leave the device. PDF-PRO is a private, offline PDF editor and scanner for contracts, invoices, receipts and everyday documents. Read, scan and annotate for free. Upgrade to Pro for unlimited merge, split, compress, OCR, signatures, watermarks and password protection — the yearly plan includes a 3-day free trial. WHY PEOPLE SWITCH • Sign a contract without printing it • Scan paper and photos into a clean PDF • Merge, split or reorder pages before you send • Compress a large file so it fits in email or chat • Extract text with on-device OCR • Lock a PDF with a password, or add a watermark READ & ANNOTATE • Smooth reader with continuous scroll, pinch-to-zoom and single-page mode • Highlight, underline, strikeout, freehand ink and text notes • Search inside the document and jump to a page SCAN & CONVERT • Camera scan for paper documents, invoices and receipts • Photos to A4 PDF, or export pages as images ORGANIZE • Merge PDFs, split by page range, drag to reorder, rotate or delete pages • Folders, favorites and search in your on-device library OCR • Recognize text on the current page or the whole file • Copy or share the result — processed on your iPhone, not a server SIGN & PROTECT • Handwritten signature stamp you can place and resize • PDF password and a diagonal copyright watermark PRIVACY Every merge, split, compress, OCR and encrypt step runs locally. No account. No cloud upload. FREE vs PRO Free: read, scan and basic annotation. Pro: unlimited signature, OCR, compress, password, watermark, merge and split. • Yearly — best value, 3-day free trial • Monthly — month to month • Lifetime — pay once Subscriptions renew unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the period ends. Manage in Apple ID settings. Terms of Service (Apple EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Libreto4 screens
PDF4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Libreto at every 9 days against PDF's every 3 weeks. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. Libreto sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and PDF sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Libreto ships an update every 9 days, PDF every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 13, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 8 level
Libreto versus PDF: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLibretoPDF
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size22 MB12 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperJC Mobile App Studio LLC爱华 刘

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Libreto

Subscriptions2
  • Libreto Premium (Monthly)$2.991 Month
  • Libreto Premium (Annual)3 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Libreto Lifetime$59.99
3 purchases

PDF

Subscriptions2
  • PDF-PRO Monthly$3.991 Month
  • PDF-PRO Yearly (3-Day Trial)3 Days trial$24.991 Year
One-time1
  • PDF-PRO Lifetime Pass$59.99

Questions

Is Libreto free?
Libreto is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PDF free?
PDF is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Libreto or PDF have ads?
Neither Libreto nor PDF shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Libreto or PDF?
Libreto ships an update every 9 days, and PDF every 3 weeks. Most recently, Libreto was updated on November 13, 2026 and PDF on October 31, 2026.

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