Comparison

PDF Expert vs PDF Scanner

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 Scanner

Transform your device into a powerful portable scanner. Instantly digitize documents, receipts, and notes into PDF, JPG, or TXT formats. Add electronic signatures and share your scans effortlessly.

Highlights
  • Scan documents and photos to PDF, JPG, or TXT
  • Scan multiple pages into one document
  • OCR text recognition
  • Add electronic signatures
  • Share scanned documents easily
  • Upload to cloud services
Features
Read full description

Looking for a scanner that you can take anywhere? Doc Scanner will turn your device into the most powerful digital office and assist you become more productive in your work as well as daily life. Download this scanner app absolutely for free to instantly scan, save, and share any document in PDF, JPG or TXT formats. Go paperless with our fast PDF scanner – store all your documents in a neat mobile office right on your phone! DOCUMENT SCANNER This small yet powerful free scanner app is a must-have for students and anyone who is involved in a small business: accountants, realtors, managers, or lawyers. Scan anything you need, including receipts, contracts, paper notes, fax papers, books, and store your scans as multipage PDF or JPEG files. Would you like to keep your whole office in your pocket in order to increase your productivity at work? Use scanner pro features to handle your paperwork with ease. Say goodbye to a big and not so beautiful copy machines and get this ultra-fast scanner app for free now! INNOVATIVE PDF SCANNER – Scan documents and photos to PDF, JPG, or TXT – Easily scan multiple pages into one single document – Recognize text from any scannable object with OCR – Put your electronic signature on any documents EASY DOCUMENT SHARING – Scan documents and share them in just a few taps – Print contracts and invoices right from the scanning app – Share and upload scanned documents to cloud services like Dropbox, Evernote, or Google Drive LIMITLESS ACCESS MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTION – You can subscribe to receive unlimited access to all app features – Subscriptions are billed weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually at the rate based on the subscription plan they use. – Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase – Subscription renews automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. – Account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. The price depends on the plan you select. – Subscriptions may be managed by the user, and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after making a purchase. – Any unused portion of the free trial will be forfeited when the user buys a subscription

Screenshots

PDF Expert4 screens
PDF Scanner4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: PDF Expert at fortnightly against PDF Scanner's every 7 months. PDF Expert also leads on ratings volume (216K vs 13) and review sentiment (46% vs 25%). PDF Scanner's advantage is iOS requirement (14.1 vs 16.0). On price, ads, 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

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 Scanner sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $4.49 per 7 days. 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 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PDF Expert has 216K ratings behind it against 13, 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 25% of PDF Scanner's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PDF Expert ships an update fortnightly, PDF Scanner every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
PDF Expert versus PDF Scanner: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPDF ExpertPDF Scanner
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (216K ratings) — better4.5 (13 ratings)
Positive reviews46.0% of reviews — better25.0% of reviews
Number of ratings216K — better13
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 7 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
Best chart rank#70 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS16.014.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size307 MB17 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperReaddle Technologies LimitedOLEG CHEBULAEV

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 Scanner

All ratings13 ratings
Positive92.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative7.7%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative75.0%

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 Scanner

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
4 purchases

PDF Scanner

Subscriptions4
  • Pro (7 days)$4.497 Days
  • Pro (1 month)7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Pro (3 month)7 Days trial$19.493 Months
Show 1 more
  • Pro (1 year)7 Days trial$28.991 Year

Questions

Is PDF Expert free?
PDF Expert is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PDF Scanner free?
PDF Scanner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, PDF Expert or PDF Scanner?
PDF Expert is rated higher. PDF Expert averages 4.7 out of 5 from 216K ratings, while PDF Scanner averages 4.5 from 13 ratings.
Do PDF Expert or PDF Scanner have ads?
Neither PDF Expert nor PDF Scanner shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PDF Expert or PDF Scanner?
PDF Expert ships an update fortnightly, and PDF Scanner every 7 months. Most recently, PDF Expert was updated on September 25, 2026 and PDF Scanner on September 19, 2026.

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