5 Best PDF Editors of 2024 for All PDF Editing Needs

PDF editors are used for many different reasons. One of the most common reasons is to make changes to a PDF file. 

It can open any Portable Document File and allow you to edit it by adding or removing text, adding images, annotations, or links, changing the layout, etc. 

There are many different types of PDF editors available, and they all have features and benefits that you should consider when looking for one.

This article will cover some of the best PDF editors, which you can use to make changes according to your needs.

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What is a PDF Editor?

A PDF is a document prepared to be viewed on multiple platforms - Windows and Mac, as well as desktop, tablet, and mobile devices.

It can be created by any word processor, such as Microsoft Word, or its alternatives, like Google Docs or graphics software, which can save the document as a PDF.

If you ever need to make changes to your PDF, you will need PDF Editors.

PDF editors are software that let you perform one or more of the following editing tasks with your PDF documents:

Below is a screenshot of a free PDF editor by DocFly that I had used to fill up the W-8BEN form.

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If you look at the above screenshot carefully, you will see that the tool contains many editing options (text, whiteout, check, cross, image, signature, etc.) for making changes to your PDF files. 

Almost all popular PDF editors contain more or less the same editing options as highlighted above. Thus, the best PDF editors offer both basic and advanced editing features.

Below, I have compared some of the most popular PDF editors for editing PDF files.

Let's get started.

What are the Best PDF Editors of 2024?

1. Adobe Acrobat DC

If you're a Windows user, you may have already used Adobe Acrobat Standard DC, a cheaper version of Adobe Acrobat DC. It is a professional PDF editor and form-filler tool that is available with advanced PDF editing features.

This tool allows you to create, convert, edit, and sign PDF files. It also enables you to fill out forms quickly and accurately using intelligent data capture.

This PDF editor offers many features that are beneficial to the user, such as:

This software is mainly used to create, view, print, and convert PDFs. You can fill out interactive forms in PDF documents and add comments or digital signatures.

Adobe Acrobat DC is available for free download for seven days for Windows and Mac OS. It includes all the features of Acrobat Reader, plus additional features to edit PDFs.

Adobe Acrobat DC is available at the subscription price of $14.99 per month.

First time users can sign up for the 7-day free trial to see if it is the right PDF editor for their needs. Sign up using the link given below.

2. PDFLiner

PDFLiner is an online platform for working with PDF documents - creating and editing files, adding electronic signatures, filling out forms, and more. 

It can also be used as an electronic document management tool, including cloud storage, form catalogs, document sharing, PDF conversions, and locking and unlocking PDFs.

PDF editing features currently supported by PDFLiner are:

PDFLiner is available for free for 5 days. It includes all the features to edit PDFs.

PDFLiner offers 3 subscription plans - Basic ($9/month), Pro ($19/month), and Premium ($29/month).

Beginners can join the free plan or free trial to edit PDF files with limited editing features. Sign up for the free plan using the link given below.

3. PDFescape

PDFescape is a web-based PDF editing tool that is accessible through almost all modern-day browsers. 

You can access this tool almost anywhere, whether on Windows or Mac OS. You only need a working internet connection to start using PDF escape.

Users who don't like to work online can download the desktop version of PDFescape.

PDF editing features currently supported by PDFescape are:

PDFescape is available for free and allows basic editing features like creating and filling forms, editing forms, and sharing PDF forms.

For more advanced features like adding watermarks, compressing PDFs, desktop PDF editing, and more, you need to subscribe to the premium plan, which starts at $2.99/month.

When you compare PDFescape to Adobe Acrobat DC in terms of pricing, it looks like the best alternative to Adobe.

PDFescape offers two premium plans - Premium ($2.99/month) and Ultimate ($5.99/month). 

Beginners can join the free plan by PDFescape to edit PDF files with limited editing features. Sign up for the free plan using the link given below.

4. Sejda

Sejda is another very popular online PDF editor. It is a perfect alternative to Adobe Acrobat DC as it is 50% cheaper and has almost all the necessary editing features.

If you prefer to work offline, Sejda also offers a Desktop app that you can download to your computer for offline PDF editing.

Using Sejda PDF editor, you can perform the following editing task with your PDF:

To change your PDF files with Sejda, you need to upload the file and use its built-in PDF editor.

All the files that you upload stay private and are automatically deleted after 2-hours.

Subscription to paid plans gives you access to create and edit unlimited PDF documents with no page or hourly limits.

Sejda monthly plans start at only $7.5/month and allow you to edit PDF files in online mode only. 

If you prefer to use Sejda offline, you need to subscribe to the Desktop Web Annual plan for only $63/year. Under this plan, you get access to both Sejda Web (online mode) and Sejda Desktop (offline mode).

If you want to try Sejda before committing to the paid plans, you can sign up for the forever free plan that gives you limited editing features. Sign up for the free plan using the link given below.

5. PDF Reader Pro

PDF Reader Pro is well received by more than 90 million people in over 200 countries. With a clean and easy-to-use interface, it is one of the best PDF Reader & Editor.

It boosts your productivity to work with everything you need to read, annotate and manage PDF files. 

It can expertly process your PDFs, making them readable, editable, convertible, and form fillable.

PDF Reader Pro provides various tools for users:

• Supports multi-tab viewing, full-screen, page-fit, auto-flow, horizontal/vertical orientation
• Create, edit and search outlines to easily navigate through the whole file
• Annotate PDF with highlight, underline, strikethrough, note, freehand, text box, etc.
• Create fillable PDF Forms from interactive field objects, such as buttons, and check boxes
• Convert PDFs to Word, Excel, PPT, Text, JPG, PNG and HTML
• Merge and split documents into multiple documents
• Add password to PDFs for protection
• Convert scanned PDF forms, files, or pictures into editable and searchable PDFs or TXT

PDF Reader Pro for Mac/Windows provides a 7-day free trial for you. The pricing plans are as follows - Premium ($59.99) and Permanent License ($39.99).

I would recommend you to go with the Permanent License as you get both Premium + PDF to Office Pack with your purchase.

How to Select the Best PDF Editors?

Below, I have mentioned some of the important features a PDF editor must offer its users. This may help as a checklist to guide you in selecting the best PDF editor for your needs.

1. Edit PDF files to add, edit or delete text and images
2. Add page number and annotate PDF documents
3. Highlight, blackout, or whiteout in your PDF file
4. View PDF files
5. Fill out PDF documents and add your signature to it
6. Rearrange, Add or Delete Pages on Your PDF
7. Password protect PDF files
8. Share PDF documents online
9. Add watermark to PDF
10. It can be accessed on multiple devices - Desktop, Mobile, Tablet
11. It can be accessed on platforms like Windows or Mac
12. Store documents in a secure cloud-based storage

A PDF editor may or may not offer all the above features. You need to select the one that offers the most features from the list I mentioned in this article.

Wrapping Up

Editing PDFs has never been easier. You can edit text, add or resize images, add or remove pages, add links, annotations, watermarks and more.

Above I have tried to cover only the best PDF editors that offer helpful editing features and are affordable to your pocket.

Adobe Acrobat DC is definitely the most recommended PDF editing tool but if you're looking for more affordable and budget-friendly tools, then I would recommend you to try PDFescape.

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