PDFWise vs Local PDF
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PDFWise
This app offers a comprehensive suite of PDF tools that operate entirely on your device, ensuring complete privacy. It allows you to read, scan, edit, sign, and organize your documents without uploading them to any cloud service. Generate professional PDFs from templates and perform batch operations for efficiency.
- 100% on-device processing
- Built-in scanner with OCR
- PDF editing and annotation tools
- Handwritten signature support
- Professional PDF template generation
- Batch processing for files
- On-device full-text search
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PDFWise – PDF Reader & Tools The privacy-first PDF app for people who never wanted to upload their documents in the first place. PDFWise is a fast, complete PDF reader, scanner, editor and signer built for iPhone and iPad. Every feature runs 100% on your device. No accounts, no cloud, no analytics on your documents — your PDFs never leave your iPhone. 100% PRIVATE BY DESIGN OCR, search indexing, compression, encryption — all happen locally on your device. PDFWise has zero servers and zero network calls for any document operation. No tracking, no profiling, no ads. SCAN ANY DOCUMENT Use the built-in scanner to capture pages with auto edge detection and perspective correction. Pages are OCR'd on device so you can search inside scanned documents instantly. Works for contracts, receipts, notes, books and handwritten pages. POWERFUL READER & ANNOTATIONS Smooth PDF viewer with thumbnails, outline (TOC) sidebar, night mode tint and continuous scroll. Add sticky notes, drawings, highlights, shapes and rubber stamps. Search inside the file with a Safari-style find bar. SIGN ANY PDF Save handwritten signatures in a library and apply them to any PDF with full control over position, size, ink color and which pages. Signatures bake permanently into the page so the result holds up in any reader. 14 PROFESSIONAL TEMPLATES Generate Invoice, Receipt, Quotation, Meeting Minutes, Agenda, Letterhead, Sign-In Sheet, Resume, Cover Letter, To-Do List, Travel Itinerary, Certificate, Class Schedule and Flyer in seconds — fill a form, get a polished PDF. ALL THE TOOLS YOU NEED Merge, split, compress, watermark, encrypt with password, add page numbers, convert TXT/Markdown/HTML to PDF, import from URL, combine photos into PDF — every common PDF task in one place. BATCH PROCESSING Compress, watermark or encrypt many PDFs at once with one tap. Perfect for accountants, lawyers, students and freelancers handling stacks of files. POWERFUL ON-DEVICE SEARCH Find any word across your entire library — including scanned documents — in milliseconds. FTS5 full-text search with boolean operators and exact-phrase queries. iOS Spotlight integration so you can search from the home screen. FACE ID / TOUCH ID PASSWORDS Opt in to remember PDF passwords with Face ID or Touch ID. Stored in the iOS keychain under biometric access control — only your face or fingerprint unlocks. SHORTCUTS & SIRI 10 Siri shortcuts: "Hey Siri, scan a document", "Compress a PDF", "Merge PDFs" and more. Automate your PDF workflow without opening the app. 14 LANGUAGES Fully translated to English, Vietnamese, Spanish, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, Russian, Arabic, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese. WHY CHOOSE PDFWISE? - 100% on-device — your PDFs never leave your iPhone - No accounts, no cloud, no tracking, no ads - Fast, native, battery-friendly - Free of subscription paywalls - Built for iPhone and iPad with iOS native design - 14 languages, RTL support for Arabic Download PDFWise today and take back control of your documents. We read every review. If something feels off or you want a feature, tell us — we ship updates fast.
Local PDF
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The complete PDF toolkit that keeps your documents private. Edit, convert, organize, sign, compress, and protect your PDFs without ever uploading them to the cloud. Local PDF performs every task directly on your iPhone or iPad, so your files stay exactly where they belong. No accounts. No signups. No uploads. No tracking. Whether you're working with contracts, invoices, medical records, IDs, legal documents, or personal files, you decide who sees them. WHY LOCAL PDF? Local PDF doesn't rely on cloud servers to process your files. - Everything runs directly on your device - No accounts or logins - No cloud uploads - No tracking or analytics - Works offline (buying or restoring Pro needs a connection) Your documents never leave your device unless you choose to share them. FREE PDF TOOLS Everything you need to work with PDFs in one app. ORGANIZE PDFS - Merge multiple PDFs into one document - Split PDFs into separate files - Extract selected pages - Reorder, rotate, and delete pages with live thumbnails CONVERT FILES - Convert images (JPG, PNG, and more) into PDFs - Export PDF pages as JPG or PNG images REDUCE FILE SIZE - Compress PDFs for email, messaging, or storage SEARCH & EXTRACT - Search for words or phrases inside PDFs - Extract all text into a plain text (.txt) file - Read text from scanned or image-based PDFs with OCR (English) EDIT & CUSTOMIZE - Add page numbers - Apply watermarks or document stamps - Remove document metadata before sharing FORMS & SIGNATURES - Fill PDF forms - Flatten completed forms - Draw or place your signature anywhere on the document PROTECT SENSITIVE INFORMATION - Permanently redact confidential information - Securely remove hidden content beneath redactions LOCAL PDF PRO One-time purchase. Pro includes: - Advanced PDF compression with Light and Maximum quality options - Compress or convert many PDFs at once - Export batches as a single ZIP archive - ZIP export for split pages and image conversions PRIVACY FIRST Your documents can contain sensitive personal and business information. That's why Local PDF is built with privacy as its foundation. Purchases are processed securely through Apple's App Store. We never receive your payment information, and we don't have access to your documents. A complete PDF toolkit that's fast and private.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PDFWise at none against Local PDF's 1. Local PDF's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 17.6). On price and ads 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
Both are free to download. Local PDF sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. PDFWise asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | PDFWise | Local PDF |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (7 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 7 — better | — |
| Update frequency | — | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 8 MB | 39 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | THI HUE MAI | Eden Schlegel |
In-app purchases
PDFWise
No in-app purchases
Local PDF
- Local PDF Pro$9.99









