The verdict
Scanner Pro is still one of the most complete scanner apps on the iPhone. It captures cleanly, lets you sign, annotate and fill in documents, converts scans to Word or PowerPoint, and can upload everything to your cloud of choice. If you need a scanner that also does a little office work, it's a strong pick.
Two cautions. Most of what made it famous now sits behind the Scanner Pro Plus subscription. And recent App Store reviews are split after a major redesign, so it's worth trying the current version before you commit. Like every scanner, it gives you files; it doesn't read your paperwork and answer questions about it later.
Overview
Scanner Pro is made by Readdle, the company behind PDF Expert and Spark Mail. It first appeared on the App Store in 2009, and its US listing showed 4.87 out of 5 from 336,935 ratings when we read it on October 17, 2026. Readdle says the app works across iPhone, iPad and Mac.
The business model changed a few years ago: Scanner Pro became a free download with an optional subscription. People who bought the app earlier keep the features they paid for.
What Scanner Pro does well
Capture. Automatic edge detection, perspective correction and shadow removal produce crisp pages from receipts, IDs, books and multi-page documents. It also restores old printed photos, which is a nice touch for family archives.
Doing things with the scan. This is where it pulls ahead of most scanners. You can highlight, write and draw on pages, add a signature, fill in forms, merge pages, and password-protect a PDF. Exports go out as PDF, Word, PowerPoint or JPG. You can even send a fax from the phone.
Finding scans. Text recognition adds a searchable layer to each scan, and full-text search covers everything in the app. Readdle also added Smart Categories, which sorts new scans into types such as receipts, invoices, forms, IDs and passports automatically.
Cloud. iCloud sync keeps scans on all your Apple devices, and auto-upload can send each new scan to Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive, Box, iCloud Drive, OneDrive, OneNote or any WebDAV service.
Pricing as read on October 17, 2026
Prices change, so take this as a snapshot.
- Free: scanning, organizing and sharing. Readdle's own guidance says free exports carry a watermark.
- Scanner Pro Plus: removes the watermark and adds text recognition, full-text search, auto-upload, Smart Workflows, password protection, the PDF converter, merging, translation and more. Readdle's help center says new users choose between a 1-week and a 1-year plan.
Readdle's site doesn't list prices. The App Store listing showed Scanner Pro Plus in-app purchases at $3.99, $6.99, $7.99, $19.99, $29.99 and $59.99, without saying which term each one covers, plus an Expense Report add-on and a $0.99 fax pack. The in-app store shows the exact price and period before you pay.
What users say on the App Store
We read the 50 most recent US reviews (September 29 to October 15, 2026), which landed around a major update. Twenty-three gave five stars, two gave four, four gave three, one gave two and twenty gave one. Most of the low ratings were about the new version and subscription prompts. Three examples:
- October 13, 2026, five stars: "Mainly use it to scan receipts, then throw away the hard copy."
- October 11, 2026, three stars: "This is an excellent app. However, after the major update the app now auto-selects a ‘size’ for the scan."
- October 14, 2026, one star: "Been using this app for years and I have zero functionality in the new update."
The 4.87 average covers well over a decade of ratings. The recent sample is a snapshot of one rough release, not a final verdict, but it's worth knowing.
Privacy and data handling
Readdle's privacy notice (last updated April 21, 2026) says it doesn't store your files and their content when you use the app's features. Scans can leave your phone through the cloud options you turn on: iCloud sync, auto-upload to the services above, and share links.
Its AI features are off by default. When you use one, the notice says it may run on your device or go to a third-party provider such as Google's Vertex AI; your data isn't used for training, and providers may keep inputs for up to 30 days for abuse monitoring. With your consent, Readdle may also have the first page of a document analyzed to understand document types; you can opt out in settings. The notice also describes usage analytics and the Facebook SDK for measuring marketing, with the advertising identifier used only if you allow tracking. Readdle says it holds ISO/IEC 27001 certification.
How Paperlock compares
Paperlock is not a replacement for Scanner Pro's toolbox. It's a Face-ID-locked vault that reads each document you save, works out what it is, who it's from, the dates and amounts, and files it under a clear title. Then you ask in plain English, "how much did I spend at the vet this year?", and get an answer with the source documents attached, or an honest "not in your vault." Our Paperlock vs. Scanner Pro comparison goes deeper, and how it works walks through it.
Where Scanner Pro is better, plainly: editing, signing and form filling (Paperlock does none), Word and PowerPoint exports, fax, cloud auto-upload, and running on iPad and Mac natively. If those are your daily jobs, choose Scanner Pro.
Where Paperlock is better: answers instead of search results, automatic expiry reminders 30 and 7 days ahead, blurred thumbnails for IDs until you re-confirm with Face ID, no account, and no third-party analytics or tracking SDKs. Its reading happens partly on Paperlock's servers, over an encrypted connection, and nothing is stored there.
| Scanner Pro | Paperlock | |
|---|---|---|
| Main job | Scanning plus editing, signing and exporting | A private vault that reads and remembers documents |
| Free tier | Scanning and sharing, watermarked exports | 25 documents, 5 questions a month |
| Paid plan (as read on 2026-10-17) | Scanner Pro Plus, 1-week or 1-year plans | Plus, $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year |
| Editing and signing | Yes | No |
| Finding things later | Full-text search and Smart Categories | Ask in plain English; answers cite the documents |
| Expiry reminders | Not a feature | Automatic, 30 and 7 days ahead |
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone only |
Looking at the alternatives? Our Genius Scan review covers the closest rival. And since Paperlock imports PDFs, plenty of people scan with Scanner Pro and keep the documents that matter in Paperlock.