Adobe Acrobat DC Alternatives for WindowsFiltered by 'OCR'

There are many alternatives to Adobe Acrobat DC for Windows if you are looking for a replacement. The best Windows alternative is PDF-XChange Editor, which is free. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Adobe Acrobat DC and many of them are available for Windows so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Windows alternatives to Adobe Acrobat DC are Nitro PDF , PDFgear, Stirling-PDF and GImageReader.

filter to find the best alternatives

Adobe Acrobat DC alternatives are mainly PDF Editors, but if you're looking for PDF Readers or Document Scanners you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Open Source, Free, Linux, Windows + Free, Windows, Windows + Open Source and Mac. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Adobe Acrobat DC.

More about Adobe Acrobat DC

Adobe Acrobat DC alternatives page was last updated Feb 13, 2026

PDF-XChange Editor
173 likes
Feature-rich PDF editor offering direct content editing, ABBYY OCR, viewing, annotation, form filling, PDF merging, compression, and encryption. Operates efficiently offline, requiring no registration and no ads, while providing privacy-focused features and convenient portability.
155 PDF-XChange Editor alternatives
Cost / License
Freemium
Proprietary
Application types
PDF Editor
PDF Reader
Origin
Canada
Platforms
Windows
PortableApps.com
Wine
+3
Is PDF-XChange Editor a good alternative to Adobe Acrobat DC?

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15comments
PDF-XChange Editor vs Adobe Acrobat DC Comments

Top Positive Comment
munteanzeno
May 13, 2020
3
Can make small edits for free (comments, extra text). Search bar is simple and works well.
Top Negative Comment
Guest
Jul 9, 2024
0
A lot of things that you can't do. Didn't worked well enough for me at all.
Review by a new / low-activity user.
Alternative User
Positive commentOct 27, 2024
0
Adding signature and adding text is available for free.
Review by a new / low-activity user.
3 of 15 comments
PDF-XChange Editor is Freemium and ProprietaryAdobe Acrobat DC is Paid and Proprietary
PDF-XChange Editor is Customizable, Lightweight and Privacy focusedAdobe Acrobat DC is not according to our users
Nitro PDF
71 likes
Nitro offers comprehensive PDF solutions for editing, creating, and converting, alongside OCR and e-signature tools. Supports Mac, Windows, and iOS, providing a user-friendly interface with industry-standard security features. Ideal as an Adobe Acrobat alternative.
175 Nitro PDF alternatives
Cost / License
Paid
Proprietary
Application types
PDF Editor
E-signature
Origin
United States
Platforms
Mac
Windows
iPhone
iPad
+1
Is Nitro PDF a good alternative to Adobe Acrobat DC?

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2comments
Nitro PDF vs Adobe Acrobat DC Comments

Bob Henry
Negative commentSep 27, 2022
-1
This is by far the worst software purchase I can remember making. OCR sucks and is hardly useable. Reorganizing and merging documents are confusing and difficult.

Stay well away from this one is my advice.
chrisrosetech
Positive commentDec 10, 2022
0
I have been using NitroPDF for several years. I think it is the best alternative to Adobe Acrobat software.

The software has almost all the features, if not better features than Acrobat itself.

I can create form fill documents, place stamps, edit and do much more with NitroPDF.

The OCR function has worked really well for me on a second generation scanned document.

I highly recommend NitroPDF and feel it's well worth the money.
Nitro PDF is Paid and ProprietaryAdobe Acrobat DC is also Paid and Proprietary
PDFgear
62 likes
Read, edit, convert, merge, and sign PDF files across devices, for completely free and without signing up.
60 PDFgear alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Proprietary
Application types
PDF Reader
PDF Editor
Origin
Singapore
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Online
Android
iPhone
Android Tablet
iPad
+2
Is PDFgear a good alternative to Adobe Acrobat DC?

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3comments
PDFgear vs Adobe Acrobat DC Comments

Shaz Shah
Positive commentDec 10, 2024
0
It does an excellent job of converting my M$ docs. The OCR capabilities are really good and the ability to arrange pages (including splitting and merging with other PDFs) is another bonus. The install is lightweight in comparison to Adobe Acrobat and I've not had any stability issues... yet
Ahmed Gamal
Negative commentMay 13, 2025
0
The app does not support the Arabic language.
Review by a new / low-activity user.
Guest
Positive commentJan 15, 2025
0
Faster. No pop-ups trying to sell add ons.
Review by a new / low-activity user.
PDFgear is Free and ProprietaryAdobe Acrobat DC is Paid and Proprietary
PDFgear is LightweightAdobe Acrobat DC is not according to our users
Ad
LightPDF
Cloud PDF toolkit provides over 20 tools for editing, conversion, OCR, merge, split, annotation, batch processing, and signatures, with free online access, cross-platform usability, no watermarks, no size limits, and options for ...

https://lightpdf.com
Learn More
Stirling-PDF
56 likes
locally hosted web application that allows you to perform various operations on PDF files.
97 Stirling-PDF alternatives
Cost / License
Freemium
Open Source
Application types
PDF Editor
PDF Reader
Origin
United States
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Online
Self-Hosted
Cloudron
Docker Hub
+1
Is Stirling-PDF a good alternative to Adobe Acrobat DC?

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1comment
Stirling-PDF vs Adobe Acrobat DC Comments

KimiBCN
Negative commentOct 16, 2025
0
It lacks many features and has bugs. The PDF open button sometimes disappears.
Stirling-PDF is Freemium and Open SourceAdobe Acrobat DC is Paid and Proprietary
Stirling-PDF is Privacy focusedAdobe Acrobat DC is not according to our users
GImageReader
74 likes
gImageReader is a simple Gtk/Qt front-end to the Tesseract OCR Engine.
96 GImageReader alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application type
Screenshot Capture
Origin
Switzerland
Platforms
Windows
Linux
Is GImageReader a good alternative to Adobe Acrobat DC?

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1comment
GImageReader vs Adobe Acrobat DC Comments

KimiBCN
Negative commentOct 16, 2025
1
It's not an alternative to Acrobat Pro; it lacks many features.
GImageReader is Free and Open SourceAdobe Acrobat DC is Paid and Proprietary
Qoppa PDF Studio
84 likes
Create, Convert, Review and Edit PDF Documents on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
180 Qoppa PDF Studio alternatives
Cost / License
Paid
Proprietary
Application types
PDF Reader
PDF Editor
Origin
United States
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Chrome OS
+7
Is Qoppa PDF Studio a good alternative to Adobe Acrobat DC?

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2comments
Qoppa PDF Studio vs Adobe Acrobat DC Comments

bunnyhero
Positive commentMar 26, 2022
0
Much easier than Acrobat for advanced features.
Guest
Positive commentNov 23, 2022
0
It does most of the things DC does. It doesn't look good on 4K I'm afraid.
Review by a new / low-activity user.
Qoppa PDF Studio is Paid and ProprietaryAdobe Acrobat DC is also Paid and Proprietary
Qoppa PDF Studio is LightweightAdobe Acrobat DC is not according to our users
Paperwork
41 likes
Paperwork is a personal document manager for scanned documents (and PDFs).
37 Paperwork alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application types
Document Manager
Document Scanner
Origin
France
EU
Platforms
Windows
Linux
Flathub
+1
Is Paperwork a good alternative to Adobe Acrobat DC?
Wondershare PDFelement
10 likes
Provides editing of text, images, and objects in PDFs, annotation options, OCR for scanned files, conversion to multiple formats, form filling and signing, page management, merging and splitting, cloud integration, camera to PDF functionality, and sharing tools.
137 Wondershare PDFelement alternatives
Cost / License
Paid
Proprietary
Application types
PDF Editor
PDF Reader
Origin
China
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Android
iPhone
Android Tablet
iPad
+2
Is this a good alternative to Adobe Acrobat DC?
KDAN PDF
186 likes
Comprehensive solution for editing, signing, form filling, OCR scanning, commenting, converting, and redacting PDFs, with AI-driven analysis and content extraction, data export to spreadsheets, text-to-speech, seamless use across desktop and mobile, and batch processing.
272 KDAN PDF alternatives
Cost / License
Freemium
Proprietary
Application types
PDF Reader
PDF Editor
Origin
Taiwan
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Android
iPhone
Android Tablet
iPad
+7
Is KDAN PDF a good alternative to Adobe Acrobat DC?

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2comments
KDAN PDF vs Adobe Acrobat DC Comments

Guest
Negative commentMar 6, 2019
3
Adobe Acrobat DC is a full featured PDF editor. PDF Reader has a nice featureset for a PDF ... Reader, but is far from a complete PDF Editor.
Review by a new / low-activity user.
Guest
Negative commentFeb 17, 2021
1
PDF Reader is a PDF Reader, not a PDF Editor. It even says it in the name.
Review by a new / low-activity user.
KDAN PDF is Freemium and ProprietaryAdobe Acrobat DC is Paid and Proprietary
KDAN PDF is Privacy focused and LightweightAdobe Acrobat DC is not according to our users
LightPDF
23 likes
Cloud PDF toolkit provides over 20 tools for editing, conversion, OCR, merge, split, annotation, batch processing, and signatures, with free online access, cross-platform usability, no watermarks, no size limits, and options for mobile and desktop integration.
179 LightPDF alternatives
Cost / License
Freemium
Proprietary
Application types
PDF Editor
PDF Reader
Origin
China
Platforms
Online
Android
iPhone
Windows
Mac
+5
Is LightPDF a good alternative to Adobe Acrobat DC?
Bluebeam Revu
11 likes
Bluebeam Revu delivers award-winning PDF creation, editing, markup and collaboration technology to Windows desktop and tablet users. Create and navigate smart, information-rich document sets from converted Microsoft Office and CAD files.
68 Bluebeam Revu alternatives
Cost / License
Paid
Proprietary
Application types
PDF Editor
PDF Reader
Origin
United States
Platforms
Windows
iPad
Is Bluebeam Revu a good alternative to Adobe Acrobat DC?

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1comment
Bluebeam Revu vs Adobe Acrobat DC Comments

Alex Bustos
Positive commentJul 25, 2024
0
Handles easily PDFs with a lot of comments with no lack of performance, native integration with Sharepoint + Windows credentials, and a lot more of features...
Bluebeam Revu is Paid and ProprietaryAdobe Acrobat DC is also Paid and Proprietary
LiquidText
13 likes
LiquidText offers a fast, natural way to review, gather, and organize information across all your docs: then apply the results to writing reports or simply studying. Pull out key facts and connect them together
16 LiquidText alternatives
Cost / License
Freemium
Proprietary
Application types
PDF Reader
PDF Editor
Origin
United States
Platforms
Mac
Windows
iPad
+1
Is LiquidText a good alternative to Adobe Acrobat DC?

12 of 45 Adobe Acrobat DC alternatives

Adobe Acrobat DC Alternatives for WindowsFiltered by 'OCR'

Alternatives list

PDF-XChange Editor

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PDF-XChange Editor vs Adobe Acrobat DC Comments

Nitro PDF

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PDFgear

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Stirling-PDF

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Stirling-PDF vs Adobe Acrobat DC Comments

GImageReader

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Qoppa PDF Studio

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Paperwork

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Wondershare PDFelement

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KDAN PDF

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KDAN PDF vs Adobe Acrobat DC Comments

LightPDF

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Bluebeam Revu

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Bluebeam Revu vs Adobe Acrobat DC Comments

LiquidText

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