FileDial vs PDF Expert
By Himanshu Ranjan · Updated 8 November 2026
PDF Expert by Readdle is a PDF reader and editor for Mac, iPhone and iPad, sold as a yearly plan or a Mac lifetime license; its privacy notice says conversion files are stored on servers for up to three hours. FileDial is a $20 Mac app with 525 offline tools across PDFs, photos, video and audio. Choose PDF Expert for reading and editing, FileDial for batch file jobs.
At a glance
| FileDial | PDF Expert | |
|---|---|---|
| Where files are processed | On your Mac, files are never uploaded | On device; conversions use servers for up to 3 hours |
| Works offline | Yes, every tool works with Wi-Fi off | Reading and editing on device; conversion uses servers |
| Platforms | Mac only: macOS 14+, Apple silicon (M1 or newer) | Mac, iPhone, iPad |
| Price | $20 once, lifetime license for 2 Macs, 14-day refund | Yearly or Lifetime; US App Store: $79.99, $139.99 |
| Refund | 14-day refund | 30-day money-back guarantee |
| PDF editing depth | Pages › Edit PDF… adds text, images, shapes and drawing to a new copy | Edit text, links and images, redact |
| Reading and annotation | Not a PDF reader | Highlights, notes, stamps, audio notes, reading mode |
| File types beyond PDF | Photos, video, audio, spreadsheets, archives, subtitles | PDF focused |
| Batch processing | Yes, select many files and run one tool on all | Document by document in the app |
| Automation | Recipes chain tools; watched folders run a recipe on new files | Not stated |
Details about PDF Expert come from its own website and documentation, checked 2026-11-09. Prices and features change; check the source links below.
About PDF Expert
Readdle's PDF reader and editor for Mac, iPhone and iPad, with editing, annotation, signing, OCR and conversion.
Platforms: Mac (macOS 12+), iPhone, iPad. Price: Yearly plan or Lifetime (Mac only), 30-day money-back guarantee; US Mac App Store in-app purchases list $79.99 and $139.99.. Where files are processed: Documents open on your device; conversion temporarily stores files on servers for up to 3 hours; optional AI features may use third-party providers.
Choose PDF Expert if
- You read, highlight and annotate PDFs every day.
- You want the same editor on iPhone and iPad.
- You edit text and images inside existing PDFs.
- You want a polished reading mode for two-column papers.
Choose FileDial if
- You run the same job on many files at once.
- You want PDF conversions that never touch a server.
- You also convert photos, video, audio and spreadsheets.
- You want a lower one-time price.
A reader and editor versus a tool dial
PDF Expert is the app you open PDFs in. Readdle describes it as a PDF editor for iPhone, iPad and Mac, with text and image editing, redaction, annotation, signing, form filling, OCR and conversion to Word, Excel, PowerPoint and JPG. That makes it a strong daily reader, and FileDial is not a reader at all.
FileDial works from Finder. You select one file or a hundred, hold the right Option key and release on a tool: Compress › Email-safe (under 20 MB), Organize › Split by bookmarks, Convert › PDF to Excel, Sign & Lock › Flatten forms. Each result is a new file beside the original with a card showing the size before and after, and Undo.
Which features go online
Readdle's privacy notice says files are temporarily stored for up to three hours for the conversion feature, and that AI features are off by default, with some models running locally and others provided by third-party AI providers. FileDial's PDF to Word, PDF to PowerPoint and PDF to Excel run on the Mac, like every other tool, and work with Wi-Fi off.
Price
PDF Expert sells a yearly plan and a lifetime license that covers the Mac only, with a 30-day money-back guarantee; on the US Mac App Store its in-app purchases are listed at $79.99 and $139.99. FileDial is $20 once for 2 Macs with a 14-day refund. Plenty of people use both: PDF Expert for reading and editing, FileDial for batch jobs and non-PDF files.
Questions
Does PDF Expert upload my files?
Readdle's privacy notice says files are stored on servers for up to three hours for conversion, and optional AI features may use third-party providers. FileDial never uploads files.
Does PDF Expert work on iPhone?
Yes. PDF Expert runs on Mac, iPhone and iPad, while its lifetime license covers the Mac only. FileDial is Mac only.
Can I use both?
Yes. They do different jobs. PDF Expert is a reader and editor; FileDial runs one-step tools on files selected in Finder, in batches, and saves results beside the originals.