Comparison

Sift vs Papyrus AI

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

Head to head
About

Sift

Features
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Every document scanner reads your page. Then it saves the file as "2024-05-22 00:45:29" and hands you an empty folder. Sift uses what it just read. Scan a receipt and it saves as "Blue Bottle Coffee - Receipt - Mar 2026", already filed under Receipts. You tap Save, not Rename. Then, weeks later, you swipe down on your Home Screen, type "lease", and there it is - because Sift indexes the text inside every scan into iOS Spotlight. All of it happens on your iPhone. Sift has no servers, no account, and makes no network calls. THE LIBRARY THAT FILES ITSELF โ€ข Automatic titles - Sift finds the letterhead, the vendor, and the date, and writes the title for you โ€ข Automatic filing - receipts, bills, IDs, contracts, medical records, tax documents, notes โ€ข Everything editable - it's a suggestion, not a decision. Change anything before you save. FIND ANYTHING, INSTANTLY โ€ข Search the text inside your documents, not just their filenames โ€ข Find scans from your Home Screen with Spotlight - no need to open Sift first โ€ข Every result opens straight to the document SCANS THAT WORK EVERYWHERE ELSE โ€ข Real searchable PDFs - Sift writes an invisible text layer into every export, so you can select and search the text in Preview, Acrobat, or Files. Not just a picture of a page. โ€ข Clean captures with automatic edge detection and perspective correction โ€ข Four filters - Original, Enhanced, Grayscale, Black & White - applied to every page at once, not one at a time โ€ข Import what you already have - photos and PDFs from Photos or Files, read and filed the same way โ€ข Sign and mark up a page with your finger - save your signature once and stamp it on any document โ€ข Reorder, rotate, split, and drop pages; export as PDF, compressed PDF, or JPG โ€ข Fine-tune brightness and contrast on top of the four filters ASK YOUR DOCUMENTS (ON SUPPORTED DEVICES) On iPhones with Apple Intelligence, ask Sift about any scan - "what's the total?", "when does this lease end?" - and get answers from that document, generated entirely on your device. If the answer isn't in the document, Sift says so instead of guessing. No cloud AI, ever. SCAN FROM ANYWHERE โ€ข "Hey Siri, scan with Sift" โ€ข Add scanning to a Shortcut, your Action Button, or Control Center PRIVATE BY CONSTRUCTION, NOT BY PROMISE โ€ข No servers. No account. No sign-up. No network calls. โ€ข No analytics. No ads. No third-party SDKs of any kind. โ€ข No tracking permission prompt - because there is nothing in Sift to track you with. โ€ข Your IDs, contracts, and medical records never leave your iPhone. They can't - there's nowhere for them to go. โ€ข Want Sift locked? Long-press its icon and choose Require Face ID - iOS locks it system-wide FREE FOREVER - GENUINELY Unlimited scanning. Unlimited pages. Text recognition. Automatic titling. Automatic filing. Search. Spotlight. PDF export. No limits, no watermark, no ads. We can give this away because it all runs on your device and costs us nothing to serve. There is no paywall in onboarding, ever, and nothing above is gated. Sift shows the price twice on its own, after it titles your first scan and after your first export. Both have a full-size Not now and block nothing. SIFT PRO (OPTIONAL) Adds encrypted backup & restore (pack your whole library into one password-protected file you save wherever you like), document expiry reminders, batch tools, text export, watermarked exports, and password-protected PDFs. Every plan and its true cost is shown on one screen, with the price printed on the button. Weekly or Yearly (each with a 7-day free trial you have to actually choose), or a one-time Lifetime purchase in Settings. Subscriptions auto-renew unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the period ends, and are managed in your Apple Account settings. Lifetime is a one-time purchase and never renews. Privacy Policy: https://ajain26.github.io/app-policies/sift/privacy-policy.html Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Papyrus AI

Features
Read full description

Paper mail is stressful. A letter arrives from the IRS, an insurance company, a hospital, a court or a landlord, and you are left with three questions: Is this important? Do I need to do anything? By when? Papyrus AI is a document scanner that reads your mail and answers those questions in plain English. Scan a letter with your phone and it explains what the letter says, tells you what to do next and by when, and files it into a folder with every earlier letter about the same matter. When you have a question, you ask it, and the answer takes the whole folder into account, not just the page in front of you. SCAN ANY LETTER OR DOCUMENT Point your camera at the page. Edges are detected automatically, pages are straightened, and multi-page documents stay together. You can also import photos and PDFs you already have. UNDERSTAND WHAT IT MEANS Every document comes back with a plain-English summary, the sender, key dates and amounts, reference numbers, and how urgent it is. High-stakes letters are marked as worth a professional's look. FILE IT AUTOMATICALLY Related letters land in the same folder on their own. Three notices about the same tax year end up in one place without you organizing anything, and you can always move a document yourself. ASK QUESTIONS Chat with a folder and the answer reflects every document in it. Ask what a term means, what happens if you miss a date, or what the letter is actually asking you to do. NEVER MISS A DEADLINE One list shows what is still waiting on you, most urgent first, with the due date the letter gives. FIND ANYTHING LATER Search everything you have scanned by sender, subject or the words in the document. GOOD FOR Tax notices, medical bills and insurance statements, utility and collection letters, court and jury notices, DMV and government mail, HOA and landlord letters, bank and benefits statements. YOUR DOCUMENTS STAY YOURS Documents are private to your account. You can export everything you have scanned as a single file, and deleting your account erases your documents, folders and chats for good. We never sell your data. PAPYRUS AI PRO Free includes 10 scans every 30 days. Pro raises that to 300 scans every 30 days. Monthly and yearly plans are available. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless it is cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and you can manage or cancel it any time in your Apple Account settings. IMPORTANT Papyrus AI explains documents; it does not give legal, tax or medical advice, and it is not a substitute for a professional. AI-generated summaries and dates can contain errors, so confirm anything that matters with the sender or an advisor. Terms of Service: https://neuralmatrix.io/papyrus-ai/terms Privacy Policy: https://neuralmatrix.io/papyrus-ai/privacy

Screenshots

Sift4 screens
Papyrus AI4 screens

Verdict

The call

Sift and Papyrus AI are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters โ€” price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them โ€” neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Sift sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per 7 days and Papyrus AI sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Sift versus Papyrus AI: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSiftPapyrus AI
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksโ€”
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad โ€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.016.4 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size2 MB52 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperAnshul JainMustafa Kasti

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Sift

Subscriptions2
  • Sift Pro (Weekly)7 Days trial$6.997 Days
  • Sift Pro (Yearly)7 Days trial$34.991 Year
One-time1
  • Sift Pro (Lifetime)$79.99
2 purchases

Papyrus AI

Subscriptions2
  • Papyrus AI Pro Monthly$7.991 Month
  • Papyrus AI Pro Yearly$59.991 Year

Questions

Is Sift free?
Sift is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Papyrus AI free?
Papyrus AI is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Sift or Papyrus AI have ads?
Neither Sift nor Papyrus AI shows ads.

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