Free plans only

10 Best Free Free PDF Editors of 2026

By the Rankozo research desk · Updated November 9, 2026

10 of the 10 tools in our best free pdf editors ranking offer a permanent free plan. PDFgear scores highest among them at 9.1 out of 10.

01
PDFgear
Occasional users who want desktop-grade editing and conversion at no cost and with no signup.
Free on desktop, mobile and web; no paid plan listed
Full entry, No. 1 overall
Paid from
Free
Score 9.1
02
PDF24 Creator
Windows users who want unlimited offline merging, splitting, compressing and converting, including at work.
Free for private and business use; no paid plan
Full entry, No. 2 overall
Paid from
Free
Score 8.8
03
Foxit PDF Reader
Office users who want a free reader that IT can deploy, with a clear paid editor upgrade.
Reader is free; Foxit PDF Editor from $10.99 per month or $129.99 per user per year
Full entry, No. 3 overall
Paid from
$10.99
Score 8.2
04
Adobe Acrobat Reader
People who mainly fill in and sign forms and want the most widely used reader.
Reader is free; see vendor pricing for Acrobat Standard and Pro (USD check pending)
Full entry, No. 4 overall
Paid from
Free plan
Score 8.1
05
iLovePDF
People who need quick one-off merges and compressions in a browser and can live with per-task caps.
Free Basic plan; see vendor pricing for Premium (USD check pending)
Full entry, No. 5 overall
Paid from
Free plan
Score 8.1
06
Sejda
Occasional users who want to edit existing text in the browser a few times a day.
Free with limits; see vendor pricing for Week Pass and annual plans (USD check pending)
Full entry, No. 6 overall
Paid from
Free plan
Score 8.1
07
PDF-XChange Editor
Windows power users who want deep annotation tools for free and a one-time license instead of a subscription.
Free version; perpetual license from $62 for Editor, $79 for Editor Plus
Full entry, No. 7 overall
Paid from
$62
Score 8.0
08
Smallpdf
People who want a polished browser and mobile tool and expect to pay once their use grows.
Free plan with limited downloads; see vendor pricing for Pro (USD check pending)
Full entry, No. 8 overall
Paid from
Free plan
Score 7.9
09
Microsoft Edge
Windows and Mac users who only need to read, highlight or type into a PDF without installing anything new.
Free browser; PDF reader built in
Full entry, No. 9 overall
Paid from
Free
Score 7.8
10
Xodo
People who want a low-cost subscription covering web tools, a desktop editor and mobile apps.
Free online tools with a daily cap; Xodo Web $7.99 per month billed $95.88 annually
Full entry, No. 10 overall
Paid from
$7.99
Score 7.5