Genius Scan vs SignMaster: a private scanner, or scan-to-signature

Genius Scan's plans

• Basic, free. Genius Scan calls it "Free (yes, really)": unlimited scans at full resolution, no watermark, multi-page PDFs, batch scanning, perspective correction and auto-enhance.
• Ultra, $39.99 a year. Adds on-device text recognition that puts a text layer in your PDFs, exports to cloud services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive and Box, automatic exports, Genius Cloud backup and sync with web access, PDF passwords and a passcode or Touch ID lock. On iPhone it also turns business cards into contacts and receipts into expense reports.
• Teams, $20 to $40 a license a year. Everything in Ultra plus central license management, with volume discounts.

Genius Scan says documents are stored only on your device by default, that scanning happens on the phone, and that the app works offline. A Genius Scan account only comes with Ultra, for Genius Cloud.

Scanning quality

On a flat page in decent light, you won't see much difference. Genius Scan finds the document, corrects the perspective and enhances the colors. SignMaster's app uses Apple's document camera, which captures each page as soon as it finds the edges, then lets you pick a look (Auto, Color, black and white, Gray or Photo) with a strength slider, and a page size: Letter, A4, Legal or Fit, the page's own shape. Before you share, it shows the real file size of an Original, Medium and Small copy, and warns you when a PDF is too big for most email.

Where the apps really differ is in the special shapes. SignMaster has an ID card mode that lays the front and back on one page at the card's real size, a Passport mode, a Book mode that splits an open spread into two pages, and a Receipt mode that keeps a long receipt's shape. Genius Scan's plan pages don't list ID or book layouts; they list business cards and receipts on Ultra.

Genius Scan and SignMaster side by side

Genius Scan figures come from its pricing page and help center, read on November 9, 2026, in US dollars.

Where Genius Scan is the better choice

• You want scans to stay on the phone. Genius Scan keeps documents on the device unless you export them, with no account on Basic. SignMaster uploads every saved scan to your SignMaster Documents.
• You only scan. If nothing you scan needs a signature, Ultra at $39.99 a year gets you searchable text and cloud exports without paying for signing tools you won't use.
• You file into your own cloud. Ultra exports to a long list of services, automatically if you like. SignMaster saves to Files or shares copies when you ask, but doesn't export to cloud services on its own.
• You do expense reports. Ultra builds expense reports from receipts on iPhone. SignMaster scans receipts but doesn't total them.
• You use Android too. Genius Scan has an Android app; SignMaster doesn't.

Where SignMaster fits better

When the scan is the start of a job, not the end of it. A homeowner hands a contractor a signed proposal and a copy of their license; a tenant drops off a lease page with a change written in the margin. In the SignMaster app, you scan it, save it to the customer's folder, and either sign it yourself or send it for signature in the same place. Signers need no app and no account, and the finished PDF carries a certificate of completion showing who signed and when.

Customer standing next to you? Open the envelope, choose Sign in person and hand over the phone. The screen stays in signing mode until your Face ID, Touch ID or passcode ends it. And the business cards you scan land in your SignMaster contacts, ready to pick as signers on the next send.

Using both

Nothing stops you keeping Genius Scan for private archiving and using SignMaster for what needs signing. Export a Genius Scan PDF to Files, then in SignMaster's Scan tab tap Files to bring it into your Documents, or upload it to a new envelope on the web. The PDF keeps the text layer Genius Scan gave it.