Adobe Acrobat Reader Alternatives for Mac

There are many alternatives to Adobe Acrobat Reader for Mac if you are looking for a replacement. The best Mac alternative is Foxit PDF Reader. It's not free, so if you're looking for a free alternative, you could try Foxit PDF Reader or Xournal++. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Adobe Acrobat Reader and many of them are available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Mac alternatives to Adobe Acrobat Reader are Linwood Butterfly, Sioyek, Preview and Qoppa PDF Studio.

filter to find the best alternatives

Adobe Acrobat Reader alternatives are mainly PDF Readers, but if you're looking for PDF Editors or Note-taking Tools you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Open Source, Windows, Windows + Open Source, Linux, Android, PDF Editor and Free. 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 Reader.
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Alternatives list

  1. Foxit PDF Reader icon

    Foxit PDF Reader

     1382 likes

    Foxit Reader offers a lightweight PDF viewing experience across multiple platforms with features such as annotation, form filling, signing, cloud storage integration, collaborative review options, heightened security via Trust Manager, and organizational tools like Group Policy and XML Configuration.

    130 Foxit PDF Reader alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Alerts

    • Bundleware

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • ReactOS
    Foxit PDF Reader screenshot 1
     
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    14
    Foxit PDF Reader vs Adobe Acrobat Reader Comments
    Top Positive Comment
    Guest
    4

    This one has the ability to mark PDFs for highlighting books and etc.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    beng tang
    Positive
    1

    In Linux Mint, Foxit is better than Adobe Reader. The version of Adobe Reader for Linux is very old and out of date (and thus may be a security risk) and does not support annotating / commenting on PDF files. Foxit supports commenting / annotating very well with a lot of tools to do various types of anotations. It also opens and displays PDF files very well. So Foxit is not only an alternative to, but better than Adobe, in Linux at least.

    Guest
    Positive
    1

    Better than SumatraPDF because of Form field.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    3 of 14 comments
    • Foxit PDF Reader is Free Personal and ProprietaryAdobe Acrobat Reader is Freemium and Proprietary
  2. Xournal++ icon

    Xournal++

     194 likes

    Handwritten note-taking and PDF annotation using pen input and pressure sensitivity, shape drawing, customizable toolbar layouts, image insertion, audio recording, multi-language options, LaTeX integration, and complete export in PDF or PNG formats across all platforms.

    62 Xournal++ alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Xournal++ screenshot 1
     
  4. PDFgear icon

    PDFgear

     61 likes

    Read, edit, convert, merge, and sign PDF files across devices, for completely free and without signing up.

    56 PDFgear alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    PDFgear screenshot 1
     
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    1
    PDFgear vs Adobe Acrobat Reader Comments
    malcmerlyn
    Negative
    0

    Doesn't show my RPG PDF bookmarks

    • PDFgear is Free and ProprietaryAdobe Acrobat Reader is Freemium and Proprietary
  5. Ad
    Screenshot
    Foxit PDF Reader icon
    Foxit PDF Reader

    Foxit Reader offers a lightweight PDF viewing experience across multiple platforms with features such as annotation, form filling, signing, cloud storage integration, collaborative review options, heightened security via Trust Ma...

    https://www.foxit.com
    Learn More
  6. Linwood Butterfly icon

    Linwood Butterfly

     43 likes

    Butterfly is a note-taking app where your ideas come first. You can paint, add texts, and export them easily on every device. This app works on android, windows, linux, and in the web.

    48 Linwood Butterfly alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • Self-Hosted
    • Snapcraft
    • AltStore
    • Flathub
    • F-Droid
    Linwood Butterfly screenshot 1
     
  7. Sioyek icon

    Sioyek

     24 likes

    Sioyek is a PDF viewer with minimal interface optimized for reading research papers and technical books.

    41 Sioyek alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Main view
     
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    1
    Sioyek vs Adobe Acrobat Reader Comments
    Barrett
    Positive
    1

    It's a minimalist PDF reader for programmers and other such nerds. Includes dark mode, keyboard navigation, and a minimalist UI that allows for great focus.

    • Sioyek is Free and Open SourceAdobe Acrobat Reader is Freemium and Proprietary
  8. Preview icon

    Preview

     123 likes

    Native macOS app for viewing, annotating, and editing images and PDFs, featuring tools for cropping, rotating, resizing images, rearranging pages, full-screen viewing, markup, document merging, batch conversion, and export in multiple formats.

    173 Preview alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    Preview screenshot 1
     
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    2
    Preview vs Adobe Acrobat Reader Comments
    Guest
    Positive
    1

    Easy, Very Fast, basic editing options.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Negative
    -6

    Unlike Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, which allows you to edit and erase certain parts of PDF files, Preview won't let you do it if it's only 1 page. I suggest getting a different PDF viewer, reader, and editor.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • Preview is Free and ProprietaryAdobe Acrobat Reader is Freemium and Proprietary
  10. Qoppa PDF Studio icon

    Qoppa PDF Studio

     83 likes

    Create, Convert, Review and Edit PDF Documents on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

    177 Qoppa PDF Studio alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Chrome OS
    Annotate
     
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    1
    Qoppa PDF Studio vs Adobe Acrobat Reader Comments
    Guest
    Positive
    0

    it has ability to paste highlighted text in comment automatically like adobe acrobate pro or foxit pdf reader.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • Qoppa PDF Studio is Paid and ProprietaryAdobe Acrobat Reader is Freemium and Proprietary
  11. Drawboard PDF icon

    Drawboard PDF

     15 likes

    The top AEC PDF app to markup and manage drawings and documents. Ideal for replacing pen and paper, avoid printing documents again by using our intuitive feature set that makes marking up a PDF easy. Open or create a new PDF, markup using our extensive array of tools, then save...

    62 Drawboard PDF alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    • Android Tablet
    Drawboard PDF screenshot 1
     
  12. Skim icon

    Skim

     93 likes

    PDF viewer for macOS supports scientific papers, annotations, highlights, bookmarks, split view, exporting notes, AppleScript, multiple annotation types, bibliography integration, full-screen, search, and compatibility with various macOS versions.

    93 Skim alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    The PDF Window
     
  13. zathura icon

    zathura

     45 likes

    Zathura is a highly customizable and functional document viewer. It provides a minimalistic and space saving interface as well as an easy usage that mainly focuses on keyboard interaction.

    73 zathura alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (Zlib)

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • MacPorts
    • Homebrew
    Bestfit
     
  14. Chrome PDF Viewer Plug-in icon

    Chrome PDF Viewer Plug-in

     58 likes

    In version 8, Google Chrome introduced a free PDF viewer, installed by default. While this plug-in lacks many features of the Adobe Acrobat Plug-in, it is much faster and lighter, and updates with the browser rather than an external utility.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Google Chrome
    Chrome PDF Viewer Plug-in screenshot 1
     
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    1
    Chrome PDF Viewer Plug-in vs Adobe Acrobat Reader Comments
    Guest
    Negative
    0

    it is proprietary and I ask for open source app

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • Chrome PDF Viewer Plug-in is Free and ProprietaryAdobe Acrobat Reader is Freemium and Proprietary
  15. PDF Viewer Pro by PSPDFKit icon

    PDF Viewer Pro by PSPDFKit

     2 likes

    PDF Viewer Pro is a fast and beautiful app, allowing you to view, search, and annotate PDF documents with ease on your iPhone and iPad.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    • Android Tablet
    PDF Viewer Pro by PSPDFKit screenshot 1
     
12 of 31 Adobe Acrobat Reader alternatives