Best PDF Editors Of 2024
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With more professionals seeking to retain control over design features within a portable document format (PDF), a PDF editing software remains a popular choice. A PDF is a final format for a document before it goes for printing or used for sharing across devices, as it keeps graphics and texts intact and is not intended for further modification. With that said, editing a PDF document is still possible. Although it may not be as seamless as editing a Word Document, however, the right PDF editor gets the job done.
So, Forbes Advisor India analyzed 60 PDF editing software available on the market, and scored them on a scale of 1 to 5 to bring you the list of the 7 best PDF editing software in 2024.
- What is PDF Editing Software?
- Best PDF Editing Software Of 2024
- Wondershare PDF Element
- Nitro
- pdfFiller
- Adobe Acrobat
- PDF Expert
- PDF-XChange Editor
- EaseUS PDF Editor
- Summary of Best PDF Editing Software in 2024
- Methodology: How Do We Choose the Best PDF Editing Software?
- What are the Advantages of Using PDF Editing Software?
What is PDF Editing Software?
A PDF editing software allows users to edit (dot).pdf files almost as easily as editing a Microsoft Office document. Although it may not be as seamless as editing a Word document or Google Docs, there are features that come bundled with these software to make editing easier.
There are many free online websites that allow users to view, comment on the pdf file, but eventually you will need a PDF editor to edit text, pages, layout, etc. It also adds a layer of security with password protection from further modifications.
There are numerous advantages of using a PDF editor in terms of making the viewing compatible across devices to preserve graphics, text quality intact while sharing or printing. Remember, even PDF editing software has limitations in terms of editing a PDF file that has been saved in “read-only”, or “view-only” mode.
Best PDF Editing Software Of 2024
- Wondershare PDFelement: Best overall
- Nitro: Best e-sign solutions among PDF editing software
- pdfFiller: Best PDF editing software for individuals
- Adobe Acrobat: Best value
- PDF Expert: Best affordable plan for macOS and iOS device users
- PDF-XChange Editor: Best PDF software for professionals
- EaseUS PDF Editor: Best affordable plan for Windows users
BEST OVERALL
Wondershare PDF Element
Standard Pricing
Free, starts from INR 2,445.99 per annum
Device Support
Windows, macOS, Android, iOS
Moneyback Guarantee
30 days
Standard Pricing
Free, starts from INR 2,445.99 per annum
Device Support
Windows, macOS, Android, iOS
Moneyback Guarantee
30 days
Why We Picked It
Forbes Advisor India’s pick for the best overall is Wondershare’s PDF Element for its feature rich plans. PDF Element is suited for all types of users, for personal to businesses, and can be accessed across Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android devices. Users can edit, convert, organize, annotate PDF, and many more as per their requirement. Users can also password protect their PDF from copying, editing, and printing. In addition, it offers cloud backup storage options up to 1GB for desktop and mobile users so that it can be accessed from anywhere and anytime.
Pricing Options
Wondershare’s PDF Element has a free plan for users to get a hands-on experience using its editing tools, but comes with limited access to other features. Its premium plans are categorized for individuals (starting from INR 5,706 per annum), team and business plan (starting from INR 8,886 per user for a year), and bundles (starting from INR 8,152.99 per annum). Its plan can also be purchased for a lifetime at a cost starting from INR 10,597.99 onwards, to own a software. There’s also a 30-day moneyback guarantee that comes with every plan.
Essential Features
- Affordable plans
- Quick response from support team
- Cloud storage available for sharing
- 30 days moneyback guarantee available
- Free version available for Windows OS only
BEST E-SIGN SOLUTIONS ON PDF EDITING SOFTWARE
Nitro
Standard Pricing
Free, call sales for subscription
Device Support
macOS, Windows, iOS
Moneyback Guarantee
Not specified
Standard Pricing
Free, call sales for subscription
Device Support
macOS, Windows, iOS
Moneyback Guarantee
Not specified
Nitro is an all in all pick for those individuals and businesses who want to own a PDF editing software for lifetime. It also offers a customized subscription-based pricing option as per your requirement. Besides offering a complete solution for PDF editing, it has put more emphasis on providing additional features to electronic signatures, like unlimited signing option, and comes with two-factor authentication through SMS, to name a few—to make digital contracts legally binding.
Pricing Options
Nitro’s PDF editing software is available for Windows, macOS, and iOS users. Its plan can be purchased for a one-time fee of INR 19,336.67, though there’s subscription-based plan available upon request. Its electronic signature plans for individuals starts at INR 12,876 per annum, which is 1,073 per month. For enterprises, the eSign solution starts at INR 1474.27 ($17.99) per month for two to 10 users. There’s also Nitro Sign Premium digital signature plan for large-sized enterprises which can be availed through sales.
Essential Features
- 14 days free trial available
- Free plan available
- Available for macOS, Windows, iOS
- Watermark available
- Android mobile version not available
BEST PDF EDITING SOFTWARE FOR INDIVIDUALS
pdfFiller
Standard Pricing
Starts from INR 7,867.15 ($96) per annum
Device Support
Windows, macOS, Android, macOS
Moneyback Guarantee
Not specified
Standard Pricing
Starts from INR 7,867.15 ($96) per annum
Device Support
Windows, macOS, Android, macOS
Moneyback Guarantee
Not specified
pdfFiller is best for home-office use or professionals. It offers individual plans, and price varies according to features. For instance, plus plan allows you to convert PDFs to editable Word documents, get customer support within 30 minutes. Similarly, its premium plan gives you additional features to collect and export data, etc. There’s a 30 days free trial available on every plan.
Pricing Options
pdfFillers’ editing software is available for Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android users. It has three plans to choose from: Basic, Plus, and Premium plans. The basic plan costs INR 7,867.15 ($96) per annum, plus plan at INR 11,800.73 ($144), and premium plan at 18,438.64 ($225).
Essential Features
- 30 days free trial available
- Available for macOS, iOS, Android, Windows
- Watermark available
- PDF to Word document available on mid-tier plan
- Phone support not available
BEST VALUE
Adobe Acrobat
Standard Pricing
Starts from INR 12,446.64 (inclusive of GST) per annum
Device Support
Windows, macOS, iOS, Android
Moneyback Guarantee
Not specified
Standard Pricing
Starts from INR 12,446.64 (inclusive of GST) per annum
Device Support
Windows, macOS, iOS, Android
Moneyback Guarantee
Not specified
Adobe Acrobat is one of the most popular PDF editing software for its feature-rich plans accessible on both desktop and mobile operating systems. It provides users with all tools to meet their PDF editing requirements to edit, create, export, sign, organize, as well as share and protect their PDF files, and many more. In addition, it also allows users to turn their Adobe photoshop, Illustrator or InDesign files into PDFs.
Pricing Options
Adobe Acrobat offers two pricing plans for individuals, businesses, and students and teachers. Users have the option to pay a monthly or annual fee when they subscribe to Acrobat Pro starting at INR 19,158.48 (inclusive of GST) per annum, or Acrobat Standard starting at INR 12,446.64 (inclusive of GST) per annum. Users get seven days of free trial as well as 14 days moneyback guarantee.
Essential Features
- Available for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android
- Comes with watermark feature
- Edit, create, export, sign, organize PDF
- Seven days free trial available
- Refund can be filed within 14 days after purchase
- Pricier plans
BEST AFFORDABLE PLAN FOR MAC & IOS DEVICE USERS
PDF Expert
Standard Pricing
Free, Starts from INR 7,200 per annum
Device Support
macOS, iOS
Moneyback Guarantee
Not specified
Standard Pricing
Free, Starts from INR 7,200 per annum
Device Support
macOS, iOS
Moneyback Guarantee
Not specified
PDF Expert is among our top-pick for its affordable PDF editing software plans for macOS and iOS users. It offers an interactive display, themes to help users get a seamless PDF editing experience. Users can organize their PDF files the way they want to merge, manage, and split files. Users can also convert PDF to Word, image, Excel, PPT, or fill out forms, sign documents, to name a few. It offers a free plan for users to get a hands-on experience editing their PDF file, but comes with limited features.
Pricing Options
PDF Expert is available for macOS and iOS devices only. It has two pricing options, a subscription based and a one-off payment to purchase the software for lifetime. Its subscription- based plan costs INR 7,200 per annum, which is INR 600 per month. It is one of the most affordable PDF editing software plans for Apple users that we’ve reviewed. PDF Expert editing software can be purchased for lifetime at a payment of INR 12,500. Users get 30 days of moneyback guarantee on the grounds of technical dissatisfaction using the software.
Essential Features
- Free plan available
- 30 days refund policy
- Organize, batch, convert PDF available
- Customer care available via ticket support only
- Customers complain of facing bombarding ads on its free plan
- Remarks were also made on features like OCR PDF, sign documents
BEST PDF EDITING SOFTWARE FOR PROFESSIONALS
PDF-XChange Editor
Standard Pricing
Free, Starts from INR 4,589.17 ($56) per annum
Device Support
Windows
Moneyback Guarantee
Not specified
Standard Pricing
Free, Starts from INR 4,589.17 ($56) per annum
Device Support
Windows
Moneyback Guarantee
Not specified
PDF-XChange Editor is best for professionals. Although a user may find its official website as old-fashioned, its offering is straightforward. PDF-XChange Editor is compatible with the Windows operating system only. Businesses have the option to purchase plans for unlimited users, which is rare as compared to its competitors. All its plans come with options to add a maintenance period for up to three years. Tutorials are available for every plan to resolve any issue. However, its customer support correspondence is available only via email.
Pricing Options
PDF-XChange Editor is available for Windows users only. The company offers a free plan with limited features to users. Its premium plans come with three options to choose from. Its lowest priced plan is PDF-XChange Editor that starts from INR 4,589.17 ($56) per annum. There’s PDF-XChange Editor Plus plan that starts from INR 5,900.36 ($72) per annum, and PDF-XChange Pro starts from INR 9,915.89 ($121) per annum.
Essential Features
- Tutorials available for every plan
- Refund can be filed on technical grounds
- Supports Windows PC only
BEST AFFORDABLE PLAN FOR WINDOWS
EaseUS PDF Editor
Standard Pricing
Free, starts from INR 4,093.38 ($49.95) per annum
Device Support
Windows
Moneyback Guarantee
Not specified
Standard Pricing
Free, starts from INR 4,093.38 ($49.95) per annum
Device Support
Windows
Moneyback Guarantee
Not specified
EaseUS PDF Editor offers users all needful things via its interactive tools to annotate, organize, batch, compress, combine, convert, and many more. It also allows users to password protect their pdf files from copying, editing, or printing without consent. It has an online PDF converter to Word, Excel, PPT, and JPEG. Windows users can also download the free version and explore its limited features, and choose to opt for a premium one.
Pricing Options
EaseUS PDF Editor can be for Windows users only. Its premium plans per user can be availed for a month-to-month subscription at INR 1,634.89 ($19.95), but users can get more discount on its annual plan for INR 4,093.38 ($49.95), which is INR 341.11 ($4.16) per month. Subscribers can also get a life-time license at a one-time payment of INR ($79.95). You can file for a refund on technical grounds within 30 days after the purchase.
Essential Features
- Refund can be filed within 30 days after purchase
- Not available for macOS, iOS, Android
- Cloud storage not available for sharing
- Watermark is not available
Summary of Best PDF Editing Software in 2024
Methodology: How Do We Choose the Best PDF Editing Software?
Forbes Advisor India reviewed 60 PDF editing software providers, and scored them across 19 parameters to rate them on a scale of 1 to 5. We’ve evaluated their pricing, refund policy, customer support and reviews, device support, availability of PDF editing features such as watermark, PDF converter, protection measure, and general editing features to come out with the final scores.
General Backup Features
A PDF editing software must be able to annotate, organize, batch, compress, combine, create, convert, and include features such as sign documents, password protection, to name a few. Optical character recognition (OCR) and watermark were also considered as a general feature.
Device Support
An extra scoring was given to PDF editing software providers that support devices including macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android. An extra scoring was given to availability of cloud storage, as well as flexibility to add a number of users per plan.
Free Plan, Premium Pricing and Moneyback Guarantee
A free plan may help many users to get accustomed with using PDF editing software tools, and upon satisfaction opt for premium plans, either subscription based or for lifetime purchase. A moneyback guarantee, and free trial options would help users to cancel subscriptions if they aren’t satisfied with the service.
Customer Support, Reviews
Scoring was also based on user experience and feedback posted on third-party review sites such as TrustPilot. Availability of tutorials to use editing tools, phone, email, live chat, community forum, and ticket support, and importantly their response time to resolve customer queries were given an extra scoring.
What are the Advantages of Using PDF Editing Software?
Choosing the right PDF editing software can be influenced by various factors. Importantly, individuals, professionals, and businesses should evaluate their day-to-day needs to use the software, and explore features (like mentioned below) that meet their PDF editing requirements.
There are a number of advantages to using a PDF editing software. Here is a list of popular ones.
- Annotate PDF: Helpful in proofreading stage to add suggestions as comments to edit text, change fonts, shapes, signatures, and drawing in the PDF document.
- Organize PDF: Allows users to arrange pages in the PDF, such as split, delete, rotate, add and crop pages the way they want.
- Batch PDF: Bulk conversion of PDFs to edit and encrypt.
- Compress PDF: This feature allows users to reduce the file size of the PDF while maintaining its visual quality to make it compatible for viewing and sharing across email, messaging apps, etc.
- OCR PDF: Optical character recognition is helpful to edit and extract data from scanned PDFs, convert image to text, etc
- Combine PDF: It is helpful to reorder pages, images in a proper sequence before merging them into a single PDF document.
- Create PDF: Create PDF documents from Office files, clipboard, images, etc.
- Sign PDF: This feature allows users to create electronic or digital signatures. It is helpful to make digital contracts legally binding.
- PDF Form: This feature allows you to recognize forms, add fillable fields, signatures, etc.
- Protect PDF: Set password to protect your PDF from copying, editing, and printing. For instance, Nitro’s signature feature comes with two-factor authentication through SMS to access and edit the file.
- Read PDF: Most PDF editing software provide users with eye protection mode, flexibility to set reading views, turn pages, resize pages, etc.
- Extract PDF: It is helpful to extract data, text, images, pages, and files from PDF.
- Convert PDF: It is the most common feature in a PDF editing software, which allows users to convert Office files and images to and from PDF.
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