A recent Softonic comparison of paid versus free PDF tools on Mac ran into the same wall every Mac user hits eventually: Preview is fine until it isn’t. It marks up a page, signs a form, and drops a signature into a rectangle, and then somebody sends a file that needs OCR, or a form with radio buttons that Preview flattens on save, or a 200-page document that needs three pages pulled out. That is where you go shopping. We tested eight PDF editors on macOS 15 (Apple Silicon) and picked the ones that hold up for everyday work without a subscription trap.
What to look for in a Mac PDF editor
A few questions worth answering before installing anything:
- Text editing that actually reflows. Some editors only paint text over the page, which breaks alignment when you correct a typo mid-paragraph.
- Form filling and signing. Preview’s signature capture is good; not every editor’s is.
- OCR quality on scans. English is easy; multilingual scans separate the serious tools from the toys.
- Native Apple Silicon build. A Rosetta 2 fallback is noticeably slower on multi-hundred-page files.
- Page management. Splitting, merging, reordering, and rotating without exporting the whole doc.
- Local processing only. Some “free” tools upload your file to a server. Not fine for anything sensitive.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Free plan | Starting price | Native Apple Silicon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PDFsam Basic | Split, merge, rotate | Full-featured | Free | Yes |
| Preview | Everyday markup, signing | Built into macOS | Free | Yes |
| PDF Expert | Polished editor and reader | 7-day trial | 79.99 USD/year | Yes |
| Skim | Academic PDF reading, notes | Full-featured | Free | Yes |
| Foxit PDF Editor | Adobe-grade features, cheaper | Trial | About 129 USD/year | Yes |
| Adobe Acrobat Pro | Enterprise workflows, e-signatures | Trial | 19.99 USD/month | Yes |
| Nitro PDF Pro | One-off license, forms | Trial | 179 USD (one-time) | Yes |
| PDFgear | Free full editor with AI | Full-featured | Free | Yes |
The apps
1. PDFsam Basic, the free page-surgery tool
PDFsam Basic does one job well: split, merge, rotate, extract, and mix pages. No AI, no cloud, no signup. Drop a PDF, pick pages, get a new PDF. On a MacBook Air M2 it merged 30 files in under two seconds. If your workflow is 80 percent “combine these five PDFs and pull page 7 from another,” this is the tool.
Where it falls short: No text editing, no form filling, no annotation. It is a slicer, not an editor. Enhanced and Visual versions add editing but cost 79 EUR/year and 129 EUR/year respectively.
Pricing:
- Free: Split, merge, rotate, mix, extract pages.
- Paid: Enhanced 79 EUR/year, Visual 129 EUR/year for editing and OCR.
Platforms: macOS, Windows, Linux.
Bottom line: Install it alongside a heavier editor. It handles the small file-shuffle chores faster than any full editor’s UI.
2. Preview, the free tool you already have
Preview ships with macOS and covers more than most people realize: text annotation, freehand markup, signature capture (via trackpad or camera), page reordering by drag from the sidebar, and form filling for well-formed PDFs. The signature tool alone saves the price of most paid editors.
Where it falls short: No real text editing (only overlaying text boxes). Loses fillable form fields on save for some documents. No OCR. No PDF password protection stripping.
Pricing:
- Free: Bundled with macOS.
Platforms: macOS only.
Download: Built into macOS.
Bottom line: Ninety percent of Mac users never need to install anything else. Start here.
3. PDF Expert, the polished paid choice
PDF Expert from Readdle is the most Mac-native paid editor. Real text editing that reflows, form building (not just filling), redaction, OCR in 12 languages, and iCloud sync with the iOS app. The UI feels like something Apple would ship. Signatures store in the app so you do not re-draw them every document.
Where it falls short: Subscription-only since version 3. The 79.99 USD/year is fair for what it does, but a one-time buy no longer exists.
Pricing:
- Free: 7-day trial.
- Paid: 79.99 USD/year, or 139.99 USD/year with Nitro Sign integration.
Platforms: macOS, iOS, iPadOS, Windows.
Download: Readdle | Mac App Store
Bottom line: The default recommendation if you edit PDFs weekly and want it to feel native. Skip if you edit them twice a month.
4. Skim, the academic reader
Skim is a PDF reader built for reading papers. Highlight, underline, note-anchor, and export annotations as a plain-text summary you can paste into Zotero, Obsidian, or your notes app of choice. AppleScript-friendly for automation. Open source, actively maintained.
Where it falls short: Not an editor. Cannot merge, split, or fill forms. Reading and annotation only.
Pricing:
- Free: All features.
Platforms: macOS.
Download: SourceForge | GitHub
Bottom line: If your PDF work is reading papers, get this. If it is anything else, skip.
5. Foxit PDF Editor, the cheaper Adobe
Foxit PDF Editor is what people who left Acrobat almost always land on. Full text editing, form building, e-signatures, redaction, batch OCR, and cloud collaboration. Roughly a third cheaper than Acrobat per year and licensed per device rather than per user, which matters for solo consultants.
Where it falls short: UI is dated compared to PDF Expert. The Foxit online push in the sidebar takes some getting used to.
Pricing:
- Free: Trial.
- Paid: About 129 USD/year for the standard edition, 179 USD/year for Pro.
Platforms: macOS, Windows, Linux.
Download: Foxit
Bottom line: The right pick for anyone who needs Acrobat-grade features but not the Adobe tax.
6. Adobe Acrobat Pro, the reference implementation
Adobe Acrobat Pro is still the file format’s origin, and there are workflows it does better than anyone: e-signatures with a full audit trail, PDF/A conversion for legal archives, and enterprise SSO. If your firm sends signed PDFs into a document management system that expects Acrobat’s exact output, you probably need it.
Where it falls short: 19.99 USD/month adds up, and the Creative Cloud installer is heavy. Cloud features push hard.
Pricing:
- Free: 7-day trial.
- Paid: 19.99 USD/month, 239.88 USD/year.
Platforms: macOS, Windows, iOS, Android.
Download: Adobe
Bottom line: Buy it if your job requires it. For personal use in 2026, one of the alternatives above wins.
7. Nitro PDF Pro, the one-time-payment option
Nitro PDF Pro (formerly Nitro Pro) is one of the few paid editors that still sells a perpetual license instead of a subscription. Text editing, forms, redaction, OCR, and comparison tools that show a side-by-side diff of two PDFs. The Mac version is a rewrite (not the old Windows port), so it feels native.
Where it falls short: The upfront price is not small, and updates to a new major version cost extra. Cloud collaboration is behind subscribers.
Pricing:
- Free: Trial.
- Paid: 179 USD one-time for Nitro PDF Pro, or 129 USD/year for Nitro Sign.
Platforms: macOS, Windows.
Download: Nitro
Bottom line: Best pick if you want to pay once and be done. Do the math against three years of PDF Expert.
8. PDFgear, the full-feature free surprise
PDFgear is a free PDF editor that punches above its price. Real text editing, forms, OCR, and a built-in AI chat that summarizes a PDF or extracts data. All processing runs locally except AI calls (which use their servers). No account required, no watermarks.
Where it falls short: Younger product (launched 2023), so the plugin ecosystem is thin. AI features require an internet connection and a free account.
Pricing:
- Free: All PDF editing features.
- Paid: None currently.
Platforms: macOS, Windows, iOS.
Download: PDFgear
Bottom line: Try this before paying for anything. It covers most workflows for zero dollars.
How to pick the right one
- If you already use Preview and it works, do not install anything.
- If you split and merge PDFs weekly, add PDFsam Basic to Preview.
- If you edit PDFs every day for work, buy PDF Expert or Foxit.
- If you want zero subscriptions and full features, try PDFgear first.
- If you need enterprise e-signatures with an audit trail, Adobe Acrobat Pro is unavoidable.
- If you want to own the software forever, Nitro PDF Pro is the last big-name perpetual license.
- If you read academic papers, install Skim.
FAQ
Can I edit a PDF for free on Mac?
Yes. Preview handles markup, form filling, and signatures. For real text editing without paying, PDFgear covers most jobs. For splitting and merging, PDFsam Basic is free and open source.
Is PDF Expert better than Adobe Acrobat on Mac?
For most personal and small-business use, yes. PDF Expert is faster, native to macOS, and less expensive. Acrobat wins for enterprise e-signature workflows and PDF/A archival compliance.
Does Preview support OCR?
No. Preview cannot convert scanned images into searchable text. For OCR on Mac, PDFsam Enhanced, PDF Expert, Foxit, and Adobe all handle it.
What is the best free open-source PDF editor for Mac?
PDFsam Basic for page manipulation and Skim for reading and annotation. Both are actively maintained and run natively on Apple Silicon.
Can I edit PDF forms on Mac without Acrobat?
Yes. Preview fills most forms. PDF Expert, Foxit, Nitro, and PDFgear all support both filling and building new form fields.
