Adobe Acrobat DC Alternatives for Windows

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 loads of them are available for Windows so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Windows alternatives to Adobe Acrobat DC are PDF24 Creator, Nitro PDF , PDFgear and Master PDF Editor.

filter to find the best alternatives

Adobe Acrobat DC alternatives are mainly PDF Editors, but if you're looking for PDF Readers or PDF Printers 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
PDF24 Creator
149 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.
183 PDF24 Creator alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Proprietary
Application types
PDF Editor
PDF Reader
Origin
Germany
EU
Platforms
Windows
Is PDF24 Creator a good alternative to Adobe Acrobat DC?

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3comments
PDF24 Creator vs Adobe Acrobat DC Comments

zlelmefs
Positive commentJul 1, 2025
0
It's actually free and has done everything I've needed it to do.
G Downs
Positive commentMar 23, 2025
0
PDF Creator is a great alternative to Adobe Acrobat DC. It has all the tools that the Adobe has but does it without trying to put a hole in your head! A great piece of work!
Guest
Positive commentJan 15, 2020
3
PDF editing features also available!
Review by a new / low-activity user.
PDF24 Creator is Free and ProprietaryAdobe Acrobat DC is Paid and Proprietary
PDF24 Creator is LightweightAdobe 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
Ad
PDF OCR
PDF OCR is a software that converts scanned PDF documents into editable text files in just two clicks. Its OCR engine operates 92% faster than other software, giving users the option to select specific pages for OCR.

http://www.pdfocr.net
Learn More
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
Master PDF Editor
72 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...
140 Master PDF Editor alternatives
Cost / License
Freemium
Proprietary
Application types
PDF Editor
PDF Reader
Origin
Russia
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Flathub
Is Master PDF Editor a good alternative to Adobe Acrobat DC?

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4comments
Master PDF Editor vs Adobe Acrobat DC Comments

Guest
Negative commentMar 8, 2017
24
Free version for windows will include watermark on saved documents.
Review by a new / low-activity user.
Guest
Positive commentDec 6, 2018
4
Has all the basic features such as merge, split, delete and it is in active development and it is available for LINUX :)
Review by a new / low-activity user.
Guest
Positive commentMay 1, 2017
-1
It has more festures in the payed version and thus suites my usecase and it actually works on linux and does not just say it does and then it doesnt, at least that was the case with pdfsam in the extended version.
Review by a new / low-activity user.
3 of 4 comments
Master PDF Editor is Freemium and ProprietaryAdobe Acrobat DC is Paid and Proprietary
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
Sejda
36 likes
Sejda helps with your PDF tasks: edit existing text, split, merge, extract, compress, export to other formats and more.
146 Sejda alternatives
Cost / License
Freemium
Proprietary
Application type
PDF Editor
Origin
Netherlands
EU
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Online
Google Chrome
Flathub
Flatpak
+2
Is Sejda a good alternative to Adobe Acrobat DC?

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1comment
Sejda vs Adobe Acrobat DC Comments

Interstellar_1
Positive commentJan 25, 2024
2
You get a limited amount of file edits per day, and the app is just an electron wrapper of the website, but it works well.
Sejda is Freemium and ProprietaryAdobe Acrobat DC is Paid and Proprietary
Smallpdf
60 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.
188 Smallpdf alternatives
Cost / License
Freemium
Proprietary
Application types
PDF Editor
PDF Reader
Origin
Switzerland
Platforms
Windows
Online
Android
Software as a Service (SaaS)
iPhone
iPad
Android Tablet
+1
Is Smallpdf 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.
269 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
GImageReader
74 likes
gImageReader is a simple Gtk/Qt front-end to the Tesseract OCR Engine.
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?

|
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
Sioyek
24 likes
Sioyek is a PDF viewer with minimal interface optimized for reading research papers and technical books.
43 Sioyek alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (GPL-3.0)
Application type
PDF Reader
Origin
United States
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
+2
Is Sioyek a good alternative to Adobe Acrobat DC?

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1comment
Sioyek vs Adobe Acrobat DC Comments

Guest
Positive commentDec 17, 2022
0
I love Sioyek because it has blazingly fast update time when a pdf modified. very suitable for latex with (n)vim/emacs user.
Review by a new / low-activity user.
Sioyek is Free and Open SourceAdobe Acrobat DC is Paid and Proprietary
Sioyek is LightweightAdobe Acrobat DC is not according to our users

12 of 156 Adobe Acrobat DC alternatives

Adobe Acrobat DC Alternatives for Windows

Alternatives list

PDF-XChange Editor

Cost / License

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PDF-XChange Editor vs Adobe Acrobat DC Comments

PDF24 Creator

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PDF24 Creator vs Adobe Acrobat DC Comments

Nitro PDF

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Nitro PDF vs Adobe Acrobat DC Comments

PDFgear

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PDFgear vs Adobe Acrobat DC Comments

Master PDF Editor

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Master PDF Editor vs Adobe Acrobat DC Comments

Stirling-PDF

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Stirling-PDF vs Adobe Acrobat DC Comments

Sejda

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Sejda vs Adobe Acrobat DC Comments

Smallpdf

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KDAN PDF

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KDAN PDF vs Adobe Acrobat DC Comments

GImageReader

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GImageReader vs Adobe Acrobat DC Comments

Qoppa PDF Studio

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Qoppa PDF Studio vs Adobe Acrobat DC Comments

Sioyek

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Sioyek vs Adobe Acrobat DC Comments