# Bookends vs PDFOptim

The clearest difference is update cadence: Bookends at every 2 months against PDFOptim's every 5 months. PDFOptim's advantage is iOS requirement (15.6 vs 18.6). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Bookends sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per year and PDFOptim sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Bookends against 4.7 for PDFOptim. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 398 and 292 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 76% and 76% positive.

Bookends ships an update every 2 months, PDFOptim every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Bookends | PDFOptim |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.7 (398 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bookends/id739087947/reviews) | [4.7 (292 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdfoptim/id903356489/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **398** | 292 |
| Positive reviews | **76.4% of reviews** | 75.6% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 2 months** | Every 5 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 114 MB | 8 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | **15.6** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Sonny Software, LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/417583547) | [RootRise Technologies Pvt. Ltd.](https://appshunter.io/developer/594431033) |

## What reviewers say

### Bookends

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bookends/id739087947)

Manage your research references and PDFs on your mobile device. Search online databases, import metadata, annotate PDFs, and organize your library. Offers basic functionality for free with optional one-time purchase and yearly subscription for advanced features like cloud sync and unlimited imports.

**Highlights:** Search online reference databases, Import metadata and PDFs, PDF annotation and markup, Barcode scanning for references, Cloud sync across devices, Share online libraries, Create multiple libraries

**Features:** Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Premium | $14.99 | per year |
| Standard | $14.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Seamless sync across devices
- 👍 Excellent PDF annotation tools
- 🔒 Reliable and stable
- 💡 Powerful reference management features
- 👍 Responsive and helpful developer support

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Sync issues with iCloud and PDF files
- 🔒 Subscription model for essential features
- 👎 Outdated and clunky user interface
- 🔒 Limited functionality on iOS without subscription

**Reported bugs**

- Incompatibility with iCloud Optimized Storage
- Unreliable sync between desktop and mobile versions
- Occasional data loss or corruption

**Requested features**

- Nested folders and tags for better organization
- Automatic PDF metadata extraction
- Improved search and filtering capabilities
- Seamless integration with third-party services


### PDFOptim

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdfoptim/id903356489)

Easily compress and optimize PDF files on your iPhone and iPad. Reduce the size of large documents, saving storage space and transmission time. Offers both automatic and manual compression modes with advanced settings for image and vector graphics.

**Highlights:** Compress PDF documents, Optimize PDF files, Automatic compression mode, Manual compression mode, Adjust image resolution and quality, Optimize vector graphics, Support for password-protected PDFs

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Premium : Monthly Access | $0.99 | per month |
| Premium : Yearly Access | $2.99 | per year |
| Premium : Lifetime Access | $4.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Excellent compression quality
- 🚀 Efficient and fast performance
- 👍 Simple and easy to use
- 💰 Good value for money (one-time purchase)
- 👍 No annoying subscriptions

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 App not launching/freezing
- 🐛 Doesn't work for certain file types (e.g., GoodNotes)
- 🐛 Poor image quality/pixelation
- 🐛 Compression not effective on all PDFs
- 🐛 Confusing or illogical interface

**Reported bugs**

- App not launching on iOS 18.0.1
- App freezes during launch
- App won't take purchases
- Cannot optimize certain PDFs
- Compression not effective on marked-up PDFs

**Requested features**

- Support for iOS shortcuts
- macOS version integration/cross-platform compatibility
- Improved handling of specific file types like GoodNotes
- Better optimization for handwritten notes within PDFs
- Cloud storage for compressed documents (iCloud)


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Bookends free?

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

### Is PDFOptim free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Bookends or PDFOptim?

Bookends and PDFOptim are both rated 4.7 out of 5 on the App Store, from 398 and 292 ratings respectively.

### Do Bookends or PDFOptim have ads?

Neither Bookends nor PDFOptim shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Bookends or PDFOptim?

Bookends ships an update every 2 months, and PDFOptim every 5 months. Most recently, Bookends was updated on October 12, 2026 and PDFOptim on October 8, 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.*