Comparison

PDF Expert vs PDF Pocket

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 Pocket

Transform your mobile device into a powerful PDF scanner and editor. Easily scan documents, extract text with OCR, annotate, sign, and manage your files offline. AI features can summarize and translate content, making document management efficient.

Highlights
  • Scan documents with auto edge detection
  • On-device OCR for searchable text
  • Annotate, highlight, and draw with Apple Pencil support
  • Create and place handwritten signatures
  • Merge, split, rotate, and compress PDFs
  • AI-powered summarization and translation
  • Organize files with folders and tags
Features
Read full description

Turn your iPhone and iPad into a powerful PDF scanner and editor. PDF Pocket handles everything from scanning paper documents to signing contracts — fast, private, and completely offline. SCAN ANYTHING IN SECONDS Point your camera at any document and get a crisp, clean PDF instantly. Auto edge detection, perspective correction, and shadow removal work together so every scan looks professional. Capture multiple pages in one go, or import files from your photo library and cloud storage. BUILT-IN OCR Make any scanned document searchable with on-device text recognition. Copy, search, and share text from scans — no internet connection required. Your documents stay on your device. ANNOTATE & MARK UP Highlight, underline, and strikethrough with 7 colors. Add text notes, draw freehand with Apple Pencil support, and stamp documents. Every tool you need for reviewing and commenting is right at your fingertips. SIGN DOCUMENTS ANYWHERE Create and save your handwritten signatures. Place them on any page with precise positioning, scaling, and rotation. Sign contracts, forms, and agreements without printing a single sheet of paper. POWERFUL PAGE TOOLS • Merge multiple PDFs into one • Split documents by page range • Rotate, reorder, insert, or delete pages • Compress files to reduce size • Add watermarks and page numbers • Password-protect sensitive documents AI-POWERED PRODUCTIVITY Let AI summarize long documents in seconds. Translate content across languages. Generate deliverables like reports, emails, and study notes — all from your PDF. SMART FILE MANAGEMENT Organize with folders, tags, and favorites. Full-text search finds any document instantly. Grid or list view, recent files, and a built-in trash bin keep everything tidy. COMPARE DOCUMENTS Place two versions side by side and spot every difference. Text diff and visual comparison make reviewing revisions effortless. SHARE YOUR WAY Export as PDF or image. Share directly to WhatsApp, email, AirDrop, or any app. Use the Share Extension to import PDFs from other apps into PDF Pocket with one tap. PERFECT FOR • Students scanning lecture notes and textbooks • Freelancers signing invoices and contracts • Office workers annotating reports and presentations • Researchers organizing and summarizing papers • Anyone who needs a fast, reliable PDF tool on the go SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION PDF Pocket Pro offers weekly, monthly, and yearly subscription options, as well as a one-time lifetime purchase. Payment will be charged to your Apple ID account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. You can manage and cancel your subscriptions by going to your App Store account settings after purchase. Privacy Policy: https://slowbuild.dev/pdf-pocket/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://slowbuild.dev/pdf-pocket/terms.html

Screenshots

PDF Expert4 screens
PDF Pocket4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: PDF Expert at 4.7 against PDF Pocket's 4.0. PDF Expert also leads on ratings volume (216K vs 1) and chart position (#72 vs unranked). PDF Pocket's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs fortnightly). 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 9 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and PDF Pocket sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 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 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PDF Expert has 216K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PDF Expert ships an update fortnightly, PDF Pocket weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
PDF Expert versus PDF Pocket: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPDF ExpertPDF Pocket
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (216K ratings) — better4.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews45.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings216K — better1
Update frequencyFortnightlyWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#72 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better18
Further details — not scored
Size301 MB10 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperReaddle Technologies Limited勇 王

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 Pocket

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

9 purchases

PDF Expert

Subscriptions8
  • 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 5 more
  • PDF Expert Premium7 Days trial2 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 & iOS7 Days trial$79.991 Year
One-time1
  • PDF Expert Basic$9.99
7 purchases

PDF Pocket

Subscriptions6
  • Premium Weekly - All Access3 Days trial$9.997 Days
  • Premium Weekly - All Access$9.997 Days
  • Premium Monthly - All Access$14.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Premium Monthly - All Access3 Days trial$19.991 Month
  • Premium Yearly - All Access$39.991 Year
  • Premium Yearly - All Access3 Days trial$49.991 Year
One-time1
  • Premium Lifetime - All Access$69.99

Questions

Is PDF Expert free?
PDF Expert is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PDF Pocket free?
PDF Pocket is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, PDF Expert or PDF Pocket?
PDF Expert is rated higher. PDF Expert averages 4.7 out of 5 from 216K ratings, while PDF Pocket averages 4.0 from 1 ratings.
Do PDF Expert or PDF Pocket have ads?
Neither PDF Expert nor PDF Pocket shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PDF Expert or PDF Pocket?
PDF Expert ships an update fortnightly, and PDF Pocket weekly. Most recently, PDF Expert was updated on November 4, 2026 and PDF Pocket on October 31, 2026.

Other comparisons