PDF Editors

Some years ago you had to buy Adobe's Acrobat Suite to be able to edit and modify PDF files, but nowadays there are loads of alternatives. Even some that are free and/or Open Source.

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Okular
448 likes
Multi-platform, fast and packed with features, Okular allows you to read PDF documents, comics and EPub books, browse images, visualize Markdown documents, and much more.
PDF Reader
Free • Open Source
Windows
Linux
BSD
KDE Plasma
Linux Mobile
Haiku
Snapcraft
Flathub
License model
Free • Open Source
Application types
PDF Reader
Ebook Reader
Country of Origin
Germany
EU
Platforms
Windows
Linux
BSD
KDE Plasma
Linux Mobile
Haiku
Snapcraft
Flathub
+2
Properties
Lightweight
Privacy focused
Features
PDF annotation
Text Highlighting
Tabbed interface
Ad-free
Dark Mode
Works Offline
Low memory usage
KDE
Customizable shortcuts
Text to Speech
Fill PDF Forms
No Tracking
Best alternatives are SumatraPDF110 alternatives
Foxit PDF Reader
1369 likes
Free, lightweight PDF viewer available on multiple platforms. Features include annotation, form-filling, signing, cloud integration, and more.
PDF Reader
Free Personal • Proprietary
Mac
Windows
ReactOS
License model
Free Personal • Proprietary
Application types
PDF Reader
PDF Editor
Country of Origin
United States
Platforms
Mac
Windows
ReactOS
+4
Bundleware
The installer tries to install McAfee WebAdvisor and PhantomPDF Business. These can be skipped by clicking Decline on each.
Properties
Lightweight
Features
PDF annotation
Fill PDF Forms
Sign PDF files
Highlighter
Text to Speech
Tablet support
Booklet printing
Support for scripting
Text Highlighting
Support for Javascript
Portable
Spell Checking
Best alternatives are SumatraPDFandOkular116 alternatives
PDF Arranger
94 likes
Small python-gtk application, which helps the user to merge or split pdf documents and rotate, crop and rearrange their pages using an interactive and intuitive graphical interface.
PDF Editor
Free • Open Source
Windows
Linux
License model
Free • Open Source
Application types
PDF Editor
PDF Reader
Platforms
Windows
Linux
+4
Properties
Privacy focused
Lightweight
Features
Split and merge PDF files
Visual Organization
Split PDF files
Combine PDF
Rotate pages
Edit PDF
Works Offline
No Tracking
Ad-free
Image sorting
Dark Mode
Portable
Best alternatives are PDF-XChange Editor63 alternatives
PDF-XChange Editor
163 likes
An efficient PDF viewer and editor with advanced features like direct content editing, OCR by ABBYY, form filling, annotation, and offline access.
PDF Reader
Freemium • Proprietary
Windows
PortableApps.com
Wine
License model
Freemium • Proprietary
Application types
PDF Reader
PDF Editor
Country of Origin
Canada
Platforms
Windows
PortableApps.com
Wine
+3
Properties
Lightweight
Features
PDF annotation
PDF OCR
Add/remove pages
Edit PDF
Portable
Split PDF files
Stamps
OCR
No registration required
Dark Mode
Combine PDF
Works Offline
Best alternatives are PDF ArrangerandPDFgear136 alternatives
LibreOffice - Draw
302 likes
Draw lets you produce anything from a quick sketch to a complex plan, and gives you the means to communicate with graphics and diagrams. With a maximum page size of 300cm by 300cm, Draw is a an excellent package for producing technical drawings, general posters, and much else.
Diagram Editor
Free • Open Source
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
PortableApps.com
Flathub
License model
Free • Open Source
Application types
Diagram Editor
Mind Mapping Tool
Country of Origin
Germany
EU
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
PortableApps.com
Flathub
Properties
Lightweight
Features
Export to PDF
Portable
Sequence Diagrams
Ad-free
Support for Layers
Export to SVG
Works Offline
No registration required
Auto Layout
WYSIWYG Support
RAW Photo Editors
Drawing Board
Best alternatives are Inkscapeanddraw.io95 alternatives
Ad
iTop PDF
iTop PDF is a full-featured yet easy-to-use PDF tool, which helps view, edit, comment, convert and protect your PDF documents. It is not only an ideal choice for you to create perfect PDF documents b...

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PDF24 Creator
135 likes
PDF24 Creator is free and feature-filled PDF creation, merging and conversion tool for Windows. Its unique feature among the free PDF printer tools is an editor, which allows to easily assemble, create and modify PDF files with Drag & Drop.
PDF Editor
Free • Proprietary
Windows
License model
Free • Proprietary
Application types
PDF Editor
PDF Printer
Country of Origin
Germany
EU
Platforms
Windows
Properties
Lightweight
Features
Combine PDF
Convert PDF to image
PDF OCR
Split and merge PDF files
Create PDF files
Works Offline
PDF compression
PDF annotation
Split PDF files
Dark Mode
Sign PDF files
PDF encryption
Best alternatives are PDF-XChange Editor144 alternatives
PDFgear
40 likes
Read, edit, convert, merge, and sign PDF files across devices, for completely free and without signing up.
PDF Reader
Free • Proprietary
Mac
Windows
iPhone
iPad
Android
Android Tablet
License model
Free • Proprietary
Application types
PDF Reader
PDF Editor
Country of Origin
United Kingdom
Platforms
Mac
Windows
iPhone
iPad
Android
Android Tablet
+2
Properties
Lightweight
Features
Ad-free
Combine PDF
Split PDF files
No registration required
Works Offline
OCR
PDF annotation
Dark Mode
AI-Powered
Best alternatives are Foxit PDF Reader26 alternatives
PDFsam
217 likes
Free and open source desktop application to split, merge, extract pages, rotate and mix PDF files.
PDF Editor
Freemium • Open Source
Mac
Windows
Linux
License model
Freemium • Open Source
Application type
PDF Editor
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
+5
Properties
Lightweight
Features
Combine PDF
Split and merge PDF files
Edit PDF
Split PDF files
Extract files
Works Offline
No registration required
Multiple languages
Sign PDF files
Portable
PDF annotation
Fill PDF Forms
Best alternatives are PDF Arranger135 alternatives
Stirling-PDF
19 likes
locally hosted web application that allows you to perform various operations on PDF files.
PDF Editor
Freemium • Open Source
Online
Self-Hosted
WebApps
Docker Hub
Mac
Windows
License model
Freemium • Open Source
Application types
PDF Editor
PDF Reader
Country of Origin
United States
Platforms
Online
Self-Hosted
WebApps
Docker Hub
Mac
Windows
+1
Top Stirling-PDF Features
Combine PDF
No registration required
PDF compression
Ad-free
PDF annotation
Works Offline
Split PDF files
No Tracking
Dark Mode
Support for Docker
PDF OCR
Best alternatives are PDF Arranger47 alternatives
Adobe Acrobat DC
202 likes
Create and edit PDFs. Collaborate with ease. E-sign documents and collect signatures. Get everything done in one app, wherever you work. Acrobat’s got it. Stay on top of your documents with powerful features for desktop, mobile, and web.
PDF Reader
Paid • Proprietary
Mac
Windows
Online
License model
Paid • Proprietary
Application types
PDF Reader
PDF Editor
Country of Origin
United States
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Online
+2
Top Adobe Acrobat DC Features
Edit PDF
PDF OCR
Text editing
Fill PDF Forms
Ad-free
Works Offline
Sign PDF files
Cloud Sync
Combine PDF
Split PDF files
PDF annotation
Split and merge PDF files
Best alternatives are PDF-XChange Editor283 alternatives
ABBYY FineReader PDF
140 likes
OCR software with unmatched text recognition accuracy, converting scanned documents into editable formats like Word and Excel, supporting 190 languages.
OCR Engine
Paid • Proprietary
Mac
Windows
iPhone
iPad
License model
Paid • Proprietary
Application types
OCR Engine
PDF Editor
Country of Origin
Russia
Platforms
Mac
Windows
iPhone
iPad
+5
Properties
Lightweight
Features
OCR
Convert PDF to Word document
Side-by-Side Comparison
PDF annotation
Sign PDF files
Edit PDF
Image to text
Convert PDF to image
Create PDF files
PDF OCR
Convert images to PDF
Split and merge PDF files
Best alternatives are Tesseract84 alternatives
Master PDF Editor
70 likes
Master PDF Editor is complete solution for editing PDF and XPS files. You can insert, edit, remove, copy, add images or graphics. Export, import, remove and change page layouts. Also Master PDF Editor provides full functionality for changing PDF information, including author...
PDF Editor
Freemium • Proprietary
Mac
Windows
Linux
Flathub
License model
Freemium • Proprietary
Application types
PDF Editor
PDF Reader
Country of Origin
United Kingdom
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Flathub
Top Master PDF Editor Features
Multiple languages
PDF OCR
PDF annotation
Dark Mode
Ad-free
Sign PDF files
Split PDF files
Combine PDF
Works Offline
No registration required
PDF compression
Interactive PDF forms
Best alternatives are PDF-XChange Editor138 alternatives
Signature PDF
9 likes
Free open-source web software for signing (alone or with others), organizing (merge, sort, rotate, delete, extract pages, ...), editing metadatas or compressing PDFs.
PDF Editor
Free • Open Source
Online
Self-Hosted
WebApps
Docker Hub
License model
Free • Open Source
Application types
PDF Editor
E-signature Tool
Platforms
Online
Self-Hosted
WebApps
Docker Hub
+4
Properties
Lightweight
Features
Sign PDF files
Ad-free
PDF compression
Split and merge PDF files
Split PDF files
Fill PDF Forms
Works Offline
Combine PDF
Best alternatives are Stirling-PDF42 alternatives
Smallpdf
57 likes
Smallpdf is the first PDF Software you will actually like. The perfect gateway to productive, portable and cost-efficient document management solutions in your everyday life.
PDF Editor
Freemium • Proprietary
Windows
Online
Android
Software as a Service (SaaS)
iPhone
iPad
Android Tablet
License model
Freemium • Proprietary
Application types
PDF Editor
PDF Reader
Country of Origin
Switzerland
Platforms
Windows
Online
Android
Software as a Service (SaaS)
iPhone
iPad
Android Tablet
+1
Properties
Lightweight
Features
PDF compression
Split and merge PDF files
Convert PDF to Word document
Sign PDF files
Ad-free
Fill PDF Forms
Split PDF files
No Coding Required
No registration required
Combine PDF
Extract images
Pdf unlock
Best alternatives are PDF24 CreatorandPDFgear127 alternatives
Sejda
31 likes
Sejda helps with your PDF tasks: edit existing text, split, merge, extract, compress, export to other formats and more.
PDF Editor
Freemium • Proprietary
Mac
Windows
Linux
Online
Google Chrome
Flathub
Flatpak
License model
Freemium • Proprietary
Application type
PDF Editor
Country of Origin
Netherlands
EU
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Online
Google Chrome
Flathub
Flatpak
+2
Top Sejda Features
Edit PDF
Combine PDF
Works Offline
Crop PDF
Sign PDF files
Split PDF files
PDF compression
PDF annotation
Convert PDF to image
Create PDF files
PDF OCR
Convert images to PDF
Best alternatives are PDF24 CreatorandPDFsam92 alternatives

Okular

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Foxit PDF Reader

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PDF Arranger

License model

Application types

Platforms

Properties

Features

PDF-XChange Editor

License model

Application types

Country of Origin

Platforms

Properties

Features

LibreOffice - Draw

License model

Application types

Country of Origin

Platforms

Properties

Features

PDF24 Creator

License model

Application types

Country of Origin

Platforms

Properties

Features

PDFgear

License model

Application types

Country of Origin

Platforms

Properties

Features

PDFsam

License model

Application type

Platforms

Properties

Features

Stirling-PDF

License model

Application types

Country of Origin

Platforms

Top Stirling-PDF Features

Adobe Acrobat DC

License model

Application types

Country of Origin

Platforms

Top Adobe Acrobat DC Features

ABBYY FineReader PDF

License model

Application types

Country of Origin

Platforms

Properties

Features

Master PDF Editor

License model

Application types

Country of Origin

Platforms

Top Master PDF Editor Features

Signature PDF