Kitsmith / Utilities / PDF Expert
PDF Expert
$139.99 one-time via the Mac App Store (Lifetime license, Mac only); or $49.99/yr (Essential) to $79.99/yr (Pro) via pdfexpert.com, covering iPhone, iPad, and Mac together. Free trial available; no permanent free tier found
Price checked at source August 29, 2026.
Readdle’s PDF editor for Mac, iPhone, and iPad — edit original text, sign, convert, and OCR scanned documents, from $49.99/yr or $139.99 once for Mac only.
Our take
One of the most consistently well-reviewed PDF apps on the Mac — MacStories, Cult of Mac, and Macworld are all quoted on Readdle’s own site, and the pitch holds up: PDF Expert edits a scanned document’s original text (not just an overlay), converts to Word/Excel/PowerPoint, and runs Apple Vision-based OCR. Pricing is genuinely two-tiered and worth reading closely — an Essential/Pro subscription ($49.99–$79.99/yr) covers Mac, iPhone, and iPad together, while a separate $139.99 one-time Lifetime purchase through the Mac App Store is Mac-only. There is a free trial but no permanent free tier — Readdle’s pricing page lists paid plans only.
- Price
- $139.99 one-time via the Mac App Store (Lifetime license, Mac only); or $49.99/yr (Essential) to $79.99/yr (Pro) via pdfexpert.com, covering iPhone, iPad, and Mac together. Free trial available; no permanent free tier found
- License
- Proprietary
- Requires
- macOS 12 or newer, per the Mac App Store listing.
- Get it via
- Mac App Store · Direct
- Developer
- Readdle Technologies Limited
Do you use PDF Expert?
Who made this
Readdle Technologies Limited ✓
Odesa, Ukraine
Readdle’s own blog credits four college friends in Odesa, Ukraine — Igor Zhadanov, Alex Tyagulsky, Andrian Budantsov, and Dmitry Protserov — with founding the company in 2007 after a call from Apple HQ asking if they could build for the brand-new App Store. "We created our first app ReaddleDocs... for ourselves and people like us," CEO Igor Zhadanov says on the company’s own site.
What it does
Edit original PDF text
Detects the font, size, and opacity of existing text automatically so edits blend in, rather than adding an overlay.
OCR via Apple Vision
Recognizes text in scanned documents using Apple’s own Vision framework, making scans searchable and selectable.
Convert to Word, Excel, PowerPoint
Exports a PDF to editable Office formats (or JPG/PNG) while leaving the original file untouched.
The deal
- Essential: $49.99/yr billed annually (≈$0.96/wk)
- Pro: $79.99/yr billed annually (≈$1.53/wk), Readdle’s “best value” tier
- Lifetime: $139.99 one-time via the Mac App Store, Mac only
- Free trial available on all platforms; no permanent free tier
PDF Expert — questions people ask
Is PDF Expert free?
No permanent free tier was found — a free trial is available, then plans run from $49.99/yr (Essential) up to a one-time $139.99 Mac-only Lifetime license via the Mac App Store.
Who makes PDF Expert?
Readdle Technologies Limited, also known for Spark, Scanner Pro, and Documents.
Does one purchase cover iPhone, iPad, and Mac?
The $49.99–$79.99/yr subscriptions do, under one account. The $139.99 Lifetime option sold on the Mac App Store is Mac-only.
Is PDF Expert free?
PDF Expert costs $139.99 one-time via the Mac App Store (Lifetime license, Mac only); or $49.99/yr (Essential) to $79.99/yr (Pro) via pdfexpert.com, covering iPhone, iPad, and Mac together. Free trial available; no permanent free tier found.
Does PDF Expert work alongside a notch app like Alcove?
Yes — PDF Expert lives in the screen, so it runs happily alongside any Dynamic Island hub or notch app.
Where can I download PDF Expert?
PDF Expert is available via Mac App Store, Direct.
Reviews
No public ratings yet. Reader reviews are coming to Kitsmith soon.
Listing hand-verified August 29, 2026 from the developer's site and public sources.
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