11 Free PDF Editors That Are Better Than Paid Ones

PDF readers are completely free. But that’s not the case for PDF editors.

And everywhere you go, any organization you’re a member of, everyone uses PDF document.

Most PDF editors come with a hefty subscription fee. And $5 to $12/month just to edit a PDF document?

It seems like a scam because there are plenty of tools that get the job done completely for free.

Trust me. I’ve tried most paid and free versions, and free PDF editors do exactly the same job as the paid version is most way.

So, here are some free PDF editors that are better than paid ones.

PDFGear

PDFGear has probably saved my life more than I care to admit.

Whenever my subscription to Adobe Acrobat ends, this is my go-to app to edit PDFs.

To use it, you just need to download it from PDFGear’s Website, install it and it’s ready to use.

And did I mention that it is available on both Windows and macOS?

No need to create an account, no need to sign in, nothing. Just install and use. And the best part? No watermark.

For first-time users, the UI might seem a little overwhelming at first because there are tons of features.

Just look at them.

If you are just looking to convert PDF to another format, you can do it right away when starting the app.

And, if you want to edit the content, you need to Open the File and select the file.

This is where all the setting lies. Here are some things that were eye-catching for me.

• Easily edit PDF text from the Edit Menu. It also matches the default PDF font.
• Set the App theme, light or dark. I usually enable dark mode to reduce eye strain.
• Ask AI about the information in the PDF document, or even get a summary of the PDF file.
• Rearrange pages in the PDF file or delete select pages.
• Annotate or add signatures to the PDF.
• Allows users to slideshow each page for presentation
• Has OCR (Optical Character Recognition) which allows you to extract text even from images.
• Add comments where you can highlight, underline, and strike through a text.
• Allows users to add notes where you can add text comments.
• Add Signature.

What I usually do is highlight a text and add a note beside it. This allows others to know exactly which section I commented on.

There are a lot of other features here, and if I begin to explain, it’ll take really long. so, don’t be afraid to try them out.

LibreOffice Draw (for complete customization of PDF files)

Remember when I said PDFGear might look overwhelming for first-time users? Now, multiply it by a hundred and you have LibreOffice Draw.

But this is a good thing because you have a ton of features at your disposal completely for free.

What I love about LibreOffice Draw is that you can access and work on one PDF file at a time. All the pages are available on the left portion of the screen.

Say goodbye to distractions from other pages when working.

Another note-worthy feature was that I could easily edit text in the PDF with a click of a button. No hassle at all.

You can even use the default keyboard shortcut with LibreOffice Draw.

This might not seem much but many PDF editors in the list below do not support all the keyboard shortcuts like copy/paste, or undo.

It also has a unique Transformation feature that lets you rotate, flip, or distort images and text sections.

Unfortunately, all these features can also consume slightly more memory than other PDF editors in the list.

LibreOffice offers a lot of tools that would require a separate article to explain them all.

So, I suggest you install the app and try out these functions yourself to get a better feel of the application.

PDF Xchange Editor

If you are a daily MS Word user, you’ll love PDF Xchange. They both share similar UI and the app is also easy to navigate with all features laid flat out on the dashboard.

And the best part? Most of these features are not behind a paywall.

Even though there is a pro version available, the free version offers a lot of features completely free.

From simple annotation and bookmarks to editing text in PDF, you can do it all.

You can even add audio as a comment, add a digital or freehand signature, and draw any type of shape you want. What more would you want from a free PDF editor?

And did I mention, that you can directly check and correct grammar in the PDF file?

Even with all this, what actually sold me with this one was the Read out loud feature.

Just select text, right-click, and select Read out loud. An AI voice will read the selected text out loud.

Unfortunately, with all good things, there is one deal breaker. And that is the Watermark.

When saving and editing PDF with PDF Xchange Editor, it will attach a watermark on the top left and right of each page of the PDF.

PDF X

Before we begin, PDF X does offer a lot of features but most of them are behind a paywall.

The reason I’ve included this is because it performs the basic task of editing PDF pretty efficiently.

If you are looking to edit PDF on the go without having to go through the process of downloading a suspicious file, and running them to install, this is your choice.

Just head over to Microsoft Store, and download PDF X. No hassle, no nothing.

Go straight ahead and use the app.

But, I say with confidence that you’re better off downloading PDFGear and installing it as they are virtually the same app.

When I tried PDF X, some shortcuts like multi-select (shift or Ctrl + Click)  did not work. And I could not paste images directly from my clipboard.

I first needed to save the image and then only I could move it to my PDF file

However, the greatest deal breaker was the random popup that pushed me to buy the premium version.

Microsoft Edge

What’s better than something that is already available on the PC by default?

I’m talking about the pre-installed browser, Edge, which is the default PDF viewer as well.

Now, it does not have a ton of features for editing the PDF but does offer some basic tools when marking or commenting on sections in PDF.

Microsoft has even embedded CoPilot into Edge to generate PDF summaries or key insights from the document.

Like PDF Xchange Editor, it also has a Read Aloud feature. However, this feature did not work for me or my colleagues.

As good as the read aloud feature is, what I loved about Edge is the Translate tool.

When you select the translate tool, you just need to select the text you need translated and the browser will do that for you.

Pretty handy and reliable especially when you have a PDF file in a foreign language.

Inkscape

Ideally, Inkscape is primarily used as an Adobe XD and Figma alternative, but you can edit PDF as well.

If you want to edit the actual text on the PDF, I suggest that you use other applications in the list.

Now, you might wonder, “isn’t that the whole point of the article?”, Well, yes.

But, where Inkscape really shines is when you want to comment, annotate, or add shapes to the PDF files.

Being a designing tool, you can be creative and try a lot of stuff using this app. I’m not a designer myself, by I’ve seen users create some interesting designs using Inkscape.

As for editing the text in the PDF file, you cannot. For some reason, the text was added on top of each other.

However, you can remove unnecessary text.

As I said, it is a powerful design tool with a ton of features. But just for marking/drawing on the PDF files, you do not need it.

It’s like cutting meat using a sword instead of a small knife.

Plus, it might consume unnecessary system memory. Now, in my previous article, I might have said to use Inkscape to lower memory usage.

But since editing PDF requires significantly less memory usage, using Inkscape, with its powerful tools, might consume more.

GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program)

GIMP is an open-source photo editing tool that I’ve seen numerous websites recommend.

BUT, let me tell you this is not an app suitable for editing PDF documents.

GIMP is primarily used as a photo editing tool. And I was also shocked that so many websites were recommending this app to edit PDF files.

You cannot edit PDF files using GIMP.

What you can do is, treat the PDF file as an image and add annotation, or add a remark to the PDF file, just like Inkscape.

Some Online Solutions

Those were all the free apps to edit your PDF document. But what if you don’t have time to download and install a separate application just to edit small details in the PDF?

Well, the best option would be to try an online PDF editor.

PDF Candy

No Login, no subscription, just upload your PDF file and go nuts.

Who would say no to PDFCandy?

If you are just editing the text in your PDF, adding comments, highlighting or drawing stuff, or adding a signature, this is the tool for you.

The whiteout feature was also pretty handy to remove unnecessary sections that were inaccessible.

It has a pretty general UI, and the features are easy to access and remember.

If you frequently visit this app, they’ve also released a desktop version of this application so that you can use it even without internet access

Here are some other features the site offers.

• Compress PDF
• Merge PDF
• Convert PDF to Word or vice-versa
• Delete PDF pages
• Split PDF, and many more

SimplePDF.eu: Basic Online Solution

If you just want some basic online PDF editing tools, SimplePDF is your best friend.

Like PDF Candy, it also does not require any logins or subscriptions.

Just open the website, upload your document, and start editing.

It offers some basic tools like adding text, signatures, and images to the PDF file. With a simple UI, getting used to the app is a piece of cake.

Unfortunately, you cannot edit or highlight the text in the PDF file. You can only add new texts.

TinyWow

TinyWow is another lightweight application to customize your PDF document.

If you just want to edit incorrect texts in your PDF file, this online solution works great. Just select Text and click on the text you want to edit.

Unfortunately, it slightly changes the font. Not much that is a huge difference. But you can see the difference if you look closely.

It’s the reason why it’s so down on the list.

It offers similar features to the online PDF editor mentioned above.

But, for me the site was a little laggy and unresponsive.

The reason behind this could be that the website was still in beta testing and was not the final product.

Edit Using Microsoft Word (If You Already Have Subscription)

Now this might come as a shock.

Microsoft Word is by no means a free software. It comes with the Microsoft Office Package which is not cheap at all.

And I’m not telling you to buy it just as a PDF Editor.

But, if you already have a Microsoft Office package, you can use Word to view and edit PDF documents.

Just right-click on the PDF file and open it with Word.

Now, you have complete freedom and can do whatever you want with the PDF document.

Just remember, once you are done with the edit, make sure to save the document as a PDF file and not as a docx file.

What Will You Choose?

To find the best free software to edit your PDFs will vary depending on your need.

So, I suggest you try them out, get the feel of the features they offer and choose one that suits you the best.

For a quick PDF edit, I suggest you try one of the online solutions like PDF Candy.

If you are looking one for the long term and want to install on your PC, PDF gear has all the basic features.

And if you want to go all the way with the advance features, PDF Xchange Editor is the answer.

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