# Alternatives to Foxit PDF Editor

Full-featured Acrobat alternative.

Foxit PDF Editor ranks #3 of 13 in PDF tools, with an Alt Score of 91. It is proprietary, sold by subscription from $129.99/year and available on Windows, macOS, Web, iOS and Android. 9 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/foxit-pdf-editor/
Category: PDF tools

## Where Foxit PDF Editor stands out

- **One-time purchase option** — 5 of 13 apps with a verified answer have this

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Individuals and businesses who need to create, edit, and manage PDF documents, particularly those looking for a lower-cost alternative to Adobe Acrobat for teams ranging from small businesses to large enterprises.
- **What you get**: A full PDF editor for modifying text and images, converting PDFs to and from Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other formats, and organizing pages (merge, split, crop). It includes OCR for scanned documents, form filling, redaction, annotation/collaboration tools, and Foxit eSign for electronic signatures. AI features add document summarization, translation, and smart search.
- **How it works**: Users open or upload a PDF in the desktop app, web browser, or mobile app, then edit, convert, annotate, or sign it using a ribbon-style toolbar, saving or sharing the result via local storage, cloud storage, or connected enterprise systems.

## Profile

- **License**: Proprietary (verified 2026-07-11)
- **Pricing model**: Subscription (verified 2026-07-11)
- **Starts at**: $129.99/year (verified 2026-07-11)
- **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Web, iOS, Android
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-11)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [Nitro PDF](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/nitro-pdf.md) | 91 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS |
| 2 | [UPDF](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/updf.md) | 91 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android |
| 3 | [PDF-XChange](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/pdf-xchange.md) | 86 | Proprietary | Windows |
| 4 | [Adobe Acrobat](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/adobe-acrobat.md) | 82 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Web, iOS |
| 5 | [PDF Expert](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/pdf-expert.md) | 82 | Proprietary | macOS, iOS |
| 6 | [PDFgear](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/pdfgear.md) | 82 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, iOS, Web |
| 7 | [Smallpdf](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/smallpdf.md) | 78 | Proprietary | Web, Windows, iOS, Android |
| 8 | [iLovePDF](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/ilovepdf.md) | 68 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android |
| 9 | [Stirling PDF](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/stirling-pdf.md) | 68 | MIT | Web |
| 10 | [PDFsam](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/pdfsam.md) | 60 | AGPL-3.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 11 | [Sumatra PDF](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/sumatra-pdf.md) | 37 | GPL-3.0 | Windows |
| 12 | [Okular](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/okular.md) | 32 | GPL-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| PDF tools checklist | Foxit PDF Editor | Nitro PDF | UPDF | PDF-XChange | Adobe Acrobat | PDF Expert |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Subscription | Subscription | Subscription | One-time | Subscription | Subscription |
| Starts at | $129.99/year | ? | ? | EUR €56.00 one-time | $12.99/month | €5.99/week |
| License | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Web, iOS, Android | Windows, macOS | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android | Windows | Windows, macOS, Web, iOS, Android | macOS, iOS |
| Edit text & images | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Annotate & comment | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Fill & sign forms | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| OCR | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Merge / split / compress | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Redaction | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Batch processing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | ? |
| One-time purchase option | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Runs offline | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | ? | No | No | No | ? | ? |

## Sources

Sources for Foxit PDF Editor. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **License**: Proprietary — <https://www.foxit.com/pdf-editor/eula.html> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “THE PRODUCT IS LICENSED AND NOT SOLD. This License confers no title or ownership in the Product”
- **Pricing model**: Subscription — <https://www.foxit.com/pdf-editor/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “per user/year”
- **Starts at**: $129.99/year — <https://www.foxit.com/pdf-editor/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Note: @type":"Offer","name":"Foxit PDF Editor","price":"129.99","priceCurrency":"USD"}"
  - Quote: “{”
- **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Web, iOS, Android — <https://www.foxit.com/downloads/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Note: name":"Foxit PDF Editor+","url":"https://www.foxit.com/pdf-editor/","applicationCategory":"BusinessApplication","operatingSystem":"Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Web""
- **Status**: active — <https://www.foxit.com/pdf-editor/version-history.html> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Fixed some security and stability issues.”
- **Edit text & images**: Yes — <https://www.foxit.com/pdf-editor/advanced-editing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Edit text directly on the page”
- **Annotate & comment**: Yes — <https://www.foxit.com/pdf-editor/advanced-editing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “viewer for reading, annotating, and collaborating on documents anywhere.”
- **Fill & sign forms**: Yes — <https://www.foxit.com/pdf-editor/protect-sign-pdf/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Fill forms and apply quick signatures in seconds, all within your PDF.”
- **OCR**: Yes — <https://www.foxit.com/pdf-editor/scan-to-pdf-ocr/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Powered by the latest ABBYY OCR engine, Foxit delivers industry-leading character recognition accuracy for your digitized documents, even with complex layouts and multiple languages.”
- **Merge / split / compress**: Yes — <https://www.foxit.com/pdf-editor/advanced-editing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Link text blocks across pages, join or split content sections, and restructure documents with precision.”
- **Redaction**: Yes — <https://www.foxit.com/pdf-editor/protect-sign-pdf/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Mark for Redaction to preview before applying”
- **Batch processing**: Yes — <https://www.foxit.com/blog/use-action-wizard-to-automate-repetitive-tasks-in-pdfs/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Actions let you apply a sequence of commands to one or more files.”
- **One-time purchase option**: Yes — <https://www.foxit.com/pdf-editor/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Looking for perpetual licenses?”
- **Runs offline**: Yes — <https://www.foxit.com/downloads/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Note: @type":"DesktopApplication","operatingSystem":["Windows","macOS"]"

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/