Best PDF Editors for Mac: 2025 Buyer’s Guide

Online PDF editors and converters are everywhere these days—many even offer advanced features for free. But let’s be real: not everyone feels comfortable uploading sensitive documents to third-party servers. And while Apple’s Preview app is fine for viewing and simple annotations, it lacks serious editing power.

That’s where dedicated PDF editors for Mac come in. We tested over 20 options—from lightweight free tools to professional-grade suites—to help you find the perfect fit, no matter your budget or needs.

Quick summary

• PDFelement – Best Overall
• PDFgear – Best Free
• EaseUS PDF Editor – Most Versatile Toolkit
• PDF Expert – Best Apple Experience
• Nitro PDF – Best for Business
• ABBYY FineReader PDF – Best for OCR
• Foxit – Best for Official Docs

Best Mac PDF editing software in 2025

We tested more than 20 PDF editors on an M2 MacBook Air running macOS Sequoia. Our goal? To find tools that balance usability, editing power, and value. We prioritized intuitive UI, robust text/image/media editing, OCR, AI capabilities, and price fairness. The result: 7 top picks that work across a variety of needs and budgets.

#1 PDFelement: Best Overall PDF Editor with AI

After testing over 20 PDF editors in the market, PDFelement turned out to be the best overall PDF editor for Mac. Thanks to the latest updates, PDFelement lets you do almost everything you want with a PDF. Similar to other tools on this list, PDFelement packs some excellent AI features as well.

Our Testing

We really liked the UI design, which keeps everything accessible through Tabs. For instance, you can use the Organize tab to add/remove/edit pages on a PDF document. Similarly, the Tools tab has a number of utilities like OCR, Compare, Compress, Merge, etc. The Form and Security functions from PDFelement are also great.

The editing experience is robust and comprehensive. You get the standard options to add, remove, edit, or replace a variety of content, including text and images. PDFelement lets you add audio/video elements to the PDF document, too. Some extra features include background removal and Header/Footer management.

The PDF editor allows you to convert PDF documents into a wider variety of other formats, including HTML and EPUB. The app has made all these functionalities available in Batch mode as well. For instance, you can convert, OCR, compress, watermark, encrypt, add background, and translate PDF documents in bulk.

AI Features

PDFelement packs a well-designed and optimized AI assistant as well. We could use it to chat with the PDF document, translate on-page content, check for grammar errors, and detect AI-generated content in a file. It is convenient to use all these features without converting the PDF document into another format.

Pricing

PDFelement for Mac offers a limited free version and a 7-day free trial for the Premium version. If you want the complete feature set, you can get a subscription that costs $79.99 per year or 129.99 for a one-time purchase. Both options give you 100GB of cloud storage space. You have to pay another $39.99/year for the AI features, though.

Pros

• User-friendly interface with clean design
• Comprehensive PDF editing tools for text, image, and media
• Supports batch processing for efficiency
• A fully-fledged AI assistant for summary and more
• It packs form creation and digital signatures

Cons

• Advanced features require a paid subscription
• Can be resource-intensive on older systems
• Limited cloud integration compared to some competitors

Overall, PDFelement caters to almost every PDF-related requirement. From simple file conversion to super-secure digital signature, the document management features of the tool are impressive, indeed. Considering how much you pay, PDFelement offers a lot of value.

#2 PDFgear: Best Free PDF Editor for Mac

We don’t always find free tools that work as well as paid/freemium ones. PDFgear is an exception in that the app does better than many paid PDF editors we’ve come across. PDFgear for Mac might as well be the best free PDF suite you can use for reading, annotating, editing, and interacting with PDF documents.

Our Testing

Compared to other tools on this list, PDFgear has a not-so-modern UI design. It isn’t really tricky to navigate, but we’d appreciate an overhaul sometime soon. Spread across eight tabs, several dozen features are added to the app, making it a comprehensive tool for managing PDF documents.

PDFgear checked all the boxes when it comes to editing and annotation. You can pick the appropriate tool, select the content, and edit the document however you want. You get a separate tab to manage all pages as well. We also loved the form-filling capabilities, especially the Preview option.

Other tools on PDFgear include Splitter, Merger, and OCR. While OCR is not the best, you get to extract text from local files and screenshots. We tried using PDFgear to extract text from some archival texts, and the experience was smooth. In the Protect tab, you get options for Password and Redaction.

AI Features

PDFgear has added AI features to the latest version. As of now, the PDF editor allows you to chat with your document. You can ask the AI to summarize the PDF, create a slide, or take other actions like compressing the document. Surprisingly, the free version offers 50 messages per file per day.

Pricing

PDFgear is entirely free to use, and you can download all versions from the official site. PDFgear is available for Windows, iOS, and Android in addition to macOS. You can also access these features through its website.  

Pros

• Completely free with no hidden charges or watermarks
• User-friendly interface ideal for quick edits
• Built-in AI assistant for summarizing and chatting with PDFs
• Supports PDF conversion, merging, splitting, and annotation
• Fast performance even with large files

Cons

• Advanced editing features are somewhat limited
• Lacks cloud storage or syncing functionality
• No option for digital signatures or form creation

Sure, PDFgear is not as feature-rich as the other top picks, but it offers a reliable PDF editing experience on a Mac. We cannot forget that this app is free to use and does not bother users with ads or those crappy pop-ups. You even get plenty of AI credits, too.

#3 EaseUS PDF Editor: Versatile PDF Toolkit

EaseUS PDF Editor is a new entry in the world of Mac PDF editors. But it packs so many features that it could very well be the most versatile PDF toolkit on the market. It combines an intuitive UI design, powerful tools, and wider system integration to offer a complete PDF management experience.

Our Testing

While it does not have the most modern-looking UI design, it felt effortless to navigate EaseUS PDF Editor. It lets you either launch a specific tool (say, OCR or bulk editing) from the homepage, or you can open a PDF document. This tool also lets you customize which tools appear on this Quick Access panel.

The PDF editing interface looks quite similar to the one we saw in Wondershare PDFelement. However, this app from EaseUS packs more features under each tab. For instance, you get more customization options for redacting the text and adding digital/existing signatures.

We liked the smoothness of the editing process as well. EaseUS PDF Editor is quick to recognize the objects and show relevant properties on the side pane. The OCR function also offers advanced options for controlling what appears. Some additional features, like Image Extractor, add extra value too.

AI Features

Unfortunately, EaseUS PDF Editor does not pack any AI-powered features. It is likely to be using AI for OCR features, but it does not have an AI Copilot or Assistant feature. So, if you want to summarize the PDF, you may need another tool.

Pricing

You can get EaseUS PDF Editor for Mac through a one-time purchase of $89.99. The purchase offers lifetime upgrades. We also loved that EaseUS offers a 24-hour free trial, during which you can explore all the features of the PDF editor.

Pros

• It packs a broader variety of PDF editing tools.
• An intuitive yet professional UI design
• Exemplary system integration and speed
• Customizable home page with quick access
• Built-in utilities for OCR and image extraction

Cons

• No AI integration
• Lacks cloud-based collaboration
• No free version

Overall, EaseUS PDF Editor delivers on all fronts of PDF editing and management. Though it lacks AI assistants and cloud collaboration features, the entire experience is versatile. The tool’s performance has also been quite reliable.

#4 PDF Expert: Easy PDF Editing with AI

PDF Expert is a popular PDF editor that is available for Mac, iPad, and iPhone. It lets you annotate, edit, scan & OCR, and export PDF documents efficiently. This comprehensive PDF editor is the best choice when you need a user-friendly PDF editing experience across macOS, iOS, and iPadOS.

The Smart Scan feature from the OCR module is also a great option for selecting text from a scanned image. You can count on the AI features of PDF Expert when it comes to summarizing or chatting with PDFs. In the end, it delivers quite a lot for the price you pay.

Pros

• Syncs across Mac, iPhone, and iPad
• Comprehensive editing and annotation tools
• User-friendly, intuitive interface
• Fast performance and affordable pricing

Cons

• Only available on Apple devices
• Must pay for new features if using a lifetime license

PDF Expert for Mac is available for $79.99 per year or $139.99 for the Lifetime license. However, the Lifetime license does not offer AI features, which is a bummer.

#5 Nitro PDF Pro: Best PDF Editor for Business

If you use PDF documents extensively for business purposes, you should check out Nitro PDF Pro. This super-advanced PDF editor offers one of the broadest feature sets we have seen. The form and security tools make it easy to deal with a variety of business documents.

Because Nitro PDF Pro is an enterprise-focused software, you get additional features like integration with DMS and user-intuitive OCR options. You can also choose between a variety of subscription plans that fit your needs. Its integration with tools like Google Drive and other cloud services adds value as well.

Pros

• Massive feature set for editing, conversion, and security
• Excellent annotation and form tools
• Integrates with Microsoft 365, Google Drive, and other cloud services
• Strong security and document protection features

Cons

• Expensive compared to competitors
• Can be slow with large or multiple PDFs

Nitro PDF Pro costs a whopping $275 per license, which is out there. However, you can use a single license to access Nitro PDF Pro on multiple platforms.

#6 ABBY FineReader PDF: Best for OCR on PDF

You must check out ABBY FineReader PDF if you need a PDF editor that can handle OCR and scans well. It uses one of the best AI-powered algorithms for OCR technology, offering the best results. You’d notice this extra optimization while scanning complex archival documents.

Even when we keep the OCR module aside, ABBY FineReader is an excellent PDF editor. It does a great job of converting PDF documents to different formats and vice versa. We must add that ABBY FineReader PDF takes a toll on system resources, especially while running the OCR module.

Pros

• Industry-leading OCR accuracy
• Powerful PDF editing and conversion features
• Exports to many formats and supports multiple languages
• Perpetual license available, no subscription required

Cons

• Lacks full-text multi-file indexing for fast search
• Learning curve can be steep for new users

You can get ABBY FineReader PDF for Mac by paying $69 per year, with some additional discounts if you go for a three-year plan.

#7 Foxit PDF Editor: Best for Official Documents

You may want to check out Foxit PDF Editor if you spend more time dealing with official PDF documents. For starters, it provides all the editing features you need, from combining pages to content extraction. It takes on the likes of Adobe Acrobat, offering state-of-the-art security and collaboration tools as well.

We also love that Foxit PDF Editor packs some intuitive AI features, allowing you to interact with all your PDF documents. Its strong features for OCR, digital signature, and document tracking are great, and offer a lot of room for customization.

Pros

• Full-featured editing, collaboration, and security tools
• Fast performance and lightweight compared to Adobe
• Strong OCR and export options
• Robust digital signature and document tracking features

Cons

• The interface can be cluttered and hard to navigate
• Some features are repetitive or hidden in menus

Foxit Editor for Individuals costs $110.04/year, but you can explore other packages as well. All the tools from the Foxit PDF Editor suite are available as part of the 7-day free trial.

Best PDF editors for Mac compared

Tool	Platform	AI Features	OCR	Batch Edit	Free Version	Best For
PDFelement	macOS, iOS	✅	✅	✅	⚠️ (Limited)	Overall editor
PDFgear	macOS	✅	✅	⚠️	✅	Free PDF tasks
EaseUS	macOS	❌	✅	✅	❌	Versatile editing
PDF Expert	Apple only	✅	✅	⚠️	❌	Apple ecosystem
Nitro	Cross-platform	⚠️	✅	✅	❌	Business use
ABBYY	macOS	⚠️	✅ (Advanced)	✅	❌	OCR-focused use
Foxit	Cross-platform	✅	✅	✅	❌	Office/enterprise

FAQs

What is the best free PDF editor for Mac?

PDFgear is the best free PDF editor for Mac we’ve tested. It offers an impressive suite of features—including editing, annotation, page management, OCR, and AI-powered summarization—all without watermarks or upsells. It’s ideal for casual users or students who want full control over PDFs without paying a dime.

Which PDF editor supports batch processing?

PDFelement, EaseUS PDF Editor, and ABBYY FineReader PDF all support batch processing. This allows users to convert, compress, watermark, OCR, or encrypt multiple PDFs at once—saving hours for professionals dealing with bulk documents.

Is Adobe Acrobat the only professional PDF tool?

Not at all. While Adobe Acrobat Pro DC remains a gold standard, several alternatives like PDFelement and Foxit PDF Editor offer comparable professional features—often at a lower cost. These tools provide advanced editing, form handling, digital signatures, collaboration, and strong security.

Which PDF editor has the best AI features?

PDFelement stands out for AI capabilities. It allows you to chat with your document, summarize content, translate text, and even detect AI-generated content. PDFgear also offers AI-assisted summarization in its free version, which is impressive for a no-cost tool.

What‘s the best PDF editor for Apple Silicon Macs?

Most modern PDF editors now run natively on M1, M2, and M3 chips. PDF Expert, PDFelement, and EaseUS PDF Editor are optimized for Apple Silicon, offering snappy performance and energy efficiency. PDF Expert is especially well-integrated across macOS, iOS, and iPadOS.

Can I fill out and sign PDF forms with these editors?

Yes, most editors on our list—including PDF Expert, PDFelement, and Foxit PDF Editor—support form filling and digital signatures. Some even let you create fillable forms from scratch and offer drag-and-drop field editing.

Do free PDF editors leave a watermark?

Many do—but PDFgear and the trial version of PDFelement do not leave watermarks for basic functions. However, advanced features (like OCR or exporting) may prompt upgrade notices in free tiers.

Wrapping up

So, these are the best Mac PDF editors you can find today. We have tried to suggest PDF editors that work well for particular needs. We hope it helps you choose the right one.

If you are looking for advanced PDF editing features and a powerful AI, you should stick to PDFelement from Wondershare. But if you can compromise on the UI and features, PDFgear is a sweet, free option.

On the other hand, if you want more features and impressive integration, the new player, EaseUS PDF Editor, is a great choice.

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