Comparison

PDF Cabinet vs BigPaper

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

Head to head
About

PDF Cabinet

This application offers a streamlined PDF experience for reading and annotating documents. It focuses on essential features with an intuitive interface, making it easy to mark up PDFs, share annotations, and collaborate in real-time with others. Optimized for performance, it handles large documents efficiently.

Highlights
  • Effortless PDF annotation
  • Intuitive user interface
  • Fast document review with thumbnails
  • Annotations sharing
  • Real-time collaboration
  • Quick note taking
Features
Read full description

THINGS WE ARE PROUD OF - Really effortless PDF annotation - Only the most essential functionality - don't lose yourself in hundreds of buttons - Intuitive user interface that allows you to do exactly what you want - Fast and easy document skimming and review with thumbnails sidebar - Ultimate performance – optimized for really large documents (within reason, of course) - Annotations sharing - send annotated documents to anyone, and mark up will show up in any other reader - Interaction with other Cabinet users - send annotations only to your friends or colleagues using Cabinet – much faster, less traffic - Real-time collaboration with your friends or colleagues – annotate the same document together from several iPads EVEN MORE GREAT THINGS IN CABINET - Amazing and intuitive dynamic annotation menu - Empty notebooks for quick note taking or doodling - Pen and Paper Games for relaxing during non-working hours - Sending multiple documents attached in a single e-mail - Easy work with various document formats - such as .doc, .xls, .ppt and others Did we tell you already that Cabinet is really easy to use? Try it out yourself!

About

BigPaper

This app offers an infinite canvas for note-taking, PDF annotation, and mind mapping. Import various document formats and add text, handwriting, tables, and more. Efficiently organize and edit content without page limitations.

Highlights
  • Infinite canvas for freeform note-taking
  • Import and annotate PDFs and other documents
  • Mind mapping with element connections
  • Handwriting and drawing tools with Smart Shapes
  • Table creation and linking
  • Multi-format document import and export
  • Screenshot mode for quick content capture
Features
Read full description

BigPaper is a borderless note taking application. You can import and expand PDFs and other formats in BigPaper and freely take notes in an infinite canvas without being limited by the edges of the document. You can use BigPaper on both iPhone and iPad for efficient editing with iCloud data sync. Whether it's annotating PDFs, making handbooks, or creating mind maps, BigPaper is ready to go. BigPaper's features include multi-format document import, text input, handwriting, mind mapping, tables, scanned documents, free edge screenshots, containers, folder management, search for handwriting and text, etc. We welcome every rating, and we will read every piece of feedback and take notes to incorporate it in future updates. Your 5-star review will encourage us to continue to upgrade BigPaper and introduce new features. —— Introduction of functions —— 「Infinite canvas, freeform add elements」 Canvas can be zoomed and moved for editing. Add documents in multiple formats such as PDF, as well as multiple types of elements such as tables, text, drawings, handwriting, pictures, stickers, paper, scanned documents, and more. These elements can be scaled and rotated. 「Mind Mapping - Easily connect ideas」 Innovative mind mapping mode. Connect elements on the page (text, pictures, tables, etc.) to quickly generate mind maps from inspiration. Also support the step-by-step enlargement of the idea by expanding the mind map. 「Type anywhere」 Customize the font, size and color of the text. To-do list, bullets can be added to the text. 「Brush Tool - Handwritten and Drawings」 Customize brush presets including color, transparency, tip size. Full-screen drawing, freely annotated documents that are not limited by the edges of the document. Smart Shapes: Hold a stylus or fingertip after drawing a graphic on the screen, intelligently recognize and generate the perfect shape. 「Create Table」 Easy create forms. Add row, add column, move row, move column. Tables can be linked to mind maps. 「Import and Export」 Imported document formats: PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Pages, Keynote, Numbers, etc. Expand all pages of the document to easily read and highlight all the content. Select text in the document to copy. Export PDF, export image, and BigPaper format. WYSIWYG, everything can be displayed in the exported document. 「Reading Mode」 Customize the "scrolling direction" to realize the classic reading mode. 「Screenshot Mode - Quickly capture key points」 In screenshot mode, you can continuously select areas to take screenshots, these screenshots will be added to the canvas immediately, and can continue to be edited and added to the mind map. 「Stickers, Paper Templates」 The themes of stickers include weather, three-dimensional geometry, music, etc., saving creation time and improving note-taking efficiency. Use stickers and paper stencils in combination to create beautiful manuscripts. 「Multiple Selection Tool - Efficient Editing」 You can freely select an area on the canvas using the multi-selection tool. The selected content as a whole can be resized, rotated, moved, deleted, and exported.Draw borders to take screenshots freely. 「Manage files with folders」 You can create folders to manage files. Easy personalization includes folder editing, file moving, sticking to the top, and more. 「iCloud Sync」 Continue to create notes on different devices and capture inspiration anytime, anywhere. 「Scan」 Scan documents, OCR text recognition(Available in English, Chinese, French, Italian, German, Portuguese and Spanish.) 「Search and Jump Locations」 Search for handwriting, text, text in documents. Also: OCR text recognition results of scanned documents and recognition of text in pictures. Contact us and send feedback: bp_10happy@hotmail.com

Screenshots

BigPaper3 screens

Verdict

The call

PDF Cabinet and BigPaper both sit at 3.8 stars, but that hides the real split: 66% of PDF Cabinet's written reviews are positive against 27% of BigPaper's. PDF Cabinet also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.0). BigPaper's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 5 weeks). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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. BigPaper sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. PDF Cabinet asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

BigPaper holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 57 and 20 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 66% of PDF Cabinet's written reviews are positive against 27% of BigPaper's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PDF Cabinet ships an update every 5 weeks, BigPaper every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
PDF Cabinet versus BigPaper: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPDF CabinetBigPaper
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.8 (57 ratings)4.0 (20 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.1% of reviews — better26.7% of reviews
Number of ratings57 — better20
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size75 MB253 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBright Nine SIA10happy Technology Development(Dalian) Co.,Ltd.

Customer experience

PDF Cabinet

All ratings55 ratings
Positive67.3%
Neutral10.9%
Negative21.8%
Written reviews127 reviews
Positive66.1%
Neutral14.2%
Negative19.7%

BigPaper

All ratings17 ratings
Positive64.7%
Neutral29.4%
Negative5.9%
Written reviews15 reviews
Positive26.7%
Neutral46.7%
Negative26.7%

Bugs and requests

PDF Cabinet

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Randomly deleting files
  • Sync issues causing loss of annotations
  • Crashing when opening large documents
  • Navigation problems when zoomed in
  • Annotations not exporting properly

Requested features

7 requests
  • Add more highlighter and pen color options
  • Implement palm rejection for Apple Pencil
  • Add ability to resize and move annotation tools
  • Improve cloud/sync functionality (iCloud, Dropbox, etc.)
  • Implement vertical scrolling for continuous reading
Show 2 more
  • Add text box annotation feature
  • Improve export/sharing options for annotated documents

BigPaper

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

PDF Cabinet

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

BigPaper

One-time1
  • BigPaper - Full Version Unlock$8.99

Questions

Is PDF Cabinet free?
PDF Cabinet is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is BigPaper free?
BigPaper is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, PDF Cabinet or BigPaper?
BigPaper is rated higher. PDF Cabinet averages 3.8 out of 5 from 57 ratings, while BigPaper averages 4.0 from 20 ratings.
Do PDF Cabinet or BigPaper have ads?
Neither PDF Cabinet nor BigPaper shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PDF Cabinet or BigPaper?
PDF Cabinet ships an update every 5 weeks, and BigPaper every 5 days. Most recently, PDF Cabinet was updated on October 23, 2026 and BigPaper on October 24, 2026.

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