The VueScan program can be used with its own drivers or with drivers supplied by the scanner manufacturer, if supported by the operating system. Vuescan supports more scanners, with a single purchase giving access to the full range of both film and flatbed scanners, and costs less.

The reviewer considered VueScan comparable to SilverFast, a similar program, with support for some specific scanners better in one or the other. The review did not report any advantages to VueScan's processing of documents over other software.

A 2014 review considered that the reasons to purchase VueScan are to allow older scanners not supported by drivers for newer operating systems to be used in more up-to-date systems and for better scanning and processing of photographs (prints also slides and negatives when supported by scanners) than is afforded by manufacturers' software. These scanners are supplied with device drivers and software to operate them, included in their price. VueScan is intended to work with a large number of image scanners, excluding specialised professional scanners such as drum scanners, on many computer operating systems (OS), even if drivers for the scanner are not available for the OS.

Vuescan changelog