Your phone can transform a paper document into a crisp, clear PDF scan in just about 10 seconds. And with the right app, you can even convert files like a JPG to Word. While most modern smartphones come with built-in scanning tools in apps like Apple Notes or Google Drive, dedicated mobile scanning apps typically offer a superior experience with faster processing and higher-quality results, often for free.
Adobe Scan
Adobe Scan (available on Android and iOS) is both fast and remarkably straightforward to use, yet it packs more professional-grade features than most of its competitors. The app offers convenient presets for common document types like whiteboards, business cards, and forms. It also boasts great OCR and includes tools that allow you to bulk-edit scans and fine-tune settings like brightness and color.
In our testing, it took just one tap and about 10 seconds for the app to automatically scan, enhance, crop, and save a document as a searchable PDF file with OCR. All scans are automatically saved to Adobe Document Cloud, which means they are seamlessly synced and accessible in Adobe Acrobat on your computer.
The app’s core features are completely free, which includes unlimited scans, 2 GB of cloud storage, OCR for documents up to 25 pages long, and basic editing capabilities. For users who need more power, upgrading to the Premium plan ($10/month) unlocks features like OCR editing, additional export formats (like Word and Excel), OCR for documents up to 100 pages, and an increased 20 GB of cloud storage.
vFlat
vFlat (available on Android and iOS) is impressively fast at all types of scanning, but its specialized features make it truly excel at scanning books. You can simply open a book, switch to vFlat’s two-page mode, and it will capture, straighten, and save each page individually, all while minimizing the distortion and page curve that often plagues book scanning. We highly recommend this app if you regularly need to digitize book pages.
To put its speed into perspective, while Adobe Scan took 30 seconds to process four separate documents, vFlat completed the same task in just 17 seconds. This speed does come with a minor trade-off: a slight loss in scan clarity and no default OCR, though we noted that its automatic cropping produced sharper edges.
Unlike Adobe Scan, vFlat does not automatically sync scans to the cloud or include as many robust editing features. Its free plan restricts you to 10 OCR-enabled PDF exports and just five two-page book scans each month. For more frequent use, unlimited exports cost $4 per month. The paid plan is a worthwhile option if you find yourself scanning more than five book pages each month.
Photomyne
Photomyne (available on Android and iOS) stands out in a specific niche: it’s the only app we tested that consistently produced photo scans with accurate, true-to-life color. It’s also the only one that can intelligently capture and separate multiple photos or business cards placed in a single shot.
However, its document scanning capabilities are lackluster compared to its rivals, as it lacks the OCR and annotation tools that are standard in most other scanning apps. While you can use Photomyne for free to scan photos and save them directly to Google Photos, the majority of its most useful features are locked behind a paid plan, which costs $20/month or $60/year.
Which scanning app should you choose?
If you need a reliable, all-around scanner with powerful features like OCR and cloud syncing, Adobe Scan is your best bet. Its generous free plan is more than enough for most users. For those who frequently scan books or need the fastest processing speeds, vFlat is an excellent choice, especially if you’re willing to pay for its specialized book-scanning features. Finally, if your main goal is to digitize old photos with the most accurate colors, Photomyne is the clear winner, though it’s less suited for general document scanning.
