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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

PDF Expert vs iLovePDF

PDF Expert 4.7★ · Free to download 75
Winner PDF Expert
iLovePDF 4.8★ · Free + IAP 60

PDF Expert is the better choice for serious PDF editing and annotation, despite its subscription model and recent stability issues, while iLovePDF is better for quick conversions and basic tasks.

Full reviews: PDF Expert · iLovePDF

PDF Expert offers more robust editing and annotation features, favored by academic and professional users, but faces criticism for its subscription model and recent performance issues. iLovePDF excels in quick conversions and file management, but its editing capabilities are limited and many users complain about its aggressive paywall and subscription practices.

Head to head

Features and Editing Capabilities edge: PDF ExpertR8R11R12R17
PDF Expert PDF Expert is praised for its powerful features, including advanced annotation, editing, and conversion, making it suitable for academic and professional use R8R17. Users appreciate its ability to add text, center elements, and handle complex documents . However, some users report issues with specific features like split-screen, article downloading, and text highlighting R11R12.
iLovePDF iLovePDF offers a wide range of conversion and file management tools, such as extracting pages, converting to JPG, and compressing PDFs, which users find useful and efficient . However, its actual PDF editing capabilities are frequently criticized as weak, limited, or non-existent, with users unable to cut, paste, edit existing text, or perform compound actions .
Ease of Use and User Interface tieR6R10R17R21
PDF Expert PDF Expert is generally considered user-friendly with an excellent UI and smooth syncing R17. However, some users find file management, renaming, and sharing frustrating R21. Recent updates have introduced UI clutter with AI features that are hard to hide, and issues with sign-in processes R6R10.
iLovePDF iLovePDF is praised for being quick, easy, and user-friendly for its core conversion tasks . However, its workflow is often described as frustrating and inefficient, requiring multiple steps and generating new files for each action . Users also report issues with the search function and general user-friendliness .
Reliability and Performance edge: PDF ExpertR11R13R15R17
PDF Expert PDF Expert has a history of being reliable and fast R17. However, recent reviews indicate significant issues with bugs, freezing, crashing, blank tabs, and inflated file sizes R13R15R28. Some users also report annotations disappearing and problems with split-screen functionality R11.
iLovePDF iLovePDF users report frequent app crashes, leading to lost work as it doesn't save automatically . There are also reports of scanning issues where the QR code opens the app store instead of the app . Some users experienced blank pages after compression .
Price and Value tieR1R3R5R7
PDF Expert PDF Expert is free to download but most significant features require a subscription R1R3R31R36. While some users find the $50 annual subscription worth it for its powerful features R5, many are frustrated by the shift from one-time purchases to subscriptions, and the removal of previously paid-for features R7R16R25R28. There are also complaints about deceptive trial practices and difficulty canceling subscriptions .
iLovePDF iLovePDF is free with in-app purchases, but users widely report that the free version is extremely limited, often allowing only 1-3 free uses before requiring payment R61R67R73R74. Many users feel misled about its 'free' nature and complain about sudden, high charges after trials, with difficulty getting refunds . The annual premium is around $50 .
Customer Support edge: PDF ExpertR4R7R22R28
PDF Expert PDF Expert's customer service receives strong criticism for being poor, unhelpful, and unresponsive R4R7R22R28. Users report issues with restoring purchases, login problems, and being forced to argue to regain access to features they previously paid for R4R7R22R28.
iLovePDF iLovePDF users report difficulty getting refunds after being charged post-trial . There's also a complaint about no response from developers regarding conversion issues .
Pick PDF Expert if

you need advanced PDF editing, annotation, and a generally reliable experience for academic or professional work, and are willing to pay for a subscription R17.

Pick iLovePDF if

you primarily need quick PDF conversions, merging, splitting, or compression, and are comfortable with a subscription model for frequent use .

Evidence note: Reviews for both apps heavily focus on the free vs. paid aspect and subscription frustrations. PDF Expert has a larger volume of reviews, offering more detailed feedback on its features and stability. iLovePDF's reviews are more concentrated on its conversion tools and the limitations of its free tier.

Frequently asked

Is PDF Expert truly free to use?
No, PDF Expert is free to download, but most significant editing and advanced features require a paid subscription R1R3R31R36. The free version primarily allows reading PDFs and basic annotation R1.
What are the main complaints about iLovePDF's free version?
The main complaints about iLovePDF's free version are that it is extremely limited, often allowing only 1-3 free uses or basic functions before requiring a premium subscription R61R67R73R74. Users feel misled by its 'free' designation .
Do either of these apps have issues with subscriptions or charges?
Yes, both apps have significant user complaints regarding subscriptions and charges. PDF Expert users report features they previously paid for being moved behind a subscription paywall, difficulty canceling, and deceptive trial practices R7R16R25R28. iLovePDF users frequently complain about being charged unexpectedly after free trials and difficulty obtaining refunds, with the annual premium costing around $50 .

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 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. [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.
  2. [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!
  3. [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.
  4. [R17] PDF Expert 5/5 · US Love it since 2017: PDF Expert has been outstanding since I bought it in 2017. Reliable, fast, and packed with powerful features through years of updates I’ve never lost the tools I rely on. Excellent UI, smooth syncing, and top-notch PDF editing. Highly recommended.
  5. [R6] PDF Expert 3/5 · US Sign in is useless for me: When attempting to sign in, it forces you to open you email on the same device your signing in on. I don’t have that email on the device. So I cannot sign in. Making the app useless for me.
  6. [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.
  7. [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.
  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. [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.
  10. [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
  11. [R3] PDF Expert 3/5 · US TURKI: There needs to be a chat feature, and it should be free. · translated
  12. [R5] PDF Expert 5/5 · US Wow just wow: I usually don’t care for paying for subscriptions to anything so I canceled this after seven days however, this thing is definitely worth it I just needed it from one document, but I would definitely buy it if I needed it.
  13. [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.
  14. [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
  15. [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
  16. [R28] PDF Expert 2/5 · US Used to be a great product. What happened?: UPDATE: With months of emails to PDF Expert complaining of constant freezing and crashing while always referencing my purchase of their original grandfathered one-time fee app, PDF Expert just completely severed my original features that were purchased years ago before they converted to a subscription service and now challenges whether my purchase ever e
  17. [R31] PDF Expert 1/5 · US Not free: It's listed under free apps, but it's not free. They ask you to log in and get your information. This is the age of selling user data, and I, in turn, ask users to rate the app one star. They could have listed the app under paid apps or told us it wasn't free, but after logging in, they tell us it's not completely free! · translated
  18. [R36] PDF Expert 3/5 · US Features buried in subscription now: Paid for app initially, but now suddenly I have to have a subscription to be able to do very much with it. Every edit just wants to me trial the subscription (can’t even do a simple rotate of pages anymore). Really liked its functionality but I am not interested in a subscription model and feel like I lost out on what I paid for in the first place by purchasing
  19. [R61] iLovePDF 1/5 · US Why did you remove the free trials??????? · translated
  20. [R67] iLovePDF 1/5 · US Can’t use basic features anymore after they added premium subscription.: Devs sold out
  21. [R73] iLovePDF 5/5 · US Amazing: It has almost every PDF feature I need
  22. [R74] iLovePDF 1/5 · US Paid: I wrote a review earlier, but this app sucks you get two free things. Complete Joke
  23. [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
  24. [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

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store