Best Free PDF Editors in 2026 (Honest Comparison)

Let me save you about three hours of frustration. You search "free PDF editor," click the first result, upload your document, make your edits, hit download... and there it is. A watermark. Or a signup wall. Or a "free trial" that was never actually free.

I've been testing PDF editors for a while now, and the gap between what companies advertise as "free" and what you can actually do without paying is wild. So I went through the most popular options in 2026 and documented what's really free, what's limited, and what's just bait.

This comparison is for anyone who needs to edit PDFs without spending money — students, freelancers, small business owners, or anyone who just needs to tweak a document without installing Adobe Acrobat.

What "Free" Actually Means (Read This First)

Before we get into specific tools, let's talk about the three flavors of "free" in PDF editing:

Actually free. No account required, no watermarks, no limits on basic features. These exist, but they're rare.

Freemium. Core editing works, but you hit a wall after a certain number of exports, or advanced features like OCR and batch processing are locked behind a subscription. This is the most common model.

Free trial disguised as free. You get full access for 7 or 14 days, then everything locks. These are the ones that waste your time the most.

Knowing which model a tool uses before you upload sensitive documents matters. Nobody wants to realize they need to create an account after they've already made 20 minutes of edits.

The Contenders

I tested each editor on the same tasks: adding text to an existing PDF, inserting a signature, highlighting sections, merging two files, and exporting without watermarks. Here's how they stack up.

1. OnlyDocs (onlydocs.net)

Model: Freemium — generous free tier, no account needed for basic edits.

OnlyDocs lets you open a PDF and start editing immediately. No signup wall, no waiting. You get text editing, annotations, drawing tools, signatures, shapes, and all the standard features without paying anything.

The free tier gives you 3 exports per day without an account. Create a free account and that bumps to 10 per month. If you need unlimited exports, the Pro plan runs $7/month — but honestly, for occasional use, the free tier handles it.

What stood out: the editor loads fast, the interface isn't cluttered with upsell banners, and the export quality matches the original PDF resolution. The signature tool worked well for quick document signing, and merging files was straightforward.

Downsides: No desktop app (browser-only), and the monthly export cap on free accounts might pinch if you're editing PDFs daily. No OCR on the free tier.

2. Smallpdf

Model: Freemium with tight limits.

Smallpdf has been around for years and the interface is polished. You can do most basic operations — compress, convert, merge, split. The editing tools are decent for adding text and shapes.

The catch: free users get 2 tasks per day. That's it. Need to merge files AND add a signature? That's your daily limit. The Pro plan is $12/month, which is steep for what amounts to a web-based PDF tool.

Downsides: The 2-task daily limit is genuinely frustrating. It also requires an account for most operations now, which it didn't used to.

3. PDF24

Model: Actually free. No limits, no watermarks.

PDF24 is the surprise of this list. It's a German-made tool (by Geek Software GmbH) that offers a full suite of PDF tools completely free. Merge, split, compress, convert, sign, redact — all without creating an account or hitting a paywall.

There's a catch, though. The web version works well for quick operations, but the editing capabilities are more limited than dedicated editors. You're mostly doing operations on PDFs (merge, split, compress) rather than editing content within them. If you need to change text inside a PDF, PDF24 won't help much.

Downsides: Limited actual editing. The desktop app (Windows only) is more capable but looks like it was designed in 2015. Ad-supported on the web version.

4. Sejda

Model: Freemium — 3 tasks per hour, 50 MB file limit, 200-page max.

Sejda offers a solid web editor that lets you edit text directly inside PDFs — something many free tools can't do. The free limits are reasonable for light use: 3 tasks per hour with file size and page restrictions.

The editing experience is genuinely good. It handles fonts better than most browser-based editors, and the text reflow when you edit existing text works surprisingly well. At $7.50/month for the web plan, the paid tier is competitive.

Downsides: The hourly task limit resets, which is better than a daily cap, but power users will still hit it. Files are deleted from their servers after 2 hours.

5. LibreOffice Draw

Model: Completely free and open source. No limits at all.

If you don't mind installing software, LibreOffice Draw opens and edits PDFs reasonably well. It's part of the LibreOffice suite, which is free and runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

The reality check: it treats PDFs more like a drawing canvas than a document editor. Text blocks can shift, formatting gets weird on complex layouts, and multi-page documents are awkward to navigate. For simple PDFs with basic text and images, it works. For a 30-page formatted report? You'll want to throw your keyboard.

Downsides: Desktop-only, clunky for complex PDFs, steep learning curve compared to web tools.

6. ILovePDF

Model: Freemium — limited free tasks, account required.

Similar to Smallpdf in scope and limitations. ILovePDF offers merge, split, compress, convert, and basic editing. The free tier is a bit more generous than Smallpdf but still pushes you toward the $4/month Premium plan pretty aggressively.

The interface is clean and the tools work reliably. The batch processing on the paid tier is actually useful if you regularly handle multiple PDFs.

Downsides: Free limits have gotten tighter over the years. The editing tools are basic compared to dedicated editors.

Side-by-Side Comparison

Here's the quick breakdown of what matters:

OnlyDocs — All editing tools free, 3 exports/day (no account), 10/month (free account). No watermarks. $7/mo for unlimited.

Smallpdf — 2 tasks/day free. Good tools but expensive at $12/mo.

PDF24 — Everything free, but limited editing. Best for merge/split/compress operations.

Sejda — 3 tasks/hour, strong text editing. $7.50/mo paid tier.

LibreOffice Draw — 100% free, no limits, but desktop-only and struggles with complex PDFs.

ILovePDF — Moderate free tier, affordable paid plan at $4/mo. Basic editing.

Which One Should You Use?

It depends on what you actually need to do.

For quick, one-off edits (sign a document, add some text, merge a couple files): OnlyDocs or PDF24. Both let you get in and out without creating an account. OnlyDocs has better editing tools; PDF24 has no limits on operations.

For regular PDF editing (you work with PDFs multiple times a week): OnlyDocs Pro or Sejda's paid plan are the best value. Both are under $8/month and give you proper editing without desktop software.

For offline/privacy-conscious use: LibreOffice Draw. Everything stays on your computer, no data uploaded anywhere. Just be ready for some formatting quirks.

For bulk operations (compressing 50 files, batch converting): PDF24 for free batch work, or ILovePDF Premium if you want a cleaner interface.

The Honest Take

Most "best free PDF editor" articles are just affiliate link farms. They'll list 10 tools and recommend whichever pays the highest commission. Here's what I've actually found after testing these:

The PDF editor market in 2026 is better than it was even two years ago. The fact that tools like OnlyDocs and PDF24 exist — where you can genuinely edit PDFs without paying or dealing with watermarks — would have been hard to believe in 2020 when Adobe basically had a monopoly on anything beyond basic viewing.

That said, "free" still has limits everywhere. The question isn't really "which tool is free" but "which tool's free tier fits how I use PDFs." If you export 3 or fewer PDFs a day, several options will cost you nothing. If you're a power user doing 20 edits daily, you're going to need a paid plan somewhere.

My recommendation for most people: start with OnlyDocs. The free tier covers casual use, the interface doesn't get in your way, and there's no forced account creation. If you outgrow the free limits, the Pro plan is one of the more reasonable subscriptions in this space.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a truly 100% free PDF editor with no limits?

PDF24 and LibreOffice Draw are the closest. PDF24 is web-based with unlimited operations (though limited editing). LibreOffice is desktop software that's fully open source. For web-based editing with more features, OnlyDocs offers generous free usage with a small daily export cap.

Are free online PDF editors safe to use?

Reputable ones like OnlyDocs, Smallpdf, and PDF24 use encrypted connections and delete files from their servers after processing. Avoid unknown tools that don't have clear privacy policies. If security is a major concern, use LibreOffice offline so your files never leave your machine.

Can I edit text inside a PDF without paying?

Yes, but with limits. OnlyDocs and Sejda both allow text editing on free tiers. The quality of text editing depends on how the original PDF was created — PDFs made from Word documents edit better than scanned documents, which need OCR first.

What about Adobe Acrobat's free tools?

Adobe offers a free online PDF viewer and some basic tools at acrobat.adobe.com, but actual editing requires Acrobat Pro at $19.99/month. Their free tier is mostly for viewing and commenting, not editing. For the price of one month of Acrobat Pro, you could get nearly three months of a tool like OnlyDocs Pro.