Comparison

PDFnano vs PDFPad+

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

Head to head
About

PDFnano

Edit, translate, and manage PDF documents with a focus on on-device privacy. This app offers tools for scanning, converting, annotating, and organizing your files locally.

Highlights
  • Read, organize, and manage PDFs
  • Offline PDF translation with layout preservation
  • Scan documents and create PDFs
  • Convert PDFs to Word, Excel, or images
  • OCR for Arabic and English text
  • Add signatures and annotations
  • Remove hidden metadata for privacy
Features
Read full description

PDFnano is a comprehensive, privacy first PDF workstation engineered for iOS. It combines the power of fully offline document processing with the advanced analytical intelligence of Apple Private Cloud Compute PCC. Whether managing contracts, financial reports, academic research, or scanned archives, PDFnano delivers reliable productivity in one unified workspace. Core Capabilities: 1. Document AI Assistant (Beta): • Executive summaries for lengthy reports and dense documentation. • Instant extraction of decisions, next steps, and action items. • Detection and structured review of contractual obligations and legal risks. • Custom interactive inquiries grounded in verifiable verbatim citations. • Private and encrypted processing: Utilizes Apple Intelligence and Apple Private Cloud Compute PCC for complex reasoning, ensuring your document content is never stored, never logged, and inaccessible even to Apple. *Note: AI Assistant features require devices supporting Apple Intelligence and are currently in Beta. 2. Offline Document Translation (Beta): • Translate entire PDF files locally while strictly preserving fonts, layout, tables, and graphic elements. • One tap batch approval for documents up to 100 pages. • Granular paragraph level editing and translation review. *Note: Translation operates locally on device and is currently in Beta. Machine translation may contain errors. 3. High Performance Reading and Navigation: • Vertical fast page scrubber for instantaneous navigation across hundreds of pages with live page bubble indicator. • Seamless alignment with the Dynamic Island, status bar, and notch areas. • Instant viewport settling returning immediately to your exact reading location. • Double tap smart zoom and floating capsule for effortless navigation while zoomed in. • Visual OCR search on scanned documents and images with multi word phrase matching and typo tolerance. 4. Conversion and Document Scanning: • High fidelity PDF to Word docx conversion maintaining structure and typography. • Extract tables into Excel xlsx spreadsheets with automated data type recognition. • Integrated document scanner with perspective correction and edge detection. • Convert images to PDF and export PDF pages as high resolution images. 5. Editing, Signing, and Organization: • Create, place, and verify digital signatures on agreements and official forms. • Markup toolkit: pen, highlighter, sticky notes, and text annotations. • Reorder, rotate, delete, and extract individual pages. • Merge multiple PDF documents or split pages into independent files. • Smart file size compression for seamless sharing. 6. Uncompromising Privacy Architecture: • True local processing: Core reading, editing, translation, OCR, and file conversions execute entirely on device without an internet connection. • Cryptographically secure cloud intelligence: Any internet connectivity required by the AI assistant connects exclusively to Apple Private Cloud Compute PCC with cryptographic privacy guarantees. • Face blurring and visual redaction to shield confidential areas. • Metadata sanitization to strip author, GPS, and creation timestamps. • Document password encryption, AirPrint support, and interactive home screen widgets. Certain tools include daily usage limits in the free version. Unlimited access and pro features can be unlocked through an in app purchase. Standard Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/sla/

About

PDFPad+

Features
Read full description

PDFpad+ is the fast, private way to work with PDFs on iPhone and iPad. Everything happens on your device — there are no accounts, no uploads, and no tracking of any kind. VIEW: - Smooth continuous scrolling or page-by-page reading - Search inside documents, jump by thumbnails or table of contents - Night mode for comfortable reading in the dark - Opens password-protected PDFs SCAN - Capture multi-page documents with automatic edge detection - On-device text recognition makes every scan searchable — a scan you can actually find again - Reorder, rotate, retake, and delete pages before saving CONVERT: - Turn photos into PDFs and PDF pages into images - Merge documents, split by page ranges, reorder and rotate pages - Compress bulky scans and see the size savings before you keep them - Turn plain text into a clean, typeset PDF SIGN: - Draw your signature once — with a finger or Apple Pencil — and reuse it anywhere Or type it in an elegant cursive style - Place signatures, initials, dates, and text on any page, then save a flattened signed copy - Fills standard PDF form fields too

Screenshots

PDFnano4 screens
PDFPad+4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PDFPad+ at none against PDFnano's 1. PDFnano's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs fortnightly) and iOS requirement (18.6 vs 26.0). On price, ads 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. PDFnano sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. PDFPad+ asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PDFnano ships an update every 2 days, PDFPad+ fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 6 level
PDFnano versus PDFPad+: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPDFnanoPDFPad+
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.6 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size20 MB12 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperThamer MohammedAbdulrhman Alhoshani

In-app purchases

1 purchases

PDFnano

One-time1
  • PDFnano Pro Lifetime$1.99
None

PDFPad+

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is PDFnano free?
PDFnano is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PDFPad+ free?
PDFPad+ is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do PDFnano or PDFPad+ have ads?
Neither PDFnano nor PDFPad+ shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PDFnano or PDFPad+?
PDFnano ships an update every 2 days, and PDFPad+ fortnightly. Most recently, PDFnano was updated on October 11, 2026 and PDFPad+ on October 21, 2026.

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