Comparison
A free alternative to Adobe Scan
DafScan does the core job of the Adobe Scan app, scanning pages and sharing a clean PDF, with no account and no cloud. Adobe Scan saves scans to Adobe Document Cloud. DafScan keeps them on your phone. It is free, with no ads and no paid plan.
- Free
- No ads
- No account
DafScan and Adobe Scan, side by side
| Feature | DafScan | Adobe Scan (free) |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free, with paid plans |
| Ads | None | None listed |
| Account | Not needed | Adobe sign-in for online features |
| Your scans | Stay on your phone | Saved to Adobe’s cloud |
| Searchable text (OCR) | Not yet | Yes |
| Export to Word or Excel | No | Yes |
Adobe Scan details from its App Store and Google Play listings and Adobe’s help pages, 11 November 2026.
What is different
- Where scans live. Adobe Scan’s store listing says scans are automatically saved to Adobe Document Cloud. DafScan has no server, and scans stay on your phone.
- Account. Adobe’s help pages say you need to sign in for subscription features and for free features that use online services. DafScan has no account.
- Price. Both are free to download. Adobe Scan sells Plus and Premium subscriptions, listed on the App Store at $4.99 to $14.99 a month. DafScan has nothing to buy.
- Data. Adobe Scan’s App Store privacy label lists data linked to you, including contact info, identifiers and usage data. DafScan has no account and no analytics.
What DafScan does not do
Adobe Scan does more. It reads the text in a scan (OCR), exports to Word, Excel and PowerPoint, saves business cards to your contacts and works with Acrobat on the web. DafScan has no text recognition, no cloud sync and no web or desktop version. If you rely on those, stay with Adobe Scan. If you scan paper and send a PDF, DafScan is enough.
Switching over
- In Adobe Scan, save a copy of the scans you want to keep to your phone. They also stay in your Adobe account.
- Install DafScan. There is no account to set up.
- Scan new documents in DafScan from now on.
Questions
Is Adobe Scan a free app?
Yes, it is free to download and scan with. According to its store listings, a subscription adds more, such as combining scans into one file and a higher page limit for text recognition.
How much does the Adobe Scan app cost?
The app is free. Its App Store listing shows monthly subscriptions from $4.99 to $14.99 and yearly ones from $19.99 to $69.99, as of November 2026.
Is DafScan free, or is it a trial?
It is free. There are no ads, no subscription and no watermark.
Does DafScan upload scans to a cloud, as Adobe Scan does?
No. DafScan has no server. Scans are stored on your phone and leave it only when you share them.
Is DafScan made by Adobe?
No. DafScan is independent and is not affiliated with Adobe.
Updated November 2026