Best PDF Annotate Apps

249+ iOS apps curated and reviewed

4.5 avg rating
20 free apps
Updated August 2026

The best pdf annotate apps on iPhone average 4.5★ across 249+ titles — we've ranked them by what real users actually keep on their phones. Updated August 2026.

Compare top PDF Annotate Apps (August 2026)

#AppPriceRatingAdsIn-App PurchasesUpdated
1Noteful: Notes & PDF MarkupNoteful: Notes & PDF MarkupFree4.8★ (23K)NoYesAug 2026
2PDF Annotate Expert - eSignPDF Annotate Expert - eSignFree2.3★ (6)NoYesMay 2026
3PDF Expert: Editor & ConverterPDF Expert: Editor & ConverterFree4.7★ (216K)NoYesAug 2026
4Notability: AI Notes & PlannerNotability: AI Notes & PlannerFree4.8★ (453K)NoYesAug 2026
5Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDFGoodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDFFree4.7★ (444K)NoYesAug 2026
6Drawboard PDF Annotate, MarkupDrawboard PDF Annotate, MarkupFree4.8★ (1.8K)NoYesAug 2026
7PDF Hero - PDF Editor & ReaderPDF Hero - PDF Editor & ReaderFree4.6★ (10K)NoYesAug 2026
8PDF Pro - Reader Editor FormsPDF Pro - Reader Editor FormsFree4.7★ (6.9K)NoYesAug 2026

Top Picks for PDF Annotate

Noteful: Notes & PDF Markup#1

Noteful: Notes & PDF Markup by Noteful Technologies Ltd

Highlight. Write. Learn.
Editor's Choice
📊 Productivity
4.8😊(23K ratings)
FreeIn-App Purchases
Noteful: Notes & PDF Markup screenshot 1
Noteful: Notes & PDF Markup screenshot 2
Noteful: Notes & PDF Markup screenshot 3
Noteful: Notes & PDF Markup screenshot 4
Noteful: Notes & PDF Markup screenshot 5
Noteful: Notes & PDF Markup screenshot 6

This app revolutionizes paperless note-taking on iPad, allowing for handwritten notes, document annotation, and knowledge organization. It offers a fluid writing experience, PDF markup, powerful tagging, and audio recording synced with notes.

What We Love

  • 🚀 Smooth writing experience
  • 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
  • 💡 Layers feature
  • 👍 Affordable one-time purchase

Room to Improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes or freezes
  • 🔍 No handwriting recognition or search
  • 🔍 Limited text editing options
PDF Expert: Editor & Converter#3

PDF Expert: Editor & Converter by Readdle Technologies Limited

Edit, Read, Scan・Sign Document
Worth Considering
📊 Productivity
4.7😐(216K ratings)
FreeIn-App Purchases
#54in Productivity
PDF Expert: Editor & Converter screenshot 1
PDF Expert: Editor & Converter screenshot 2
PDF Expert: Editor & Converter screenshot 3
PDF Expert: Editor & Converter screenshot 4
PDF Expert: Editor & Converter screenshot 5
PDF Expert: Editor & Converter screenshot 6

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.

What We Love

  • 🚀 Fast and responsive
  • 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
  • 💡 Powerful annotation and editing tools
  • 🔒 Seamless cloud integration

Room to Improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
  • 🔒 Subscription model for advanced features
  • 🔒 Inconsistent pricing and feature changes

More PDF Annotate apps to explore

4
Notability: AI Notes & Planner
Notability: AI Notes & Planner
Notability: AI Notes & Planner
Daily notebook & study journal
Free

Capture, organize, and enhance your thoughts with a versatile digital notebook. Seamlessly blend handwriting, typing, and multimedia to annotate documents, record lectures, and generate summaries. Ideal for students and professionals seeking to boost productivity and learning.

Handwritten and typed notesPDF and document annotationAudio recording and transcription
📊 Productivity
(453K)
freemium
5
Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF
Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF
Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF
Note taking, Planner & Journal
Free

Capture ideas, enhance productivity, and unlock insights with advanced AI features. This app offers tools for professionals, students, and creatives, including infinite whiteboards, AI-powered transcription and summarization, and customizable digital notebooks.

AI-powered transcription and summarizationInfinite whiteboard canvasDigital notebooks with customizable templates
📊 Productivity
(444K)
free with in-app purchases
6
Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup
Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup
Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup
Write & Type on PDFs and Notes
Free

Enhance your PDF workflow with powerful annotation and markup tools. This app offers a dynamic and intuitive experience for editing, drawing, and adding text to your documents. Access your work across multiple devices and collaborate in real-time.

Dynamic PDF annotation toolsCross-platform access and cloud syncReal-time collaboration
📊 Productivity
(1.8K)
free with in-app purchases
7
PDF Hero - PDF Editor & Reader
PDF Hero - PDF Editor & Reader
PDF Hero - PDF Editor & Reader
Create & Edit PDF Documents
Free

Edit, create, and manage PDF documents on your mobile device. Annotate, fill forms, sign, and share files with ease. Offers advanced features like OCR and compression for enhanced document control.

Create PDFs from scratchEdit text and annotate documentsFill and sign PDF forms
💼 Business
(10K)
free with in-app purchases
8
PDF Pro - Reader Editor Forms
PDF Pro - Reader Editor Forms
PDF Pro - Reader Editor Forms
Edit, annotate, view documents
Free

Edit, annotate, and read PDF documents on your iPhone and iPad. Highlight text, add notes, shapes, voice recordings, and photos. Search your entire PDF library, fill out forms, and sign documents.

Edit and annotate PDFsHighlight text and add notesEmbed audio and photo annotations
📊 Productivity
(6.9K)
subscription
9
Highlight PDF - Markup Notes
Highlight PDF - Markup Notes
Highlight PDF - Markup Notes
Mark important text in PDF
Free
🔧 Utilities
(0)
10
SwiftPDF
SwiftPDF
SwiftPDF
by INTERGO PTE. LTD.
Free
🔧 Utilities
(0)
11
PDF Editor Scanner: PDFStation
PDF Editor Scanner: PDFStation
PDF Editor Scanner: PDFStation
Scan, Edit, Convert PDF OCR AI
Free

This mobile app transforms your device into a powerful PDF scanner and editor. It uses AI to scan, convert, edit, sign, and organize PDF documents, offering features like OCR, text summarization, and secure password protection.

AI-powered document scanningEdit, annotate, and sign PDFsConvert between PDF and other formats
📊 Productivity
(3)
free
12
PDF Editor ,PDF Book Reader ®
PDF Editor ,PDF Book Reader ®
PDF Editor ,PDF Book Reader ®
PDF Scanner -OCR,PDF Converter
Free

This app offers a comprehensive suite of tools for managing PDF documents. It allows users to read, edit, annotate, convert, and scan PDFs with an intuitive interface. Features include form filling, digital signatures, page management, and robust sharing options across Apple devices.

Read and edit PDFsAnnotate and markup documentsFill forms and add digital signatures
🔧 Utilities
(22K)
free with in-app purchases
13
PDF Reader - Editor & Viewer
PDF Reader - Editor & Viewer
PDF Reader - Editor & Viewer
Editor, Converter, OCR
Free

Edit, convert, and manage PDF documents on your mobile device. This app allows you to directly edit text, scan documents, fill out forms, and secure your files with passwords and watermarks. It also supports OCR to extract text from scans and convert PDFs to various formats.

Edit PDF text directlyConvert PDF to Word, Excel, PPT, imagesOCR for text extraction from scans
🔧 Utilities
(3.5K)
freemium
14
PDF Toolkit - Organize & Edit
PDF Toolkit - Organize & Edit
PDF Toolkit - Organize & Edit
Manage, Merge & Annotate PDFs
Free

Organize, edit, and manage your PDF documents locally on your device. Create custom categories, use color tags for important files, and combine or extract pages. Extract text from scans and images using OCR, and annotate directly on PDFs.

Custom document categoriesColor tags for important filesCombine multiple PDFs
📊 Productivity
(1)
ad-supported
15
RevPDF: PDF Editor & Reader
RevPDF: PDF Editor & Reader
RevPDF: PDF Editor & Reader
Edit, Sign & Redact Offline
Free

Edit, sign, and convert PDFs entirely offline without needing an account or cloud storage. This app allows direct text and image editing, form filling, and a suite of powerful PDF tools.

Edit text and images directly in PDFsFill and sign PDF formsCompress, merge, and split PDFs
📊 Productivity
(12)
free
16
PDF Editor — Sign & Scanner
PDF Editor — Sign & Scanner
PDF Editor — Sign & Scanner
Compress, Convert & Protect
Free
🔧 Utilities
(0)
17
SLATE: Document Toolkit
SLATE: Document Toolkit
SLATE: Document Toolkit
by Danielle Dockery
Free
📊 Productivity
(0)
18
PDF Lite: PDF Editor & Reader
PDF Lite: PDF Editor & Reader
PDF Lite: PDF Editor & Reader
Read, Convert & Compress PDFs
Free
📊 Productivity
(0)
19
Smart PDF Toolkit
Smart PDF Toolkit
Smart PDF Toolkit
Scan, Edit, Merge & Split PDFs
Free

This app allows you to open, read, and manage PDF documents offline. It offers features like bookmarks, file renaming, and dark mode for a comfortable and efficient reading experience without needing an internet connection.

Offline PDF managementBookmarkingFile renaming
📊 Productivity
(0)
free
20
AI PDF Reader: On-Device
AI PDF Reader: On-Device
AI PDF Reader: On-Device
Private on-device PDF AI
Free
📊 Productivity
(0)

FAQ about PDF Annotate

What are the best pdf annotate apps for iPhone?
Noteful: Notes & PDF Markup tops our pdf annotate apps ranking as of August 2026, with a 4.8-star average from 23K App Store ratings, and it's free to download.
Yes — 20 of the top pdf annotate apps we rank are free to download, including Noteful: Notes & PDF Markup and PDF Annotate Expert - eSign.
Noteful: Notes & PDF Markup has no ads and offers in-app purchases, according to its App Store listing as of August 2026.
We track 249+ pdf annotate apps on the iOS App Store as of August 2026, ranked by rating, recency, and analysis of real user reviews.
Noteful is a note-taking and PDF markup application designed for iPad. It allows users to create handwritten notes, annotate documents, organize information with tags, and even record audio synced with their notes, aiming to replace traditional paper clutter.
Key features include a natural handwriting experience with Apple Pencil support, the ability to import and annotate PDFs and MS Office documents, powerful tagging for organization, layers for annotations, and audio recording synchronized with notes.

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