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Alternatives

Best Adobe Acrobat alternatives in 2026

Adobe Acrobat is the reference PDF tool for editing, signing and converting documents. These 6 alternatives come from the same rankings, ordered by editorial score. Connected products carry a small, disclosed lift.

6 alternatives From best PDF editors How we rank

Ranked alternatives

  1. 1

    PDF-XChange Editor

    A free Windows PDF editor with annotation and conversion from Word, RTF and Markdown, and a Plus edition with more features. It is built for Windows, so Mac and Linux users need another tool.

    Best for Free PDF editing on Windows

    WindowsFree plan, paid upgrades

    89.5of 100
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  2. 2

    Foxit PDF Editor

    A paid desktop editor for Windows and macOS that edits text and pages in existing PDFs and handles signatures. Editing needs a paid license after the trial, unlike the free edition of PDF-XChange Editor.

    Best for Paid desktop PDF editing on Windows and Mac

    WindowsmacOSPaid

    88.5of 100
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  3. 3

    Smallpdf

    Browser-based PDF tools for editing, converting, compressing and signing, with a free plan. Files go through the company's servers, which matters for confidential documents, and heavy editing is shallower than Foxit's.

    Best for Quick browser tools for occasional PDF tasks

    WebFree plan, paid upgrades

    86.0of 100
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  4. 4

    Sejda

    Also runs on Linux. Online and desktop PDF tools with a forever free tier that covers merging, splitting, compressing and cropping. Free use has limits, so regular users will need a paid plan.

    Best for Occasional PDF tasks with a desktop option

    WebWindowsmacOSLinuxFree plan, paid upgrades

    85.0of 100
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  5. 5

    Okular

    Is open source; also runs on Linux. A free, open-source viewer with annotation and signature checks on Linux, Windows, macOS and Android. It is mainly a viewer, so text and page editing are limited compared with the editors above.

    Best for Free annotation and signing on Linux

    LinuxWindowsmacOSAndroidFree and open sourceOpen source

    79.5of 100
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  6. 6

    PDFsam

    Is open source; also runs on Linux. Free, open-source page tools for splitting, merging, extracting and rotating PDFs with no watermarks. It does not edit text or images, so it complements rather than replaces an editor.

    Best for Splitting and merging PDFs offline

    WindowsmacOSLinuxFree and open sourceOpen source

    77.0of 100
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Narrow the alternatives

Open-source alternatives to Adobe Acrobat

Adobe Acrobat alternatives for Linux

About Adobe Acrobat alternatives

What is the best alternative to Adobe Acrobat?
On listme.name the highest-scored alternative is PDF-XChange Editor, followed by Foxit PDF Editor. The right choice depends on price, platform and whether you need open source.
Is there a free alternative to Adobe Acrobat?
Yes. Free options include PDF-XChange Editor, Smallpdf, Sejda.