PlainPDF vs 42 PDF Editor
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PlainPDF
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Scan, fill in, sign, annotate and compress PDFs. Every tool is free, with no watermarks, no account and no subscription. Your files are processed on your device and never uploaded. SCAN • Scan documents with automatic edge detection • Crisp black & white mode for text, plus colour and greyscale • ID cards: put the front and back on one page at real card size • Get a file name suggested from the page, like "Electricity Bill Oct 2026" • Make scans searchable with on-device text recognition FILL, SIGN & ANNOTATE • Fill in PDF forms: type straight into the fields, or fill them in one tap from My details • Sign PDFs: draw or type your signature, add the date, text and ticks • Highlight, underline and strike out text, draw with a pen or marker, and add notes • Organize pages: reorder, rotate, delete, duplicate, insert and extract • Add watermarks like CONFIDENTIAL or COPY, and page numbers CONVERT • Merge PDFs and photos into one file • Split PDFs by page, by range or every few pages • Compress PDFs for email and upload limits, or set a target size like "under 2 MB" • Turn photos into PDFs with A4, Letter or fit-to-photo pages • Copy text from any scan or photo PDF • Extract images from PDFs, or save pages as images PRIVACY & SECURITY • Redact: find emails, phone numbers, card, bank and ID numbers, and black them out for good before you share • Add a password to a PDF, or remove a password you know QR CODES THAT NEVER EXPIRE • Create QR codes for links, Wi-Fi, contacts, email, phone, SMS, UPI payments and locations • The information is stored in the code itself, so it keeps working without any server • Every code is tested before you save it • Scan QR codes and see where a link really goes before opening it WORKS THE WAY YOU DO • Files app and "Open in PlainPDF" from Mail, Messages and other apps • Designed for iPhone and iPad, in light and dark mode • In English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Italian and Japanese FREE, HONESTLY Every tool is free with ads. PlainPDF Pro is a one-time purchase that removes ads, adds batch processing for many files at once, and unlimited text recognition on large documents. No subscription, ever. No account. Your files never leave your device. Questions or ideas: hello@smileappsstudio.com
42 PDF Editor
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42 PDF Editor is a PDF reader and editor for iPhone and iPad. Open a PDF from the Files app, iCloud Drive or any other provider, mark it up, fill it in, sign it, stamp it and rearrange its pages, then save it back to the same file or to a new copy. Everything happens on your device, with Apple's own PDFKit. There is no account and nothing is uploaded. Most of what people need to do to a PDF is small: sign a form, fill in a few fields, fix a typo, take out a page, add the scan of a receipt. 42 PDF Editor puts those jobs on the phone you already have with you, and shows every change on the page as you make it. START WITH A TASK The Home screen lists the jobs: Sign, Fill & Stamp, Scan to Text, Compress, Page Numbers, Split, Edit Text and To Images. Pick one, then the PDF, and the editor opens straight into it. MARK UP Highlight, underline and strike through text. Draw with a pen or highlighter, by finger or Apple Pencil, with smooth strokes, and add shapes, arrows and text boxes. Tap any markup to move or resize it with its corner handles, change its colour, weight or opacity, duplicate or delete it, and undo or redo every change. EDIT TEXT Tap a line and retype it. The font, size and colours are matched to the original, and the page shows the result as you type. Change it or undo it later. FILL, SIGN AND STAMP Type into a PDF's form fields, or drop a check, cross, dot, today's date or saved text (your name, email, address) onto a flat form with one tap. Draw a signature once and keep it on your device, then place and resize it on any page; it stays sharp because it is written as vector ink. Add stamps such as Approved, Paid, Received or Draft, or make your own, with an optional date. Add logos and photos too. SCAN TO TEXT Scanned pages become searchable, selectable and editable with on-device text recognition. The page looks exactly the same; its words can now be found, highlighted, copied and retyped. PAGES Drag to reorder, rotate, duplicate or delete. Select several pages to extract them as a new PDF or export them as images. Split a document into files, add page numbers, and crop pages by hand or automatically to their content. Insert blank pages, pages from another PDF or Word file, scans or photos. SCAN AND CREATE Scan paper with the camera, make a PDF from photos, start a blank PDF, or merge several PDFs into one. PDF AND WORD Turn a Word (.docx) file into a PDF, keeping its styles, lists, tables, links, pictures and page size. Turn a PDF into a Word document with editable text, with scanned pages read by on-device text recognition, or with a picture of each page when the look matters most. WATERMARKS, PASSWORDS AND FILE SIZE Add a text or image watermark with your choice of opacity, angle and position. Open password-protected PDFs, and add, change or remove a password. Make a smaller version of a PDF: pictures are compressed, text and drawings stay sharp. SAVE AND SHARE Save in place, Save a Copy, Save a Flattened Copy with the markup drawn into the pages, Share, Print, or export pages as PNG or JPEG. Open in 42 PDF Editor from the Files app and the share sheet. PRIVATE No account, no ads, no analytics and no servers. Your documents, signatures and saved text never leave your device unless you share them. Good to know: Edit Text and Whiteout cover the original content and place new content on top. The original text is still inside the file, so they are not a way to redact a document.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: 42 PDF Editor at none against PlainPDF's 1. 42 PDF Editor also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 2 days vs every 2 months). On price, device support 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
Both are free to download. PlainPDF sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. 42 PDF Editor asks for nothing beyond the download.
PlainPDF ships an update every 2 months, 42 PDF Editor every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PlainPDF | 42 PDF Editor |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Swaminathan L | Mohammed Shehada |
In-app purchases
PlainPDF
- PlainPDF Pro$4.99
42 PDF Editor
No in-app purchases









