Comparison

Crimson Pdf vs Leaf

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

Head to head
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.

About

Leaf

Features
Read full description

Leaf is a document scanner and a PDF editor in one app. Scan, edit and send documents right on your phone — no subscription and no ads. EDIT A DOCUMENT LIKE PAPER • Fix a date, an amount or a name on a scan — the new letters are taken from the document itself, so the edit looks native • Move a line somewhere else or erase it • Add a stamp and a signature at their real size. Take a photo of a stamp or sign with your finger — the background is removed automatically • Add text, a date, a check mark, a cross, a highlighter, an arrow or a box • Pinch to zoom the page — small text is edited precisely PDF WITHOUT QUALITY LOSS • Open PDFs you receive: text stays text and remains searchable, the file does not turn into a picture • Fill in forms — fields, check boxes and lists • Send with the values filled in, or keep the fields fillable for the recipient • Password-protect the file, forbid printing and copying A FILE OF THE RIGHT SIZE Choose where you are sending it — a government portal, email, a bank, a visa application — or set your own limit. The app picks the quality by itself and shows the final size before saving. If the file does not fit, it tells you how to make it lighter. LIKE A REAL SCANNER • Automatic page edge detection and batch scanning • Two-sided documents: scan the fronts, flip the stack, scan the backs — the pages are put in order automatically • Hand shadows, yellowed paper and uneven light are removed • Colour, grey and black-and-white looks — you see the difference on your own document REAL REDACTION What you cover is destroyed, not hidden under a black box: in the file you send there is neither image nor text left under the redaction. The app finds card, passport and phone numbers by itself and offers to cover them with a single tap. ORDER IN YOUR DOCUMENTS • Search the text of all documents, PDFs included • Sort by date, name or page count; list, grid or compact view • Folders, merging and splitting documents, page order • The title is picked up from the page heading • Import from Photos and Files, share and print YOUR DOCUMENTS STAY WITH YOU Documents are stored only on your phone: no sign-up and no cloud. Text recognition runs right on the device. Face ID lock. Free, with no ads and no limit on the number of documents. 11 languages, light and dark themes.

Screenshots

Crimson Pdf4 screens
Leaf4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Crimson Pdf at 17.0 against Leaf's 26.0. 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard1 real difference · 8 level
Crimson Pdf versus Leaf: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCrimson PdfLeaf
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequency—Every 5 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNguyen Trong NhanIvan Kotlyar

In-app purchases

None

Crimson Pdf

No in-app purchases

None

Leaf

No in-app purchases

Questions

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

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