PDF Expert alternatives

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 106 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

1. [R1] PDF Expert 1/5 · US Everything is paid: Everything is paid, the free features are reading a PDF and leaving a note on it. · translated
2. [R7] PDF Expert 1/5 · US Same paid features removed again with no permanent fix: I bought PDF Converter separately in 2018 for $4.99, entitling me to permanent conversion access under the terms sold at the time. This is the second time Readdle has revoked that access, first in 2025, now again in June 2026, both times forcing me to argue with support and provide old receipts just to get back something I already paid for.
3. [R16] PDF Expert 2/5 · US No-go on the endless subscription fee.: This is an excellent app, especially the fully featured pro version. Well worth a reasonable one time cost, with possible future functionality upgrades that could be available for an additional cost. I know developing software isn’t cheap. Except that everyone used to sell software for a fixed price and now everyone (almost) has gone to a subscription model
4. [R25] PDF Expert 1/5 · US Previously Available Features Removed: I purchased pdf expert for iPhone iPad & Mac. The version I purchased used to have the ability to fill and sign, annotate and edit pdfs. I also was able to open files from other apps and it would convert them allowing me to annotate or edit them. Now those features have been removed and you have to pay for a subscription to use features that were previously
5. [R10] PDF Expert 2/5 · US AI made it worse: No matter how many times you check the box to not open copilot automatically it still opens. It also seems to forget what document I had open now. Great app that is going downhill fast.
6. [R11] PDF Expert 4/5 · US Mr D: Love this app. The only critique I have is that after a recent IOS upgrade, the split screen feature is not the same and much more wonky to use. Please bring that back!
7. [R12] PDF Expert 3/5 · US Use to be better😞: I’m not sure why, but this app has stopped downloading parts of the articles I’m trying to save and annotate. The first year, the app downloaded the articles completely but the second year- it only downloads parts of the articles. Additionally, if you change the article to a PDF- there is some weird formatting. Disappointing.
8. [R13] PDF Expert 2/5 · US Use to be good: All my tabs are blank, the files are there, but have to open each one to see which one it is, as all the tabs show no title. PLEASE FIX!!!
9. [R4] PDF Expert 1/5 · US Poor customer service: I have purchased this software multiple times because no one will help me restore the purchase. Buyer beware
10. [R22] PDF Expert 1/5 · US The software is horrible and their Customer Service is worse!: The software is horrible and there’s too many issues with logging in and the security they use with their server constantly logs you out and you have to contact customer support to get it working again and 2 to 3 weeks later it’ll work for a little while and then it logs you out again and removes your services. The software makes using
11. [R32] PDF Expert 4/5 · US Dysfunctional app, absent customer service, deceptive trial: There is no reason to give this app a chance, they’ll charge you $80 without notice, ignore your emails, and leave you dry with an app that functions worse than the free functions a simple browser can provide. I fell into this trap not realizing that I can simply get on my computer and use my email app to edit PDFs. Lo and behold, I reac
12. [R21] PDF Expert 3/5 · US Super Frustrating to Use: Try renaming a file. Try finding a file. Try simple sharing a file. Then you feel the frustration and disappointment of a good PDF app that doesn't meet its potential.
13. [R24] PDF Expert 3/5 · US Where’s my file, dude?: PDF Expert (Pro subscription for $50) became my media handler by way of the absolutely fantastic Scanner Pro app. And it seems to be pretty well done as a converter from PDF to text files. However, my files don’t appear in the PDF Expert folder in Apple files and I CANNOT move them to a normal folder on iCloud. And the signed PDF that I saved doesn’t appear in Scanner Pro.
14. [R49] PDF Expert 2/5 · US Feature and UI bloat: First they removed paid-for pro features (years ago), now they've cluttered the UI with a ridiculous amount of features that are impossible to hide. And yet I cannot even find a way to move a file to an iCloud folder that I opened from my Files.app download folder. I used to like this a lot, but their insistence on placing all things AI in my face with no way to hide them i
15. [R8] PDF Expert 4/5 · US Great app, but would be better with Apple Pencil Pro support: This is my preferred app for reading and annotating pdfs for academic work. My only gripe is that it doesnt support the Apple Pencil Pro. I’d love to be able to hide the toolbar and change tools via the squeeze gesture, which would allow me to work in truly full screen mode.
16. [R30] PDF Expert 3/5 · US Doesn’t support Apple Pencil Pro: I’ve used this app for probably a decade but I’m going to have discontinue it until there is support for the Apple Pencil Pro “squeeze to eraser” function. I’m now using this feature in all my other apps and no longer have double tap set to erase. This slows down my work in PDF Expert considerably because 1) I wind up squeezing and then scribbling when I try to
17. [R33] PDF Expert 3/5 · US Used to be great: PDF expert used to be absolutely fantastic. I used it mostly for studying as the highlighting/annotation tools are wonderful and the ability to sync with Google Drive is so convenient. It is now 3/5 at best because of all the annoying and unnecessary AI “features” they keep forcing down my throat. I don’t need them, but it is fine that they are *there* but the constant popups and
18. [R51] CamScanner 1/5 · US Scamcanner: These jerks renewed my annual subscription without letting me know in advance that I would not receive all or most of the benefits included in the subscription last year when I signed up for it. Though the service in general is helpful, I cannot at all recommend the subscription because the developers are obviously not trustworthy.
19. [R52] CamScanner 5/5 · US Great convenience: I have been working in real estate sales for many many years. This tool has been instrumental and keeping all of my files organized. I highly recommend.
20. [R53] CamScanner 1/5 · US Sketchy Upgrade Stealing Information: There’s been a new upgrade and all the files that I’ve had scanned in the past which were important documents suddenly have disappeared. I’m super frustrated and will escalate this case because this is completely unethical.
21. [R55] CamScanner 1/5 · US Money: Everything costs money and that's not pleasant. · translated
22. [R66] Acrobat Reader 5/5 · US Genial: Está app es excelente. Abre toda clase de documentos recomendablemente 100%
23. [R68] Acrobat Reader 1/5 · US Charged after Canceling subscription: I canceled 2 months after that the company charged me $29.99… I didn’t find some mail to write message to them. Thank you.
24. [R71] Acrobat Reader 1/5 · US Slow and hard to use: This app is slow, often glitches and is not user friendly
25. [R73] Acrobat Reader 1/5 · US Traps People: Adobe traps you into their universe so they can charge a bunch of money. Not cool.
26. [R79] Documents 1/5 · US Undisclosed Fees After First 7 Days!: Listing in AppStore said only “In-App Purchases,” implying that it’s a free app with possibly optional add-ons that would cost extra; standard model I’ve encountered in MANY APPS over years. Instead, when I opened your Documents app, I was summarily informed that I had 7 days free trial period, after which I would be charged monthly fees!! I never agreed to th
27. [R81] Documents 3/5 · US Bug: Bug for pdfreader heavy pdf’s, always crash and dont delete
28. [R82] Documents 1/5 · US Objectively a terrible app: So much junk it’s unusable. And I’ve used this app for probably a decade.
29. [R83] Documents 5/5 · US Great app: I have been using this app for years and with confidence I can say this app is one of the greatest apps ever made and it’s perfect for downloading and listening to music for free 10/10 app
30. [R93] iLovePDF 1/5 · US Why: Why did you remove the free trials??????? · translated
31. [R95] iLovePDF 3/5 · US Confusing: I just want to make docs into PDF files.
32. [R96] iLovePDF 2/5 · US Weak Editor: Couldn’t do simple tasks like cut and paste and color picker picked different colors!
33. [R98] iLovePDF 1/5 · US Can’t use basic features anymore after they added premium subscription.: Devs sold out
34. [R15] PDF Expert 3/5 · US good but its bugging and freezing for me right now and sometimes i lose all my tabs: and the pages can be blank for a while, and clicking tools can sometimes result in crashes. another annoying thing that can happen is that i can lose all my pdf tabs when exiting the app entirely or opening a new pdf.