Stop at unnecessary costs: why a free scanner app is often sufficient

Years pass, and with them the practices in tech evolve. If it is always useful to have a printer on hand to print documents, their scanning via a scan no longer requires having a scanner at home. If this is despite all the case, so much the better, this is always the cleanest method to maintain a paper in PDF or JPG format. For the others, thanks to the progress of smartphones on the photo side, it has been possible for several years to use your mobile device as a scanner.

Many applications, sometimes totally or partially paid, have seen this lucrative niche. However, in 2025, thanks to many effective free solutions, it is absolutely no longer necessary to pay to scan, keep and send a document. Let’s take a look, far from exhaustive, existing solutions.

What free applications on iOS and Android to scan a document with your smartphone?

First of all, for those who prefer to put all their eggs in the same basket and not to bother too much, let us note that Google offers on Android and iOS two solutions to scan its documents. The first is directly in the Drive application that you already have to install in your device, especially on Android. To use it, simply press the + lower right of the reception, then on Scan. Once the image is possibly retouched automatically or manually, it is possible to save it locally or online in PDF or JPG format.

Google Drive

Google Drive is Google’s cloud storage service, but also a complete online office suite with a word processor (which has a very effective spelling and grammar correction tool), a spreadsheet, etc.

• Downloads:
  65
• Release date:
  05/15/2025
• Author :
  Google
• License:
  Free license
• Categories:
  

  Office – Productivity

• Operating system:
  

  Android, online service, Windows, Windows Arm – 11, iOS iPhone / iPad, macOS
  

If you want to scan paper photos rather than documents, prefer the dedicated Photoscan application, by Google Photos.

Photoscan, by Google Photos

Photoscan is a free mobile application for Android and iOS that allows you to scan your paper photos to transform them into a digital file and save them on Google Photos. Also works with documents.

• Downloads:
  120
• Release date:
  07/24/2023
• Author :
  Google LLC
• License:
  Free license
• Categories:
  

  Photo

• Operating system:
  

  Android, iOS iPhone / iPad
  

For iPhone users, let us also note that the Notes application offers an integrated document scanning functionality. In a note, touch the button Attachmentthen touch Document scan.

Many third -party solutions

Finally, if you want to avoid Apple and Google (or Microsoft, which offers Microsoft Lens), many alternative solutions exist. Each will have subtle differences, both in terms of features and any paid options (sending or not in the cloud or by email, manual modification …).

Adobe Scan

Adobe Scan is a free mobile application that transforms your smartphone into a high -quality portable scanner, making it possible to scan various types of documents in a few moments.

• Downloads:
  162
• Release date:
  05/14/2025
• Author :
  Adobe
• License:
  Free license
• Categories:
  

  Office

• Operating system:
  

  Android, iOS iPhone / iPad
  

It is therefore up to you to find the one that most corresponds to your needs of the moment, the one that does not hide the functionality you need behind a payment, and is available on your iOS or Android device.

Docscan

Docscan is an application of documents of documents.

• Version :
  19.2.19
• Downloads:
  13
• Release date:
  04/25/2025
• Author :
  Ifunplay co., Ltd.
• License:
  Free license
• Categories:
  

  Office

• Operating system:
  

  iOS iPhone / iPad
  

So let us quote, among others, Scanbot, Docscan, Camscanner, Adobe Scan or Swiftscan. We have a little preference for the French Genius Scan, which has just switched to version 8 to embrace artificial intelligence.