Best Free PDF Editors in 2026: What Actually Works (and What Doesn't)

Searching for "free PDF editor" is a guaranteed way to waste 30 minutes of your life. The search results are dominated by tools that call themselves free but hit you with limits, upsells, watermarks, or subscription prompts the moment you try to do anything useful.

I spent a week testing every popular free PDF editor I could find — online tools, desktop apps, browser extensions, the works. Here's what I found, with zero sugarcoating.

What Most People Actually Need

Before comparing tools, let's talk about what "editing a PDF" actually means. People use the phrase to describe very different things:

• Adding text, signatures, or annotations to an existing PDF (most common)
• Filling out PDF forms
• Modifying existing text in a PDF (changing words, fixing typos)
• Reorganizing pages — deleting, reordering, merging
• Converting PDFs to other formats (Word, images, etc.)

The first two are easy and well-supported by free tools. Modifying existing text is much harder because PDFs weren't designed to be edited — they're a display format, not an authoring format. Keep this in mind as we compare tools.

The Free Online PDF Editors

Smallpdf

Smallpdf has a clean interface and works well. The editor lets you add text, images, shapes, and signatures. It handles the basics smoothly.

The catch: Free users get 2 tasks per day. That's it. Need to edit three PDFs? Come back tomorrow or pay $12/month. The free tier is basically a trial.

Privacy: Files are uploaded to Smallpdf's servers. They say files are deleted after one hour. You have to take their word for it.

iLovePDF

iLovePDF is one of the most popular PDF tool suites online. The editor is decent for basic markup — adding text, drawing, shapes, and images.

The catch: Free users face file size limits and batch processing restrictions. The free plan allows more daily tasks than Smallpdf, but you'll still hit walls on larger files. There are also ads.

Privacy: Your files go to their servers for processing. They state files are deleted after 2 hours. iLovePDF is based in Barcelona, so EU data protection laws apply, which is better than nothing.

Sejda

Sejda is genuinely one of the better free online editors. It can modify existing text in many PDFs (not all, but more than most free tools). It also handles forms, annotations, and page manipulation.

The catch: Free tier limits you to 3 tasks per hour, files up to 50MB, and documents up to 200 pages. The text editing sometimes breaks formatting on complex layouts.

Privacy: Files are uploaded for processing. Sejda says they're deleted after 2 hours and that files are processed in isolated environments. More transparent than most.

PDF24

PDF24 is completely free with no daily task limits, which makes it stand out immediately. The toolset is comprehensive — editing, merging, splitting, compression, conversion. There's also a desktop version for Windows.

The catch: The interface is functional but not pretty. The editing experience is clunkier than Smallpdf or Sejda. It gets the job done but won't win any design awards.

Privacy: Files are processed on their servers. PDF24 is German, so GDPR applies.

PDF Candy

PDF Candy offers a wide range of tools. The editor covers basics like adding text and images. There's also a desktop version.

The catch: The free online version limits you to one task per hour. That's aggressive. The desktop app is more generous.

Privacy: Server-based processing with stated auto-deletion.

The Privacy Problem With Online Editors

You've probably noticed a pattern: every online tool above uploads your files to their servers. Every single one. That's the fundamental trade-off with traditional online PDF editors.

For editing a flyer or a public document, this is fine. But for contracts, tax forms, medical records, or legal documents? You're trusting a third party with sensitive data for the convenience of avoiding a software install.

This is why browser-based tools that process locally are worth knowing about. PeacefulPDF's editor, for example, runs entirely in your browser. Your files stay on your device — nothing gets uploaded. You get the convenience of a web-based tool without the privacy compromise.

It handles text addition, annotations, signatures, and page manipulation. It won't modify existing text in a PDF (very few free tools do this reliably), but for the most common editing tasks, it works well.

Desktop PDF Editors Worth Knowing

LibreOffice Draw

Not many people know this, but LibreOffice Draw can open and edit PDFs. It does a reasonable job of making existing text editable, though complex layouts may shift around.

Pros: Truly free and open-source, completely offline, can edit existing text

Cons: Heavy application to install for PDF editing, sometimes breaks PDF formatting, learning curve

Inkscape

Inkscape is a vector graphics editor that can import PDFs. It's great for editing individual PDF pages — especially if you need to modify graphics or precisely position elements.

Pros: Powerful editing capabilities, free and open-source, great for graphic elements

Cons: Handles one page at a time, not designed for multi-page PDF workflows, steep learning curve

Okular / Evince (Linux)

Linux users: your built-in PDF viewers (Okular on KDE, Evince on GNOME) support annotations, highlighting, and form filling. They won't edit text, but for markup and signatures, they're already on your system.

What About Adobe Acrobat?

Adobe Acrobat Pro is the gold standard for PDF editing. It handles everything — text modification, form creation, OCR, redaction, accessibility tagging. If you edit PDFs professionally, it's worth the cost.

But at $20-30/month, it's absurd for occasional use. The free Acrobat Reader only lets you fill forms, add signatures, and highlight text. Adobe has intentionally crippled the free version to push subscriptions.

The online free version (acrobat.adobe.com) exists but has tight limits and — you guessed it — uploads your files to Adobe's cloud.

My Honest Recommendations

For adding text, signatures, and annotations:

Use a browser-based local tool like PeacefulPDF. It's free, private, and handles the most common editing tasks without uploading your files. For signing specifically, the Sign PDF tool is purpose-built for that workflow.

For filling out PDF forms:

Any PDF reader works. Adobe Reader, your browser's built-in PDF viewer, Preview on Mac. You don't need a special tool for this.

For modifying existing text:

This is where things get tough for free tools. Your best free options are:

1. Convert the PDF to Word (use PeacefulPDF's converter), edit in a word processor, then export back to PDF
2. Use LibreOffice Draw for simple documents
3. Use Sejda's online editor (with the daily limits and privacy trade-off)

If you regularly need to modify text in complex PDFs, honestly — buy Adobe Acrobat or look at Foxit PDF Editor. No free tool handles this well enough for professional use.

For page manipulation (delete, reorder, merge, split):

PeacefulPDF has dedicated tools for deleting pages, reordering, merging, and splitting. All free, all private, all offline. PDF24 is also solid for this if you don't mind the upload.

The Bottom Line

There's no single free PDF editor that does everything well. The best approach is using the right tool for the specific task:

• Browser-based local tools for everyday editing with privacy
• PDF24 or Sejda when you need something the local tools don't cover and don't mind the upload
• LibreOffice Draw for occasional text editing on desktop
• Adobe Acrobat when you need the full package and have the budget

Stop wasting time with tools that bait you with "free" and then demand payment after one task. The tools listed above will cover the vast majority of PDF editing needs without costing you anything.