6 Best PDF Viewers for iPad (Features, Pros, and Cons)

PDF is the most commonly used digital file format to preserve documents in electronic form, such as books, user guides, contracts, business plans, and others. When it comes to viewing PDFs, the iPad provides a convenient way to do it due to its large display. However, there are so many PDF viewers for iPad. It is difficult to pick the one that provides the most comfortable and seamless reading experience. To resolve this hassle, we have shortlisted six top PDF reader apps on iPad. Moreover, they are completely free to read the PDFs.

We will explore their features, pros, and cons and provide a comprehensive comparison chart. By the end of this article, you will be able to choose the best PDF viewer app for your iPad. So, stick with this article to pick the app that best aligns with your needs.

6 Must-Try Free PDF Viewers/Readers for iPad Users

The best iPad PDF viewer app is the one that provides a smooth usability and readability experience with many feature-rich features. From this perspective, below are the top six must-try PDF viewers/readers for iPad users:

1. UPDF - The Best PDF Reader for iPad (Free)

UPDF for iPhone/iPad is more than just a viewer; it is a professional-grade PDF editor specifically optimized for the iPad’s mobile-first experience. By merging desktop-level power with an intuitive touch interface, UPDF transforms your iPad into a high-performance productivity hub. Whether you are a student tackling heavy textbooks or a professional reviewing contracts,

Try UPDF for Free – Elevate your iPad productivity with the smartest PDF tools today!

As mentioned before UPDF for iPad is completely free to read PDF. But if you want to use advanced features like taking notes when reading, accessing AI features, getting more Cloud storage, etc, you can upgrade to the pro version at a low price here. And here are all the key features that you get in the premium version

Why UPDF is the Top-Rated PDF Solution for iPad Users

• Immersive Reading with Eye-Care Mode: Prioritize your eye health during long study sessions. UPDF supports a native Dark Mode and exclusive Eye-protection backgrounds (such as parchment or mint green). This ensures a comfortable, paper-like reading experience even in low-light environments.
• Instant AI Contextual Tools: Breakthrough language barriers instantly. With UPDF AI, you can simply select any text within your PDF to get immediate translations, definitions, or summaries. There is no need to switch apps—everything you need to understand complex foreign research is right at your fingertips.
• Desktop-Grade PDF Editing: Experience full control over your documents. You can edit text, images, and links directly within the PDF. With full Apple Pencil support, you can annotate, draw, and sign documents with the same precision as pen on paper.
• Powerful OCR & Scanner: Turn your iPad into a portable scanner. Use the built-in OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to convert scanned handouts or physical books into searchable, editable PDFs with industry-leading accuracy across 38 languages.
• Seamless Cross-Platform Sync: Never lose your progress. Through UPDF Cloud, your files and annotations are synced in real-time across your iPad, iPhone, Mac, and Windows. Start your work in the library on your iPad and finish it at home on your desktop.

Pros:

1. Free to open and view PDF.
2. Many awesome features to improve the reading experience like UPDF AI, reading mode, reading PDF aloud, and more.
3. Lots of advanced features in the pro version and the price is very cheap. Check its price here.
4. It can work on iPad, iPhone, Mac, and Windows and its AI has an online version. Moreover, you only need to purchase one license to use it on all platforms.

Cons:

• Although UPDF adds new features continuously, it still does not have all the features to read. For instance, hope it can have EPUB to PDF asap.

2. PDF Viewer - Simple PDF Reader for iPad

PDF Viewer is another PDF viewer app for iPad, providing an intuitive interface for easy viewing of PDFs. It also has a free version. In the free version, you can search for text, markup, add a note, markup, add a signature, flatten, create new documents from existing documents, fill forms, etc. With the pro version, you can have more features like password-protecting PDFs, annotating images, and replying to notes.

Pros

• Easy and intuitive interface
• Has many features in the free version.

Cons

• Slow processing speed for large-sized PDF files
• Less efficient line drawing function
• Does not have many advanced features.

3. Preview mini - The Image/PDF Viewer for iPad

Preview mini is an image and PDF viewer/editor app. It provides a minimalistic design and workflow to view images and PDFs and do basic-level editing. Talking specifically about its PDF viewing feature, it supports full-size preview, text highlighting, duplication/conversion of PDF pages, and adding/removing passwords.

Pros

• Minimalistic design
• Easy to use

Cons

• Lack of multiple PDF viewing modes
• Lack of extensive annotating features, like adding stamps, stickers, etc.
• The price of USD9.99 is expensive when considering its features.

4. Adobe Acrobat Reader for iPad With Versatile Features

Adobe Acrobat Reader is a reputed PDF viewer for iPad. It provides all the essential features you need to view PDFs on iPad with ease. You can conveniently read PDFs and use its annotating features to highlight, mark, etc. All of these features are free. Furthermore, its AI features are free to use at the moment.

Pros

• Many features like reading, annotating, sharing, etc in the free version.
• There are many features in the paid version.
• 7-day free trial for all features.

Cons

• It is expensive to upgrade to the pro version at USD69.99 per year.
• Learning curve

5. GoodReader for iPad

As the name implies, GoodReader for iPad intends to make your reading experience good and pleasant. That's why this PDF opener app for iPhone and iPad provides comprehensive features you need to read and annotate PDFs. Besides that, it serves as a central hub to manage files. Furthermore, it can encrypt files and can connect with many cloud services for easy download and syncing of files. However, most of these features require a subscription.

Pros

• Extensive viewing and annotating features
• File management
• Files encryption (require subscription)
• Cloud services connectivity (require subscription)
• Split-screen mode to read two files at once (require subscription)

Cons

• Minimal features in the free plan (viewing, annotating, and file management)
• Lack of new features updates outside the subscription

6. PDF Expert PDF Reader for iPad

Last in our list of top PDF viewer iPad apps is PDF Expert. It enhances the PDF viewing experience through its extensive sets of features, such as viewing in a single page or continuous scroll, smooth scrolling and zooming, text searching, etc. Furthermore, it provides many annotating tools, including adding shapes and stickers. You also get to organize PDF pages. It also supports features like form filling, e-signatures, password protection, and others but requires a subscription to access them.

Pros

• Multiple viewing modes, including single-page and continuous scroll
• Advanced annotating features
• Organize PDF pages
• Dark mode
• Form filling and e-signing (require subscription)
• Password protection (require subscription)

Cons

• Advanced features require a subscription plan
• Occasionally freezes and crashes
• Slow search function

Which is the Best and Finest PDF Viewer App for iPad?

Now that we have looked into the key features of all the above six PDF viewer apps for iPad, it is evident that all ensure a smooth readability experience. So, the main question is which one is the best and finest choice among all of them. To come to this conclusion, let's go through the comparison table below.

Looking at the above comparison table, it is evident that UPDF is the only tool that ticks all the checkboxes. GoodReader and PDF Expert also seem to offer similar functionalities, but most of their features are accessible only with paid subscriptions. In contrast, UPDF provides many features for free. In short, if you want more value for money and access advanced features at a fraction of the cost, then purchase UPDF right away. You can download and try it out now!

FAQs About PDF Viewers/Openers on iPad

Conclusion

iPad users often prefer to view PDFs on their devices due to the large screen and convenient way of reading content. Using the best PDF viewer for iPad makes the experience more comfortable. Above, we have discussed in detail the six best PDF viewer apps and talked about their features, pros, and cons. Out of all of them, UPDF shines as the winner mainly due to its extensive set of features, such as multiple viewing modes, powerful annotation, split-screen option, built-in editing, and many more. Therefore, download UPDF right now if you want to view PDFs on iPad with all the advanced features accessible at your fingertips.