Best Free PDF Editors for 2025 – Features, Pros, and Cons

1. PDF Editify: Your All-in-One PDF Solution

PDF Editify is a modern and user-friendly solution for all your PDF editing needs. The web-based editor combines powerful features with an intuitive interface, making it an excellent choice for both beginners and professionals.

Key Features:

1. PDF Editing Tools: Add and edit text and images within PDFs.
2. Form Creation and Sharing: Create unlimited PDF forms with fields like text boxes, dates, radio buttons, dropdowns, checkboxes and signatures. You can also share forms to collect data and signatures via public or private links.
3. Digital Signatures: Effortlessly add e-signatures or request them from others for official documents.
4. Permanent Redaction: Securely and permanently hide sensitive information in PDFs with customizable black or white redaction.
5. OCR: Convert any scanned PDF into Word with intelligent OCR processing.
6. Cloud Integration: Access your documents from anywhere anytime.
7. Secure Document Management: Save, organize, and manage documents in your dashboard..
8. Team Collaborations: Share and edit documents with your team members.

• All-in-One Solution: Fill, edit, share, sign, redact and OCR PDFs easily.
• Intuitive user interface: Modern interface and easy to use.
• Generous Free Plan: Full access to all essential tools with weekly usage limits.
• Affordable Pricing: Cost-effective plans for unlimited usage.

• Some advanced features require a premium version.
• Internet connection required for access

• Standard Plan ($10/month):
  • Unlimited PDF editing, tool usage, e-signatures, and form creation.
  • Up to 100 form responses per month.
  • Permanent redaction included.
  • Secure cloud storage and document management.
• Lifetime Plan ($99 one-time payment): Same as Standard Plan with lifetime access.

2. Canva

 Primarily a graphic design platform, Canva also includes powerful PDF editing features. Its intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to edit text, images, and layouts within PDFs. With a vast library of customizable templates, Canva is ideal for quick edits and creating professional, visually appealing documents.

Highlights

• Drag-and-drop PDF editor.
• Access to 100M+ stock images and templates.
• Cloud storage and team collaboration tools.

• Simple and beginner-friendly interface.
• Offers tools for social media and design alongside PDFs.

• Limited PDF editing features in the free plan.

• Free: Basic tools and 5 GB storage.
• Pro: $15/month per person.

3. SwifDoo PDF

 SwifDoo PDF is a PDF editor offering features like OCR, electronic signatures, text and image editing. With its intuitive interface and robust tools, it simplifies tasks like merging, splitting, and annotating PDFs, making it a good option for personal and professional use.

Highlights

• Microsoft Office-style interface.
• PDF conversion and editing.

• Easy for Microsoft Office users.
• Offers a free trial for all features.

• No permanent free version; only a 7-day trial.

• Free Trial: 7 days.
• Paid Plans: Start at $60/quarter.

4. Adobe Acrobat

 Adobe Acrobat is a leading PDF editor offering both free and pro versions to cater to a variety of needs. The free version, Adobe Acrobat Reader, allows users to view, print, sign, and annotate PDFs. The pro version, Adobe Acrobat Pro, provides advanced features such as creating, editing, converting, and organizing PDFs, as well as adding electronic signatures and ensuring document security.

• Basic editing and e-signatures in the free version.
• Pro version includes advanced PDF editing, OCR and redactions.

• Trusted and reliable.
• Comprehensive tools for advanced users.

• Free version lacks many features.

• Free: Basic PDF reading and annotation.
• Pro: Starts at $19.99/month.

5. Smallpdf

 Smallpdf is an online platform offering a comprehensive suite of PDF tools designed to simplify document management. It provides a range of features, including editing, converting, compressing, merging, and signing PDFs, all accessible directly through your web browser. This approach eliminates the need for software downloads or account creation, streamlining the user experience.
 

• Editing: Modify text, add images, and annotations.
• Conversion: Convert PDFs to/from Word, Excel, and more.
• Compression: Reduce PDF file size.
• Merging & Splitting: Combine or extract PDF pages.
• Signing: Add electronic signatures.

• Cloud-Based Access: Work on your documents from any device with internet connectivity, ensuring flexibility and convenience.
• Comprehensive Toolset: Offers a wide array of PDF tools, reducing the need for multiple applications.

• Limited Free Features: Some advanced functionalities may require a subscription.
• File Size Limits: Free users are restricted in terms of file size for uploads and downloads, and exceeding these limits requires a paid plan. This can be limiting for users with large PDF files. 

• Free Version: Provides basic PDF tools with some limitations.
• Pro Version: Offers full access to all features, with pricing starting at $12 per month.

6. SimplePDF

 SimplePDF is an ad-free, privacy-focused online PDF editor that allows users to edit PDFs directly in their browser without the need for sign-ups or downloads. It offers features such as adding text, checkboxes, images, and signatures, as well as the ability to add, remove, rotate, and merge PDF pages.

• Add digital signatures.
• Combine or split PDFs.

• Completely free for personal use.
• Focused on user privacy.

• Lacks advanced tools for editing.

• Free for 3 submissions per document.

7. Apple Preview

Apple Preview is a free, built-in PDF editor available on macOS, offering basic editing tools and image manipulation features.

Highlights

• Rotate, reorder, and delete PDF pages.
• Edit text and images.
• Works seamlessly with macOS apps.

• Free and powerful for Mac users.
• No installation needed.

• Not available for Windows or Android.

8. EaseUS PDF Editor

EaseUS PDF Editor is a comprehensive tool designed for creating, editing, converting, and viewing PDF documents. It offers a range of features to enhance document management and collaboration.

Highlights

• Editing: Modify text, images, and pages; add headers and footers.
• Conversion: Convert PDFs to/from Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more.
• OCR: Convert scanned PDFs to editable formats.
• Collaboration: Add comments, annotations, and share PDFs.
• Form Creation: Design fillable PDF forms with interactive controls.
• Management: Merge, split, compress, and protect PDFs.

• Comprehensive Toolset: Offers a wide array of PDF tools, reducing the need for multiple applications. 
• Security Features: Protects files with 256-bit encryption, ensuring document confidentiality. 

• PC-Only Availability: Currently available only for Windows users, limiting accessibility for Mac users. 
• Subscription Costs: The monthly subscription can be considered expensive, especially for users who require the software for a short term. 

• Free Version: Allows conversion of up to 5 pages per file to Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, with a watermark on converted files. 
• Paid Plans: $29.95 per month.

9. PDF Expert

PDF Expert is a versatile PDF editor and reader developed by Readdle, designed to provide a seamless experience across Apple devices, including iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It offers a comprehensive suite of tools for viewing, editing, annotating, and managing PDF documents.

Highlights

• Editing: Modify text, images, links, and pages; add headers, footers, and page numbers.
• Annotation: Highlight, underline, comment, and sign PDFs.
• Conversion: Convert PDFs to/from Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and images.
• OCR: Convert scanned PDFs into editable text with multi-language support.
• Collaboration: Share PDFs via email or cloud; sync across devices.

• User-Friendly Interface: Designed for ease of use, making it accessible to both individuals and businesses.
• Cross-Device Synchronization: Seamlessly syncs documents across iPhone, iPad, and Mac, ensuring access to the latest version on all devices.
• Comprehensive Toolset: Offers a wide array of PDF tools, reducing the need for multiple applications.

• Platform Limitation: Currently available only for Apple devices, limiting accessibility for users on Windows or Android platforms.
• Limited Advanced Collaboration Features: While PDF Expert supports basic collaboration, it may lack some advanced features found in other PDF tools, such as real-time multi-user editing.

• Free Version: Provides basic PDF viewing and annotation features.
• Pro Version: Offers full access to all features, with pricing starting at $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year.

How to Choose the Right PDF Editor

1. Primary Use Case: Are you mainly viewing, editing, or performing both tasks?
2. Required Features: Do you need text editing, form filling, annotations, or advanced features like OCR?
3. Platform Compatibility: Is the editor compatible with your operating system (Windows, Mac, Android, etc.)?
4. Internet Connectivity: Do you prefer an offline editor, or are you comfortable with web-based tools?
5. Data and Security: Does the editor provide the security features you need, such as encryption and document protection?

Conclusion

Frequently Asked Questions