Comparison

PDF Expert vs PDF Maker & Reader

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

Head to head
About

PDF Expert

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
Read full description

PDF Expert is a fast and easy PDF app to read, annotate, fill and sign PDF forms, convert files to PDF, and merge, split or compress documents – all in one intuitive app for iPhone, iPad, Mac & Vision Pro. Read PDF files with comfort, highlight and mark up text, fill out forms, sign contracts, create and convert PDFs, and summarize long documents in seconds with AI-powered tools. Unlock unlimited possibilities with PDF Expert Premium and work across all your Apple devices. "PDF Expert is one of my must-have iPad apps and a desktop-class PDF reader." – MacStories "The best app for managing, editing, and reading PDFs on your iPad." – The Sweet Setup ▶ WITH PDF EXPERT, YOU CAN: READ PDFs - PDF reader with Day, Night, and Sepia modes for comfortable reading anytime - Scroll PDFs vertically or horizontally and search text in any document - Open and view PDF files from email, web, Files, or any app via the Share menu - Read PDFs out loud with Text to Speech ANNOTATE AND MARK UP PDFs - Highlight, underline, and strike through text in your PDFs - Mark up documents with pen, shapes, text, notes, and comments - Add stamps such as Approved or Confidential - Record your voice and add audio notes to PDFs FILL AND SIGN PDF FORMS - Fill out PDF forms with text fields, checkboxes, and radio buttons - Sign PDF documents in seconds – draw your signature or add it from an image - Save your signature to sign contracts, agreements, invoices, and applications faster - Fill, sign, and send forms right from your iPhone – no printing or scanning needed - Supports all major form formats, including AcroForms and static XFA forms ***PREMIUM FEATURES*** EDIT PDFs - Edit text directly in a PDF – just as you would in a Word document - Add, replace, and resize images in your PDFs - Add links to other pages or websites - Add outlines to navigate large PDFs CREATE AND CONVERT PDFs - Create PDFs from Word files, images, and other documents - Convert Word to PDF, JPG to PDF, and PNG to PDF in seconds - Convert PDF to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, JPG, PNG, and TXT MERGE, SPLIT AND ORGANIZE PDFs - Merge and combine multiple PDF files into one - Split PDFs and extract pages into a new file - Add, delete, rotate, and reorder pages with thumbnail preview COMPRESS PDFs - Compress PDFs to reduce file size for email and sharing - Shrink large PDF files to save space on your device SUMMARIZE PDFs WITH AI – PDF COPILOT - List Main Points – get key takeaways from any PDF - Summarize – get concise summaries of entire PDFs or annotations - Ask Anything – find details with AI answers and references - Explain – get instant explanations of words or phrases PROTECT YOUR FILES - Password-protect PDF Expert - Redact – permanently black out sensitive information WORK WITH SCANNED DOCUMENTS - Open scanned PDFs to fill out, sign, annotate, and share CONSTRUCTION TOOLS - Scale and measure drawings with the Measure tab - Polygon, polyline, and redline tools MORE FEATURES - Customizable toolbar - Presentation Mode - Print and share PDFs via email or cloud ONE ACCOUNT FOR ALL YOUR APPLE DEVICES One Premium subscription covers PDF Expert on iPhone, iPad, and Mac – no need to buy versions separately. Read more about our terms and conditions here: https://pdfexpert.com/privacy https://pdfexpert.com/terms Don’t hesitate to reach out to us at http://readdle.com/contact

About

PDF Maker & Reader

Create and read PDF documents on your iPhone and iPad. Easily add text, photos, maps, and diagrams to new or existing PDFs. Share your creations via iCloud Drive, email, and other compatible applications.

Highlights
  • Create new PDF documents
  • Read PDF documents from various sources
  • Add text manually or via keyboard
  • Insert photos, maps, and diagrams
  • Export PDFs to other applications
  • Compatible with App Extensions and Apple Pencil
Features
Read full description

PDF Maker & Reader is a simple and powerful tool for reading and creating PDF. It can be displayed PDF documents on iPhone and iPad and you can input either manually or from the keyboard and add photos, maps, lines and diagrams. And you can make a new PDF document. PDF documents that you made can be output to many applications. [Major Functions] - You can read PDF documents from iTunes, iCloud Drive and many applications.(compatible with App Extensions) - You can make a new PDF document. - You can make a PDF document in the following way.  1. You can input either manually or from the keyboard (compatible with Apple Pencil).  2. You can paste up to photos.  3. You can paste maps.  4. By pasting figures and lines, you can display PDF documents graphically. - You can upload PDF documents to iTunes, iCloud Drive, applications compatible with PDF, and you can attach PDF to emails. You can use PDF Maker & Reader for free for 10 days. If you want to use it for more than 11 days, you need to follow the procedure for In-App Purchases(the one time purchase). Or you can extend the free usage period by 3 days by watching a video ad. [Contact us] https://www.studioks.net/en/contact-us/ [Studio K's - Business Applications Maker] https://www.studioks.net/en/

Screenshots

PDF Expert4 screens
PDF Maker & Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: PDF Expert at 4.7 against PDF Maker & Reader's 4.2. PDF Expert also leads on ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (46% vs 20%). PDF Maker & Reader's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.0). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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. PDF Expert sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and PDF Maker & Reader sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PDF Expert holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PDF Expert has 216K ratings behind it against 25, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 46% of PDF Expert's written reviews are positive against 20% of PDF Maker & Reader's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PDF Expert ships an update fortnightly, PDF Maker & Reader every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and August 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
PDF Expert versus PDF Maker & Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPDF ExpertPDF Maker & Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (216K ratings) — better4.2 (25 ratings)
Positive reviews46.0% of reviews — better20.0% of reviews
Number of ratings216K — better25
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#73 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size307 MB27 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperReaddle Technologies LimitedNAOAKI SEKIGUCHI

Customer experience

PDF Expert

All ratings215,975 ratings
Positive92.4%
Neutral2.3%
Negative5.3%
Written reviews1,136 reviews
Positive46.0%
Neutral7.5%
Negative46.6%

PDF Maker & Reader

All ratings25 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral4.0%
Negative16.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive20.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative60.0%

Bugs and requests

PDF Expert

Reported bugs

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

Requested features

5 requests
  • 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

PDF Maker & Reader

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

PDF Expert

Subscriptions9
  • PDF Expert Premium Trial7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • PDF Expert Premium No Trial$9.991 Month
  • PDF Expert for Education7 Days trial$39.991 Year
Show 6 more
  • PDF Expert Premium7 Days trial3 variants$49.991 Year
  • PDF Expert Premium New7 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • PDF Expert Premium Existing7 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • PDF Expert – Premium Editing1 Year trial$49.991 Year
  • PDF Expert Mac & iOS Pro7 Days trial$79.991 Year
  • PDF Expert Mac & iOS7 Days trial$79.991 Year
One-time1
  • PDF Expert Basic$9.99
2 purchases

PDF Maker & Reader

One-time2
  • PDF Maker & Reader Pro$1.99
  • License$3.99

Questions

Is PDF Expert free?
PDF Expert is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PDF Maker & Reader free?
PDF Maker & Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, PDF Expert or PDF Maker & Reader?
PDF Expert is rated higher. PDF Expert averages 4.7 out of 5 from 216K ratings, while PDF Maker & Reader averages 4.2 from 25 ratings.
Do PDF Expert or PDF Maker & Reader have ads?
PDF Maker & Reader shows ads; PDF Expert does not.
Which is updated more often, PDF Expert or PDF Maker & Reader?
PDF Expert ships an update fortnightly, and PDF Maker & Reader every 2 months. Most recently, PDF Expert was updated on September 25, 2026 and PDF Maker & Reader on August 13, 2026.

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