100% Free
Free PDF Scanner
Truly free document scanning—no subscriptions, no ads, no watermarks. Full OCR, PDF creation, and cloud sync included. Here's what you actually get for free.
Truly free document scanning—no subscriptions, no ads, no watermarks. Full OCR, PDF creation, and cloud sync included. Here's what you actually get for free.
Search for "free scanner app" and you'll find dozens of options. Download one, scan a document, and hit a paywall. Want to export as PDF? Subscribe. Need OCR? Premium feature. Tired of ads? Pay to remove them. The watermark on your scans? That goes away at $9.99/month.
This "freemium" model isn't really free—it's a trial with unlimited restrictions. You can technically scan, but the resulting files are barely usable without paying. For students, small businesses, and personal use, these costs add up quickly.
Scan as many documents as you want. No daily limits, no monthly caps, no "free scans remaining" counters. Every scan you take is yours to keep and use without restrictions.
Every scan gets OCR processing automatically. Text becomes searchable and selectable. Copy text from scanned documents. No per-scan OCR charges, no "OCR credits" to purchase. 50+ languages supported.
Export scans as PDFs with full control over quality and compression. Multi-page documents combine into single PDFs. No watermarks. No "exported with FreeScan" branding. Professional output that looks like you paid for it.
Sync to iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive—any service you already use. No proprietary cloud lock-in. Your documents live where you want them, accessible from any device.
Sign documents with your finger or Apple Pencil. Create and save signatures for reuse. Add dates and initials. No "signature feature" premium tier.
Zero advertisements. No banners at the bottom of the screen. No video ads between scans. No "watch an ad to unlock this scan." Just the app, doing its job.
| Feature | ScanLens (Free) | Typical "Free" Apps | Premium Subscriptions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic Scanning | ✓ Unlimited | ✓ Limited | ✓ Unlimited |
| OCR Recognition | ✓ Included | ✗ Premium only | ✓ Included |
| PDF Export | ✓ Full control | ⚠️ Watermarked | ✓ Full control |
| Multi-page PDFs | ✓ Unlimited | ⚠️ 3-5 pages max | ✓ Unlimited |
| Cloud Sync | ✓ Any service | ⚠️ Proprietary only | ✓ Included |
| E-Signature | ✓ Included | ✗ Premium only | ✓ Included |
| Ad-Free | ✓ Always | ✗ Ads everywhere | ✓ Ad-free |
| Cost | $0 | $0 + frustration | $5-15/month |
Fair question. If other apps charge $10/month for features we include for free, what's the catch?
Most scanner apps send your documents to cloud servers for OCR processing. That costs money per scan—servers, bandwidth, computing power. They have to charge to cover those costs.
ScanLens processes everything on your iPhone using the Neural Engine. No cloud servers, no per-scan costs. The processing power is already in your pocket—you paid for it when you bought your phone.
Other apps charge for cloud storage in their proprietary systems. ScanLens uses your existing cloud accounts—iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive. You're already paying for that storage. We don't need to build and maintain expensive cloud infrastructure.
We may offer optional premium features in the future for users who want more—advanced editing, additional integrations, team features. But core scanning will remain free. Our goal is to build something useful that people actually want to use, then offer enhancements for those who need them.
This isn't a 7-day trial. Features don't expire. You won't get a popup on day 8 asking you to subscribe or lose access. Download today, use it next year—same features, same free.
Scan 5 documents or 5,000. Create 10 PDFs or 10,000. No monthly quotas, no "you've reached your limit" messages. Use the app as much as you need.
We don't show you grayed-out premium features to make you feel like you're missing out. If a feature exists in the app, you can use it. No "upgrade to unlock" buttons on core functionality.
We don't show ads. We don't sell your data. We don't track your scanning behavior for marketing purposes. Documents are processed on your device, never sent to our servers.
Yes, core scanning features are genuinely free: document scanning, OCR text recognition, PDF creation, cloud sync, multi-page documents, and e-signatures. No subscriptions required, no ads, no watermarks on exports. We may add optional premium features later, but these core capabilities will remain free.
Common paywalled features include: OCR text recognition ($5-10/month), removing watermarks from exports, unlimited PDF exports, cloud sync and backup, ad-free experience, and e-signatures. Some apps use aggressive "freemium" models where basic scanning is free but anything useful requires payment.
ScanLens uses on-device processing, eliminating expensive cloud server costs that force other apps to charge. We may offer optional premium features in the future for power users, but core scanning functionality will remain free. The goal is sustainable growth, not extracting maximum revenue from every user.
No hidden costs. Scan unlimited documents, create unlimited PDFs, use OCR without limits. Cloud sync works with any service you already use (iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive) at no additional cost. No usage quotas, no export restrictions, no artificial limitations designed to push you to pay.
Cloud-based OCR processing costs money—servers, bandwidth, and computing resources for every scan. Apps that process on remote servers must charge to cover those ongoing costs. ScanLens uses your iPhone's Neural Engine for on-device AI processing, which eliminates per-scan costs and enables truly free OCR.
Download ScanLens and use all features from day one. No trial, no subscription, no ads. Just a scanner app that works—for free.