PDF Expert vs Polaris Viewer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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Unlock your potential with a fast and easy PDF Expert app with all the features you need in a well-designed and intuitive user interface. BEST FOR iPHONE, iPAD, MAC & VISION PRO Read PDF files easily, highlight and annotate PDFs, fill out forms, convert any file to PDF, merge several files into one, add notes, summarize and navigate PDF documents in seconds with AI-powered tools. Unlock unlimited possibilities with PDF Expert Premium features and work across all your Apple devices, effortlessly letting you complete any PDF task on the go. “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 WITH JOY • Pick Day, Night, or Sepia mode and enjoy reading anytime, anywhere. • Enjoy both vertical and horizontal scrolling. • Export PDF files from email, web, or any app that supports the Apple system-wide Share menu • Use Text to Speech to hear the selected text read out loud HIGHLIGHT AND ANNOTATE PDFs • Mark important info in books using colors, text, or stickers • Add stamps such as Approved, Confidential, etc. • Record your voice and add it to the doc FILL OUT FORMS • Fill out PDF forms using interactive text fields, checkboxes, and radio buttons • All the major form formats support, including acro forms and static XFA forms ***PREMIUM FEATURES *** EDIT PDFs DOCS EASILY • Edit or modify existing text directly in a PDF – just as you would in a Word document • Add links: link any part of the text or image to a different page or website • Add outlines to big PDFs to simplify navigation for hundreds of pages • Easily add, replace, and resize images in your PDFs SUMMARIZE AND ANALYZE HUGE PDFs WITH PDF COPILOT – YOUR SMART AI ASSISTANT • List Main Points – instantly scan and highlight key takeaways from any PDF • Summarize – get concise summaries of entire PDFs, or annotations • Ask Anything – find specific details with AI-powered answers and references • Explain – no more Googling! Get instant, contextual explanations of words or phrases MERGE AND COMBINE PDFs • Merge and combine multiple PDF files into one • Add, delete, and rearrange pages with a thumbnail preview • Rotate and reorder pages in PDFs EDIT SCANNED DOCUMENTS • Access the scanned PDFs that you’ve created using PDF Expert • Open your scans to fill out, sign, comment, and share CONVERT FROM AND TO PDF • Convert PDFs to Word, Excel, PPT, JPG/PNG, TXT, and vice versa • Converts any file in seconds SIGN DOCUMENTS • Use e-signatures to sign contracts on the go • Create custom stamps or import one from the images PROTECT YOUR FILES • Restrict access to PDF Expert with a password • Permanently blackout or erase sensitive information like credit card numbers • Secure and Safe trusted brand software COMPRESS PDFs • Compress large PDF files to save space on your device • Merge several files into one and compress it to reduce the file size CONSTRUCTION TOOLS • Scale and measure drawings using our Measure tab • Polygon and polyline shapes • Redline tools COLLABORATE ON THE GO PDF Expert provides the best platform for paperless collaboration between team members. Annotate and add notes in project materials, fill and sign contracts and invoices, and exchange files via email or cloud on the go. OTHER AMAZING FEATURES: • Fully customizable toolbar • Create a Link (drag and add a landing page or a Web) • Presentation Mode • Print and Share ONE ACCOUNT FOR ALL YOUR APPLE DEVICES Now, you don’t need to purchase Mac and iPhone & iPad versions separately. PDF Expert introduces a single Premium subscription for all your Apple devices. 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
Polaris Viewer
This app offers a mobile-optimized experience for viewing various document types, including Microsoft Office files, PDFs, and TXT. It provides smart document management features and supports cloud integration for easy access to your files.
- Mobile optimized document viewer
- Supports Microsoft Office, PDF, TXT, Zip, CSV
- Cloud storage integration (iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.)
- Smart document management
- App lock with fingerprint, face, or password
- Night mode and paper texture background options
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Polaris Office, selected by 100 million users across the world, provides mobile optimized document viewer at the requests of numerous users. Using compact and stable Polaris Office Viewer which takes some edit functions out and strengthens view function, quickly and easily manage all the document files such as Microsoft Office, TXT, Zip file, as well as Adobe PDF! ■ Supporting Languages ■ • English, Korean, Japanese, German, Russian, Indonesian, Brazilian Portuguese ■ Supported formats ■ • (NEW) Now we support CSV format. • Microsoft Word : DOC, DOCX • Microsoft Excel : XLS, XLSX • Microsoft Powerpoint : PPT, PPTX, PPS, PPSX • Other documents and files : PDF, TXT, ODT, Zip ■ Main functions ■ Mobile optimized document viewer : Supporting must-have functions to easily view the documents in Mobile. • Landscape mode / Portrait mode / Multi window mode • View per page, View in a row • Able to dim the screen and choose background (Providing Night mode and Paper texture) • Supporting text copy function in document Smart document managing : Supporting the functions for managing various documents more efficiently. • Able to check all the documents in My device storage & other cloud service (Supporting iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Box, WebDAV, FTP) • Able to manage main documents separately through bookmark settings. • Support various sorting methods. (Name order / Date order / Size order etc) • Support view function per document format. • Able to search document you need through search function. • Able to use App lock function (via fingerprint, face, password) ■ Note ■ • Homepage : Polarisoffice.com • Facebook : facebook.com/polarisoffice • Youtube : youtube.com/user/infrawareinc • Inquiry : support@polarisoffice.com • Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy : www.polarisoffice.com/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: PDF Expert at none against Polaris Viewer's shown. PDF Expert also leads on ratings volume (216K vs 74) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 3 months). Polaris Viewer's advantage is review sentiment (56% vs 46%) and device support (4 vs 2). On price, rating, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Both are free to download. PDF Expert sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and Polaris Viewer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. 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 PDF Expert against 4.6 for Polaris Viewer. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PDF Expert has 216K ratings behind it against 74, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 46% of PDF Expert's written reviews are positive against 56% of Polaris Viewer's.
PDF Expert ships an update fortnightly, Polaris Viewer every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PDF Expert | Polaris Viewer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (216K ratings) — better | 4.6 (74 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 46.0% of reviews | 56.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 216K — better | 74 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #69 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Vision Pro — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 307 MB | 177 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Readdle Technologies Limited | Polaris Office Corp. |
Customer experience
PDF Expert
Polaris Viewer
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
Polaris Viewer
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
PDF Expert
- 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
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- 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
- PDF Expert Basic$9.99
Polaris Viewer
- Remove Ads$10.99
Questions
Is PDF Expert free?
Is Polaris Viewer free?
Which has better reviews, PDF Expert or Polaris Viewer?
Do PDF Expert or Polaris Viewer have ads?
Which is updated more often, PDF Expert or Polaris Viewer?
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