Zency ScanApps like CamScanner for iPhone and Android: prices, OCR and privacy compared
There are dozens of scanner apps. Most scan well enough — the real differences are how you pay, where your text recognition happens, and whether your documents end up in someone's cloud. Here is a plain comparison of four popular options.
CamScanner and Adobe Scan are subscription apps with cloud features; Genius Scan has a free plan without text recognition; Notes, Files and Google Drive scan to PDF for free. If you want searchable text with no subscription and no account, Zency Scan is free to scan and export, with Lifetime Pro at $7.99 once.
Disclosure: we make Zency Scan. Prices below are what each app's US App Store listing showed in November 2026; they vary by country and change often, so check the store before you buy.
Quick comparison
| How you pay (US App Store, Nov 2026) | Text recognition (OCR) | Account / cloud | |
|---|---|---|---|
| CamScanner | Premium subscription; listing shows $9.99/month and $59.99/year, plus a $9.99 weekly option | Included | Account features; upload to Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Evernote |
| Adobe Scan | Free app; Premium/Plus subscriptions (e.g. Premium $9.99/month, Plus $19.99/year) | Limited free allowance; listing offers "Increase OCR capacity from 5 to 100 pages" | Scans "automatically saved to Adobe Document Cloud" |
| Genius Scan | Free Basic; OCR in the Ultra subscription (former one-time plan retired) | Not in the free plan | Optional Genius Cloud sync in Ultra |
| Zency Scan | Free to scan and export; Lifetime Pro $7.99 once | On the device, on every page; first 20 pages get all Pro features | No account, no cloud upload |
CamScanner
The best-known name, with a long feature list: OCR, cloud uploads, fax and more. It is a good fit if you scan every day and use those extras. If you scan occasionally, the subscription is the main thing to weigh.
Adobe Scan
Solid capture quality and tight integration with Acrobat. It is built around Adobe Document Cloud, which is convenient if you already live in Adobe's tools, and less so if you want documents to stay only on your phone.
Genius Scan
A long-running, well-reviewed scanner with a clean free plan for capturing and exporting. Text recognition, smart naming and sync are in the paid Ultra subscription; the old one-time purchase is no longer sold to new users.
Zency Scan
Our take on the category, aimed at people who scan sometimes and do not want another subscription:
- Scan, import and export PDF/JPG free, without watermark.
- On-device OCR on every page; search, copy text, Word and searchable PDF export with Pro.
- Fill & sign, split, compress and password-protect PDFs.
- No account, no cloud. Lifetime Pro is $7.99 once.
What it does not do: syncing to a cloud, fax, or team accounts. If you need those, one of the subscription apps above is a better match.
Built-in options: Notes, Files and Google Drive
You may not need a scanner app at all for an occasional page. On iPhone, the Notes and Files apps can scan a document to PDF. On Android, the Google Drive app has a Scan button that saves a PDF to your Drive. They are free and good enough for a one-off form; what they lack are dedicated tools like merging, compressing to a target size, redacting or exporting to Word, and Google Drive saves scans to the cloud.
Used Microsoft Lens? It was retired in 2026 — see what happened and what to use instead.
How to choose
- You scan daily for work and need sync or fax: a subscription app like CamScanner or Adobe Scan.
- You want a simple free capture app and no OCR: Genius Scan's free plan.
- You scan a few times a month, want searchable text and hate subscriptions: Zency Scan.
Privacy matters to you? Read how to scan and OCR privately on your phone. Mainly worried about cost? See CamScanner alternative with no subscription.
Common questions
What is the best free app like CamScanner?
For occasional scans, the built-in scanners in Notes or Files (iPhone) and Google Drive (Android) are free. Among dedicated apps, Genius Scan has a free plan without OCR, and Zency Scan is free to scan and export PDF and JPG with no watermark.
Which scanner apps work without a subscription?
Zency Scan sells Lifetime Pro as a one-time $7.99 purchase. CamScanner, Adobe Scan and Genius Scan Ultra use subscriptions for their paid features.
Which scanner app keeps documents off the cloud?
Apps that run text recognition on the phone and don't require an account. Zency Scan has no account and no cloud upload; scans leave the phone only when you share them.
Sources
- CamScanner on the App Store
- Adobe Scan on the App Store
- Genius Scan on the App Store · Genius Scan plan comparison
- Merge PDFs — Combine several PDFs or scans into one file.
- Compress PDF — Make a PDF small enough for email or upload forms.
- Fill & Sign — Add text, dates, check marks and your signature.
