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Best PDFgear alternatives in 2026

PDFgear is free PDF editor for Windows and Mac with online PDF tools. These 10 alternatives come from the same rankings, ordered by editorial score. Connected products carry a small, disclosed lift.

10 alternatives From best PDF editors How we rank Share

Ranked alternatives

  1. Adobe Acrobat

    Also runs on Android. The reference implementation: the most complete editing, conversion, redaction and signing tools, with apps on every platform. It is subscription-only for editing, so it costs more than PDF-XChange or Foxit.

    Best for Complete PDF editing with the widest compatibility

    WindowsmacOSiOSAndroidWebFree plan, paid upgrades

    90.5of 100
    Visit Alternatives

  2. 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
    Visit Alternatives

  3. 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
    Visit Alternatives

  4. Smallpdf

    Also runs on Android. 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

    WebiOSAndroidFree plan, paid upgrades

    86.0of 100
    Visit Alternatives

  5. 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
    Visit Alternatives

  6. PDF Expert

    A PDF reader and editor for Mac, iPhone and iPad, with Apple Pencil annotation on iPad and one account across Apple devices. It is Apple-only, and the AI assistant sits in the paid Premium plan, so Adobe Acrobat covers more systems.

    Best for Apple users who annotate, sign and fill PDFs

    macOSiOS, iPadOSSubscription

    84.5of 100
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  7. iLovePDF

    Also runs on Android. A browser toolkit for merging, splitting, compressing and converting PDFs, with desktop and mobile apps too. Its free tier caps document processing, and Premium removes that limit for a monthly or yearly fee.

    Best for Quick PDF jobs in a browser or on a phone

    WebWindowsmacOSiOSAndroidFree plan, paid upgrades

    81.5of 100
    Visit Alternatives

  8. Okular

    Is open source; also runs on Linux, Android. 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
    Visit Alternatives

  9. Stirling PDF

    Is open source. Open-source PDF tools that run on your own server, with MIT-licensed core code. Someone has to host and update it, so it suits IT teams and privacy-minded users more than people who want a desktop editor.

    Best for Self-hosted PDF tools for teams and IT staff

    WebSelf-hostedFree and open sourceOpen source

    78.5of 100
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  10. 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 PDFgear

PDFgear alternatives for Linux

PDFgear alternatives for Android

About PDFgear alternatives

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

Before you switch

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