New in 3.0: Search and iCloud Backup
The iPhone scanner that reads your documents.
Scan to PDF, search every word, and back up to your own iCloud.
Pay $4.99 once. No subscriptions.
Made in America · Built in Birmingham, AL
A scanner that feels good to use
What you can do with ScanWow
Core features to help you go paperless.
Search Inside Scans
Find any receipt or document by the text written inside it, not just the title.
Automatic iCloud Backup
With Pro, back up every scan to your own iCloud, ready to restore on a new iPhone or iPad.
AI Text Extraction
Pull clean, editable text from any scan, with support for 17 languages.
Privacy-First
Scans process on your device by default. No account required: your data stays yours.
Import Photos & PDFs
Bring in photos from your library, or import up to 20 pages of a PDF straight into a document.
Siri & Shortcuts
Just say “Scan a document with ScanWow”, or open any image straight into the app.
Multi-Page PDFs
Combine multiple scans into a single, organized PDF.
Smart Enhancement
Auto edge detection plus Color, Gray, B&W, and Original modes for crisp, clean results.
Export Anywhere
Share as PDF via email, AirDrop, Files, or send to your own API.
Why choose ScanWow?
See how we compare to the competition.
| Feature |
ScanWow
|
Microsoft Lens
Retired
|
Adobe Scan
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | $4.99 one-time | Was free | Free, paid plans available |
| Subscription | ✓ None | n/a | Optional, for paid plans |
| Text Recognition (OCR) | ✓ On your device | ✓ | ✓ |
| PDF Export | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-page Documents | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cloud Backup | ✓ Your own iCloud (Pro) | OneDrive | Adobe cloud |
| Account Required | ✗ No account | Only to save to Microsoft apps | For cloud saving and online features |
| Still Available | ✓ Active | ✗ Retired | ✓ Active |
Frequently asked questions
ScanWow is a document scanning app for iPhone and iPad. It helps you digitize paper documents by capturing them with your camera, enhancing them, and exporting as PDFs.
ScanWow is free to download, and your first 3 documents are free. ScanWow Pro is a one-time $4.99 in the US (the App Store shows your local price) for unlimited scans, automatic iCloud backup, and 1,000 Magic Enhance credits. No subscription. Text recognition, search inside your scans, PDF export, and all future updates are included for everyone.
ScanWow offers similar core functionality to Microsoft Lens (edge detection, multiple scan modes, OCR, and PDF export) and its text recognition runs on your device.
Yes. ScanWow reads text on your device by default, and your scans are never stored on our servers. A page is only sent for AI cleanup when you tap Magic Enhance on it, and it is processed in real time, not stored. To keep every page on your device, turn off Magic Cloud in Settings and leave iCloud Backup and Secure API Export off. Pages you share or export go wherever you send them. See our Privacy Policy for details.
Try ScanWow
Free to try. Pro is $4.99 once on the App Store.
