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Smallpdf vs Microsoft Lens Comparison (2026)

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Smallpdf

Microsoft Lens

Overview

Smallpdf is the simple and secure online PDF editor from Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 2013, it offers 50+ tools to compress, translate, sign, edit, merge, and convert PDFs online, on desktop, or on mobile. Over 1 billion users have trusted Smallpdf with their documents.

Microsoft Lens (formerly Microsoft Office Lens) is an optical character recognition (OCR) solution designed to help businesses of all sizes capture and record information from images, documents, notes, whiteboards, business cards and more. It allows users to scan and create digital copy of any printed or written text.

Platforms supported

Web-based
iPhone app
Android app
Windows Phone app

Typical customers

Freelancers
Small businesses
Mid size businesses
Large enterprises

Customer support

Phone
Online
Knowledge base
Video tutorials

view more detailsview details

Platforms supported

Web-based
iPhone app
Android app
Windows Phone app

Typical customers

Freelancers
Small businesses
Mid size businesses
Large enterprises

Customer support

Phone
Online
Knowledge base
Video tutorials

view more detailsview details

Video & Screenshots

Pricing

Starting from

/user

Per month

Free trial available
Credit cardless trial
Free account
Subscription based

Starting from

Free

Free trial available
Credit cardless trial
Free account
Subscription based

User reviews

4.7

768

205

Value for money

Ease of use

Features

Customer support

85%

would recommend this app

4.5

277

169

Value for money

Ease of use

Features

Customer support

83%

would recommend this app

Pros

“The document editing is fine for light touch-ups but falls short for anything more involved deeper text editing, precise layout control, and more advanced document management leave you wanting a dedicated PDF editor.”

Soumya N.

Senior Software Engineer

“Smallpdf is a great tool for anyone who needs to fix, convert, or sign a PDF without dealing with bloated software. While heavy document managers will quickly hit the limits of the free version, its sheer simplicity and speed make it an excellent choice for daily office work and quick online fixes.”

Elisabetta M.

Marketing JR

“It makes quick tasks like combining files, converting PDFs to Word or images, compressing large files, and adding simple electronic signatures quick and hassle-free.”

Elisabetta M.

Marketing JR

Pros

“It's a simple and reliable app for scanning documents, receipts, business cards, and notes, and it produces clean, high-quality scans with very little effort.”

Jonathan K.

Chief Marketing Officer

“The OCR feature and PDF export save a lot of time, and the integration with OneDrive and other Microsoft apps makes it easy to organize and share files. While there are a few limitations with editing and text recognition on more difficult scans, it's an excellent tool for everyday document scanning.”

Jonathan K.

Chief Marketing Officer

“What I liked least about Microsoft Lens was that the text recognition isn't always perfect, especially with handwritten notes or documents that aren't well lit.”

Jonathan K.

Chief Marketing Officer

Cons

“Some capabilities are gated behind the paid tier or hit usage limits on the free plan, which can interrupt you mid-task.”

Soumya N.

Senior Software Engineer

“That one has to pay 10 euros for a Pro subscription. That, according to Kununu, their employees are not treated well.”

Mateo C.

Carpenter

“converting to word from pdf not great had a lot of editing to do to make it right wasting time hoping it will improve very soon”

Steve S.

boss

Cons

“It does not always detect the edges correctly, especially with poor lighting or unusual backgrounds.”

Wei J.

Manager

“Microsoft Lens may not be the best option for scanning large documents or images on older devices, as it can be slow to load and process the images.”

akshay e.

“The long time and how fiddly the data and text attraction is, sometimes i would wait for ages watching the loading symbol go round and round to tell me that it had not worked.”

hugo s.

self-employed