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"Free" means different things across scanner apps. Some are genuinely free forever. Others are trials dressed as free tiers. This page ranks five iPhone scanner apps by how much they actually give you for $0 — no watermark smuggling, no 3-day trial bait.
The App Store lists dozens of "free" scanner apps. In practice, "free" can mean:
This ranking uses the first four categories and avoids apps in the fifth (trials dressed as free tiers). For each app, we state exactly what the free tier covers.
Cost: $0 forever, built into iOS 11+.
Account: Apple ID (you already have one).
Watermark: None.
OCR: Live Text on images inside Notes (not an OCR layer inside the exported PDF).
Limits: No searchable PDF export, no merge/split/compress, no AES-256 password protection, no dedicated ID or passport modes.
Verdict: If your scan stays inside a note or goes out as a one-off PDF, Apple Notes is the right answer — zero install friction, zero cost. The moment the PDF needs editing, locking, or a searchable OCR layer, you outgrow it. See ScanLens vs Apple Notes Scanner for the full breakdown.
OneDrive includes a document scanner and is Microsoft's official recommendation. It is the closest fit for a Microsoft-centered workflow, but Microsoft states that its scanner cannot save scans locally on the device. Microsoft Support.
Direct answer: Microsoft ended support on February 9, 2026, and disabled new scans after March 9. Keep Lens installed and stay signed in until you have verified and copied every scan you need.
Cost: Free download, free tier with watermark; Premium $4.99/week, $9.99/mo, $29.99/yr, or $59.99 Lifetime.
Account: Not required.
Watermark: Yes, on free-tier exports. Removed with Premium.
OCR: On-device via Apple Vision framework, 14 languages (Premium).
Limits: Free covers scanning, crop/rotate/filters, PDF/JPG/PNG export, folders. Premium unlocks OCR, searchable PDFs, merge / split / compress, AES-256 encryption, e-signatures, and cloud sync.
Verdict: Free tier is genuinely usable — the watermark is the only limit that matters for occasional users. Premium (especially the $59.99 Lifetime) is the lowest total-cost option if you scan regularly and want the full toolkit without a subscription. See what is free in ScanLens or full pricing.
Cost: Free download; Adobe Acrobat Premium at ~$9.99/mo for advanced features.
Account: Adobe ID required (can sign in with Apple or Google).
Watermark: None on exports.
OCR: Adobe cloud OCR — industry-leading accuracy, but requires internet and uploads your scan.
Limits: Free tier has monthly page quotas on OCR and export-to-Word/Excel; cloud upload of every scan is mandatory; some advanced PDF editing requires Acrobat Premium.
Verdict: For users already in the Acrobat ecosystem with a Creative Cloud or Acrobat subscription, Adobe Scan is the obvious choice — mobile/desktop parity, Acrobat's recognized OCR, and polished UX. For everyone else, the cloud-first architecture and account requirement are dealbreakers. See ScanLens vs Adobe Scan.
Cost: Free with ads; Premium ~$4.99/mo or ~$49.99/yr.
Account: Required for sync and most features.
Watermark: Yes, on free-tier exports.
OCR: Cloud-based (CamScanner's servers).
Limits: Free tier shows ads and watermarks every export. All scanning and OCR processes through CamScanner's servers in China — a privacy consideration for sensitive documents. See the is CamScanner safe guide for the full history.
Verdict: Functionally competent and widely used across iOS and Android. The cloud-first, China-jurisdiction architecture makes it a questionable choice for medical records, tax files, legal documents, and anything covered by DLP policies. Cross-platform teams may still prefer it. See ScanLens vs CamScanner.
Side-by-side on the features that matter for sending scans to other people.
| Feature | Apple Notes | MS Lens | ScanLens | Adobe Scan | CamScanner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free forever | Yes | Yes | Yes (watermark) | Yes (quota) | Yes (ads + watermark) |
| Watermark on export | No | No | Yes on free | No | Yes on free |
| Account required | Apple ID | Microsoft | No | Adobe ID | Required |
| OCR on free | Live Text only | Cloud (with quota) | Premium feature | Limited pages/mo | Cloud (with quota) |
| Searchable PDF export | No | No | Premium | Yes | Premium |
| On-device processing | Yes | Partial | Yes | No | No |
| Merge PDF on free | No | No | Premium | No | Limited |
| Password-protect PDF | No | No | Premium | Acrobat Premium | Premium |
| Ads | No | No | No | No | Yes |
Microsoft recommends the OneDrive scanner. Apple Notes and Files work for basic scanning, while ScanLens is an option for local PDFs, on-device OCR, and additional PDF tools.
ScanLens is free to download and free to use for basic scanning (document, ID, passport capture with PDF/JPG/PNG export). Free-tier exports include a ScanLens watermark. Premium ($4.99/week, $9.99/mo, $29.99/yr, or $59.99 Lifetime) removes the watermark and unlocks OCR in 14 languages, searchable PDFs, merge/split/compress, password protection, e-signatures, and cloud sync. No account is required for the free tier. See what is free in ScanLens.
Adobe Scan is free to download and works for basic scanning with an Adobe ID. The free tier has monthly quotas on OCR pages and some export formats. Advanced features — unlimited OCR, export to Word or Excel without limits, password protection — require an Adobe Acrobat Premium subscription (~$9.99/mo). For occasional scanning the free tier is usable; for heavy document workflows the Acrobat subscription is effectively required.
CamScanner is generally safe from malware today — the 2019 Android advertising-SDK incident was resolved and has not recurred. The ongoing consideration is architectural: CamScanner processes documents on servers under Chinese data jurisdiction, which may matter for sensitive documents under HIPAA, GLBA, or corporate DLP policies. For routine scanning of non-sensitive material the safety record is fine. For medical, tax, legal, or financial documents, on-device alternatives (Apple Notes, ScanLens) are structurally better. See the full CamScanner safety history.
Free scanning with no account required. Keep the free tier forever — or add the full PDF toolkit with Premium when the watermark starts to matter.
