Adobe Scan vs CamScanner

Updated November 2026 · AppBreakup editorial

Adobe Scan

Adobe's free mobile scanner that turns documents and whiteboards into searchable PDFs.

Free plan + paid

Visit Adobe Scan Adobe Scan profile

CamScanner

Phone scanner app that turns paper into PDFs, with OCR, PDF conversion and cloud sync.

Free plan + paid

Visit CamScanner CamScanner profile

The short answer

Adobe Scan suits Acrobat users who want a free, watermark-free phone scanner with OCR that feeds straight into Acrobat. CamScanner suits people who scan often and want conversion, merging, e-signatures and sync across phone, web and desktop in one app. The biggest difference: Adobe Scan's free exports have no watermark, while CamScanner's free tier watermarks exports and limits OCR.

Adobe Scan or CamScanner: our take

Adobe Scan and CamScanner both turn a phone camera into a document scanner. They detect page edges, fix perspective and clean up shadows before saving a PDF. They differ in what's free and how much each app tries to do on its own.

Adobe Scan is free to download on iOS 15+ and Android 8.0+. It includes OCR, so PDFs are searchable, and exports carry no watermark. You can save as PDF, JPEG or Word. Editing, signing, commenting and password protection happen in Acrobat, where scans open directly. Combining files, converting formats and full PDF editing need a paid Acrobat plan. It requires an Adobe account, scans are stored in Adobe Document Cloud (encrypted in transit and at rest), and there's no desktop version of the scanner itself.

CamScanner, from INTSIG, does more inside one app. It offers OCR in 41 languages, PDF to Word, Excel and PPT conversion, merging and splitting, e-signatures, watermarks and cloud sync across iOS, Android, the web, Windows and macOS. The free plan covers basic scanning with limited OCR and adds a CamScanner watermark to exports. Premium removes ads and watermarks and raises the OCR quota to 1,000 recognitions/month. Like Adobe Scan, most extras rely on an account and cloud processing.

If you already use Acrobat, or you want clean, searchable scans for free without a watermark, Adobe Scan is the simpler choice. If you scan heavily, need conversions and merges without another app, or want your scans on desktop too, CamScanner's Premium tier does more in one place. Neither keeps scans only on your device, so anyone with strict privacy needs should look elsewhere.

Choose Adobe Scan if…

Acrobat users who want a free, watermark-free scanner feeding straight into their PDF workflow
Free to use with OCR included
Opens scans directly in Acrobat for signing and editing

Choose CamScanner if…

People who scan often and want OCR, PDF conversion and sync across phone and computer in one app
You need Web, Windows and macOS, which Adobe Scan doesn't list
Strong edge detection and image cleanup
OCR plus PDF to Word, Excel and PPT conversion

What is Adobe Scan?

Adobe Scan is a free iOS and Android app from Adobe that captures documents, forms, receipts, business cards and whiteboards with the phone camera and saves them as PDFs. It detects page edges, corrects perspective, removes glare and shadows and runs OCR so the resulting PDF is searchable and its text can be copied. Scans are stored in Adobe Document Cloud and open directly in Acrobat on mobile, web or desktop, which is where filling, signing, commenting and password protection happen. The scanner itself costs nothing and does not watermark output; the upsell is Acrobat's paid plans for combining files, converting formats and full PDF editing. It needs an Adobe account, and files go to Adobe's cloud, so people who want scans kept only on the device may prefer another app. A good fit for anyone already using Acrobat.

What is CamScanner?

CamScanner, made by INTSIG, is one of the most widely installed document scanner apps. You point your phone at a page, receipt, ID card or whiteboard and it detects the edges, fixes perspective and cleans up shadows and creases before saving a PDF or image. Beyond scanning it bundles a lot: OCR text extraction, PDF to Word and Excel conversion, merging and splitting, e-signatures, watermarks and cloud sync between phone, web and desktop. The free tier handles basic scanning and sharing but limits OCR and adds a CamScanner watermark to exports; Premium removes ads and watermarks and raises monthly OCR and conversion quotas. It runs on iOS, Android, the web, Windows and macOS. People who only need occasional, private scans may find it heavy, since most of its extras depend on an account and cloud processing.

Side by side

Attribute	Adobe Scan	CamScanner
Pricing	Free plan + paid	Free plan + paid
Open source	No	No
Self-hostable	No	No
Platforms	iOS, Android	iOS, Android, Web, Windows, macOS
Best for	Acrobat users who want a free, watermark-free scanner feeding straight into their PDF workflow	People who scan often and want OCR, PDF conversion and sync across phone and computer in one app
Status	Active	Active

Verified facts, compared

Facts both apps publish, checked on each vendor's own site.

Fact	Adobe Scan	CamScanner
Platforms	iOS 15+, Android 8.0+	Mobile, web and desktop