Free alternatives to Adobe Acrobat
8 free programs that can replace Adobe Acrobat, each pairing checked by Radar's AI reviewer or by Radar.
Adobe Acrobat is the best-known program for working with PDF files: reading, editing text and pages, filling in forms, adding comments and collecting signatures. The paid editions are typically sold as a subscription and are common in offices, schools and anywhere contracts and forms circulate.
Before you switch, check a few things:
- Which features you really use. Merging, splitting and reordering pages is one thing; editing text inside a page, filling complex forms or using digital signatures is another.
- Whether the forms and signed documents you already have still open and work correctly.
- Whether the people you send files to need comment or review tools that only the paid program provides.
- How much time your team needs to learn a different interface.
Keep a copy of your important originals while you test. The list below shows open-source options for PDF work, including Stirling-PDF and PDFsam.
| Program | Ease | You need | Risk signals | Stars | Downloads this week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stirling-PDFMerge, split, sign, compress, convert and edit PDF files on your own computer or server. | Ease Adownload and open · Windows | Nothing extra | Few signals | 95,481+474 in 6 days | 61,782 |
| FileeA free app that converts images, PDFs, Office files, video, music and e-books by dragging them onto a menu at your cursor. | Ease Adownload and open · Windows | Nothing extra | Attention · 1 | 19,288+6,042 in 5 days | 185,978 |
| PdfCraftA free desktop app to read PDFs, reorder, combine and split pages, add comments, fill forms and set passwords. | Ease Adownload and open · Windows | Nothing extra | Attention · 1 | 18,945+894 in 5 days | 465,420 |
| ONLYOFFICE Desktop EditorsCreate and edit documents, spreadsheets, presentations and PDFs on your computer, with good Word, Excel and PowerPoint file support. | Ease Adownload and open · Windows | Nothing extra | Few signals | 5,678+45 in 6 days | 372,003 |
| PDFsamSplit, merge, mix and rotate PDF files and pull out pages, all on your own computer. | Ease Adownload and open · Windows | Nothing extra | Few signals | 4,653+12 in 6 days | 112,320 |
| OkularOpen and read PDFs, comic books, PostScript files and images, and add notes and highlights to PDFs. | Ease Adownload and open · Windows | Nothing extra | Few signals | 1,555+5 in 6 days | — |
| Ely OfficeA family of offline desktop apps for documents, spreadsheets, slides, PDFs, email, Markdown and Git. | Ease Adownload and open · Windows | Nothing extra | Attention · 1 | 1,146+79 in 4 days | 4,566 |
| MiniCPM-OCRTurns photos, scans and PDFs into text, tables and formulas you can edit, and scores which parts may be wrong. | Ease Binstaller plus one simple step · Web | Python, NVIDIA graphics card | Attention · 2 | 721+721 in 4 days | — |
Frequently asked questions
Which free alternative to Adobe Acrobat is the easiest to install?
Stirling-PDF has the highest ease rating among the 8 options: A (download and open · Windows).
Is there a free alternative to Adobe Acrobat for Windows, Mac and Linux?
Windows: Stirling-PDF, Filee, PdfCraft, ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors, PDFsam, Okular, Ely Office. macOS: Stirling-PDF, Filee, PdfCraft, ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors, PDFsam, Ely Office. Linux: Stirling-PDF, Filee, PdfCraft, ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors, PDFsam, Okular, Ely Office, MiniCPM-OCR.
Are the alternatives to Adobe Acrobat really free?
7 of the 8 are completely free; 1 depends on a paid service or key for some features.
How can I tell whether an alternative is trustworthy?
Each card shows the risk signals found, with the evidence. 4 of the 8 have no signal rated attention or high. See also the guide How to find a GitHub project's official repository and avoid fake copies.