Scanner Comparison
ScanLens vs Scanner Pro
Honest comparison: Scanner Pro by Readdle has been on the App Store since 2009 and earned Apple Editors' Choice with a 4.876 average across 329k+ ratings — it's a mature, feature-dense app. ScanLens is newer and narrower: on-device OCR in 50+ languages, no watermark on the free tier, AES-256 disclosed, and a one-time $59.99 lifetime. This page lays out what each is honestly better at, so you can pick.
Quick read: If you need fax, translator, measure tool, automation workflows, or a 15-year-mature ecosystem — Scanner Pro. If you need the lifetime price, on-device privacy guarantees, no watermark on free scans, or 50+ OCR languages — ScanLens. Both run on iPhone + iPad, work without an account, and integrate with iCloud / Google Drive / Dropbox / OneDrive.
About this comparison
Facts in this comparison come from the iTunes Lookup API, Readdle's product page at readdle.com/scannerpro, Readdle's support knowledge base, and the App Store listing. Where a fact wasn't verifiable in a primary source we say so. Pricing is point-in-time — Scanner Pro's IAP catalog shows multiple price points (Readdle has historically A/B-tested), so always verify the App Store subscription sheet before buying.
Both apps are good choices for iPhone document scanning. The honest position: Scanner Pro is more mature and has more features; ScanLens is more transparent about privacy and cheaper at the lifetime tier. The right pick depends on which axis matters more for your work.
Privacy and security
How ScanLens handles your documents
OCR runs locally on the iPhone using Apple's Vision framework. Exports are encrypted with AES-256 when you password-protect a PDF — the standard is published, not hand-wavy. There is no ScanLens account, no ScanLens server that processes your files, and no third-party AI processor in the path. Documents stored on iCloud Drive sync via Apple's standard mechanism; you control the storage location.
How Scanner Pro handles your documents
Readdle's privacy FAQ says files are stored locally or in your iCloud — they don't keep server-side copies. That's the strong claim. The full privacy policy at readdle.com/scannerpro/legal/privacy is broader: it names Vertex AI (Google) as a third-party AI provider for some features, lists Facebook SDK events including "scanning activity," and discloses identifiers used for tracking on the App Store privacy label. Telemetry is substantial. Scanner Pro doesn't publish a specific encryption standard for its password-protected PDFs.
What this means in practice
If your scans are mundane (receipts, lecture notes, registration forms), both apps are fine and the difference doesn't matter day to day. If your scans include sensitive material — medical records, contracts under NDA, government IDs, financial statements — ScanLens's stricter on-device + AES-256 published commitment is the safer default. Scanner Pro's privacy claims are honest about the third-party AI path, which means you should read their privacy policy and decide whether the analytics + Vertex AI path crosses any of your lines.
Pricing breakdown
ScanLens pricing
Free to download. Premium tiers: Weekly $4.99 (3-day trial), Monthly $9.99 (7-day trial), Yearly $29.99 (7-day trial, 75% cheaper than monthly), or one-time Lifetime $59.99 with every future update included. The free tier scans and exports PDFs without a watermark. OCR, cloud sync, e-signatures, AES-256 password protection, and the advanced PDF tools are in Premium.
Scanner Pro pricing
Free to download with a watermark on exported scans. Scanner Pro Plus is a subscription with multiple price points active on the App Store: weekly + yearly tiers per Readdle's support docs. The App Store IAP catalog shows price tiers at $3.99, $6.99, $7.99, $9.99, $19.99, $29.99, and $59.99 — Readdle A/B-tests prices, so what you see depends on cohort. Separate IAPs exist for Fax Pack ($0.99) and Expense Report ($4.99). The $59.99 price point on file may be a lifetime option, but Readdle's public copy describes only weekly and yearly subscriptions for new users; confirm at purchase.
The lifetime question
ScanLens publishes a clear $59.99 one-time lifetime price with future updates included. Scanner Pro's lifetime status is ambiguous in Readdle's public copy. If you specifically want to pay once and own the tool — and you're confident the app you're testing today will still serve your needs in five years — ScanLens's lifetime is the cleaner choice. If you're not sure, the weekly tiers on both apps let you try without commitment.
Strengths and weaknesses
What Scanner Pro does better than ScanLens
Scanner Pro has 15 years of polish and 329k+ ratings averaging 4.876 — that's social proof ScanLens can't match yet. It has fax sending (paid), a measure tool, an object counting mode, a translator, Smart Workflows (one-tap rename + send + upload chains), and a wider list of cloud destinations including WebDAV, Evernote, and OneNote. visionOS support is listed. Apple Editors' Choice provenance is real signal for buyers who weigh editorial endorsement.
What ScanLens does better than Scanner Pro
The free tier doesn't watermark scans — Scanner Pro's free scans carry a watermark until you upgrade. OCR runs on-device and is included in Premium without a separate paywall (Scanner Pro paywalls OCR + full-text search behind Plus, which is a recurring user complaint in reviews). 50+ languages vs. 27 enumerated. AES-256 disclosed, no third-party AI processor in the pipeline. One-time $59.99 lifetime is published clearly; Scanner Pro's lifetime status isn't. Premium covers merging, splitting, password-protecting, watermarking, and form-filling without separate IAPs the way Scanner Pro does with Fax Pack and Expense Report.