# Polaris Office vs PDF Expert

The clearest difference is ads: PDF Expert at none against Polaris Office's shown. PDF Expert also leads on ratings volume (217K vs 2.5K) and rating (4.7 vs 4.4). Polaris Office's advantage is review sentiment (63% vs 45%). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Polaris Office sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and PDF Expert sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

PDF Expert holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PDF Expert has 217K ratings behind it against 2.5K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 63% of Polaris Office's written reviews are positive against 45% of PDF Expert's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Polaris Office ships an update every 4 weeks, PDF Expert fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Polaris Office | PDF Expert |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.4 (2.5K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/polaris-office-pdf-and-docs/id698070860/reviews) | **[4.7 (217K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdf-expert-editor-and-reader/id743974925/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 2.5K | **217K** |
| Positive reviews | **62.6% of reviews** | 45.2% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | Every 4 weeks | **Fortnightly** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | — | **#77** |
| Size | 243 MB | 301 MB |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 16.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Polaris Office Corp.](https://appshunter.io/developer/380275428) | [Readdle Technologies Limited](https://appshunter.io/developer/285035419) |

## What reviewers say

### Polaris Office

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/polaris-office-pdf-and-docs/id698070860)

Create, edit, and share documents, spreadsheets, and presentations across multiple devices. This all-in-one office suite offers PDF viewing and conversion, with seamless cloud integration and collaboration features.

**Highlights:** Edit and save documents in various formats, View and convert PDFs, Sync across desktop, iPhone, and iPad, Share documents via link, Supports 18 global languages, Integrated cloud storage options

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (9)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Premium Service | $3.99 | per month |
| Smart Service | $3.99 | per month |
| Pro Service | $5.99 | per month |
| AI Service | $12.99 | per month |
| AI Service | $12.99 | per month |
| Premium Service | $39.99 | per year |
| Smart Service | $39.99 | per year |
| Pro Service | $59.99 | per year |
| Remove Ads | $10.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Efficient document editing
- 💡 Good alternative to Microsoft Office
- 🔒 Secure file storage and sync

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent crashes and data loss
- 💸 Aggressive monetization with ads and subscriptions
- 🔍 Difficult to navigate and find features
- 🔌 Drains device battery quickly

**Reported bugs**

- Documents not saving properly
- Syncing issues between devices
- Compatibility problems with newer iOS versions
- Formatting issues when exporting to PDF

**Requested features**

- Add support for more file formats
- Improve offline document editing capabilities
- Provide better integration with cloud storage services
- Introduce a dark mode option


### PDF Expert

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdf-expert-editor-and-reader/id743974925)

**Currently charting:** #77 Top Grossing · Productivity, #195 Top Free · Productivity (US App Store)

This app allows you to edit, annotate, fill out forms, and convert PDF documents. It offers AI-powered summarization and analysis, along with tools to merge, sign, and protect your files. Work seamlessly across Apple devices with a user-friendly interface.

**Highlights:** Edit PDF text and images, Annotate and highlight PDFs, Fill out PDF forms, Convert files to and from PDF, AI-powered summarization and analysis, Merge and combine PDF files, Sign documents with e-signatures

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (9)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| PDF Expert Premium Trial | $9.99 | per month |
| PDF Expert Premium No Trial | $9.99 | per month |
| PDF Expert for Education | $39.99 | per year |
| PDF Expert Premium | $49.99 | per year |
| PDF Expert Premium New | $49.99 | per year |
| PDF Expert Premium Existing | $49.99 | per year |
| PDF Expert – Premium Editing | $49.99 | per year |
| PDF Expert Mac & iOS | $79.99 | per year |
| PDF Expert Basic | $9.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Fast and responsive
- 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
- 💡 Powerful annotation and editing tools
- 🔒 Seamless cloud integration
- 📚 Excellent for reading and organizing PDFs

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
- 🔒 Subscription model for advanced features
- 🔒 Inconsistent pricing and feature changes
- 🔍 Cluttered and confusing UI in latest update
- 🔍 Reduced customization options for annotations

**Reported bugs**

- Corrupted PDFs after editing
- Sync issues with cloud storage providers
- Unexpected loss of annotations and edits
- Unreliable performance on older iPad models

**Requested features**

- Improved palm rejection for Apple Pencil
- Customizable toolbar and annotation presets
- Better integration with other productivity apps
- More flexible file management and organization
- Ability to create fillable PDF forms


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Polaris Office free?

Polaris Office is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is PDF Expert free?

PDF Expert is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Polaris Office or PDF Expert?

PDF Expert is rated higher. Polaris Office averages 4.4 out of 5 from 2.5K ratings, while PDF Expert averages 4.7 from 217K ratings.

### Do Polaris Office or PDF Expert have ads?

Polaris Office shows ads; PDF Expert does not.

### Which is updated more often, Polaris Office or PDF Expert?

Polaris Office ships an update every 4 weeks, and PDF Expert fortnightly. Most recently, Polaris Office was updated on November 6, 2026 and PDF Expert on November 5, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*