The 17 Best Open-source PDF Editors to Edit PDFs for Free on Windows, Mac, and Linux

PDF is a widely used file format in the office. It is a non-editable format, which maintains the same file formatting on different devices and systems. But this non-editable feature also brings several handicaps. To make some edits to a PDF document, you have to resort to professional PDF editing tools. This article will list the 17 best open-source PDF editors for you to select. Check out the best online and desktop PDF editing software and pick one for long-term use.

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Comparison of the Best Open Source PDF Editors

Open-source PDF Editors	Compatibility	Pricing	Best For
PDFSimpli	Online	Free	Convert PDF file format; Reduce PDF file size; Add signature to a PDF; Watermark a PDF
LibreOffice	Windows, Linux, and macOS	Free	Edit existing words in a PDF; Manage PDF pages; Add a digital signature
Inkscape	Windows, Linux, and macOS	Free	Annotate a PDF; Change words in a PDF; Remove PDF texts, images, links, etc.
Google Docs	Online	Free	Edit existing content in a PDF; Convert PDF to Word; Annotate and comment on a PDF
PDFsam Basic	Windows, Mac, and Linux	Free version available	Merge and split PDF files; Extract pages from PDF files; Rotate PDF pages
Apache OpenOffice Draw	Windows, macOS, and Linux	Free	Annotate a PDF; Insert the image into a PDF; Spell-check PDF documents
PDFescape	Online	Free	Edit PDF documents; Fill PDF forms; Password protect PDFs
PDF Architect	Windows	Free version available	Convert PDF formats; Edit PDF with annotating tools; Create PDF forms
PDFedit	Windows, Mac, and Linux	Free	Convert file formats; Edit PDF with annotating tools; Password protect PDF documents
PDF Xchange Editor	Windows	Free version available	Convert to PDF; Annotate PDF documents; Edit text in PDF
Smallpdf	Online	Free version available	Convert PDF formats; Edit PDF with annotating tools; e-sign PDF documents
PDFelement	Windows, Mac, Android, iPhone	Free version available	OCR PDF files; Annotate PDF easily; Cloud storage of PDFs
Okular	Windows, Mac	Free	View and annotate PDFs; Copy and paste the content into a PDF
Scribus	Windows, Mac, and Linux	Free	Read and edit PDF files; Annotate PDFs
Sejda	Online	Free version available	Annotate a PDF; Insert images, links, etc.; Manage PDF pages
Preview	Mac only	Free	Annotate PDF files; Fill out PDF forms; Password protect PDFs
DocFly	Online	Free	Markup PDF files online; Convert PDF to/from others; Password protect PDF files

Best Alternative to Open-source PDF Editors – PDFgear Desktop

PDFgear Desktop is a completely-free PDF management toolkit available on Windows and macOS. It can be said that the best alternative for Adobe Acrobat, and any open-source PDF editors.

Compared with those open-source PDF editors, PDFgear offers all-around PDF editing solutions. With its clear navigation, beginners can operate PDF documents easily. As one of the best free PDF editors for Windows, it is in favor of PDF annotations, editing, converting, compressing, and other 30+ features. In addition, what is worthy of mentioning is that it has no limits to use. It is free of watermarks, ads, registration, and other annoying restrictions. As for the program security, you can totally rely on it. The software provider offers an authoritative privacy policy that promises your data safety. It is so reliable that millions of users trust it. You can select it as the most powerful PDF editing assistant.

Top 17 Best Open Source PDF Editors

Check the below top list of the 17 best open-source PDF editors. Detailed product information, such as tool features, price, advantages and disadvantages are introduced here.

1. PDFSimpli

PDFSimpli is an easy-to-use online PDF converter and editor. It offers multiple effective PDF processing tools, including a PDF converter, PDF editor, PDF splitter, PDF rotator, PDF compressor, and more. Since it is an online tool, it works on any platform and system. Also, it is free to use with no hidden restrictions. It is one of the best options if you need an online open-source PDF editor.

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Product Features

• Convert PDF file format
• Reduce PDF file size
• Add signature to a PDF
• Watermark a PDF

Price: Free to use

2. LibreOffice

LibreOffice is a trustworthy open-source PDF editor created by Microsoft Office. It is compatible with multiple platforms, like Windows, Mac, and Linux. As for its functions, it allows you to make several simple edits to a PDF document, such as annotating, adding a signature, managing pages, etc. Apart from that, LibreOffice also provides an OCR feature that allows you to edit the existing words in the PDF file. It is practical and effective. But it is not a good option for editing large PDF documents.

Product Features

• Edit existing words in a PDF
• Manage PDF pages
• Add a digital signature

Price: Free

3. Inkscape

Inkscape is actually an open-source vector graphics editor. It is commonly used to modify image files but can also cope with PDF documents. With it, you are able to make any changes to the PDF document as you like, such as changing the existing texts, images, links, etc. But it may not be as powerful as those professional PDF editing tools.

Product Features

• Annotate a PDF
• Change words in a PDF
• Remove PDF texts, images, links, etc.

Price: Free

4. Google Docs

You may not feel unfamiliar with Google Docs if you often use it to edit Word files. It is an online open-source office document editor launched by Google. One reason why users love it is that it will automatically save the changes to the file. And it will preserve the file in the cloud to prevent sudden data loss. Except for Word documents, it is also feasible to edit PDF documents. Google Docs has many practical document-related features like converting PDF to Word.

Product Features

• Edit existing content in a PDF
• Convert PDF to Word
• Annotate and comment on a PDF

Price: Free

5. PDFsam Basic

PDFsam Basic is dedicated to merging, splitting, and rotating PDF files. It is a free-to-use PDF editing tool for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It is efficient in dealing with PDF pages. But the basic version is not for PDF editing. You must purchase its enhanced version if you need advanced PDF editing tools. The program supports various languages, including English, French, Chinese, Spanish, and more. Users worldwide can use it without the language barrier.

Product Features

• Merge and split PDF files
• Extract pages from PDF files
• Rotate PDF pages

Price: Free version available

6. Apache OpenOffice Draw

Apache OpenOffice Draw is another recommended open-source graphic editor. It can successfully open a PDF document and make several edits to it, such as annotating with text, brush, line, etc., inserting images, splitting PDF pages, spellchecking the PDF file, and more. It is entirely free to use and available on various systems, like Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Product Features

• Annotate a PDF
• Insert the image into a PDF
• Spell-check PDF documents

Price: Free

7. PDFescape

PDFescape is a free and open-source online PDF editor. It is so powerful that various PDF editing issues can be fixed using it. Basically, it can edit PDF files with comprehensive annotating tools, fill out PDF forms, protect PDF documents with passwords, share a PDF with other platforms, etc. It also has a desktop version that provides more PDF editing features. It is practical to edit PDFs, but you have to pay attention that the online tool limits the upload PDF size and length. A PDF with more than 100 pages will fail to upload.

Product Features

• Edit PDF documents
• Fill PDF forms
• Password protect PDFs

Price: Free

8. PDF Architect

PDF Architect is a free and open-source PDF editor software for the Windows system. Its multi-functionality is beyond your imagination. You can use it to transform PDF formats, create PDF forms, OCR PDFs, add a digital signature to PDF, annotate PDF documents, and more. But one handicap of this open-source PDF editor is that it will generate a brand watermark on the edited PDF file, and to remove it, you have to activate its premium version.

Product Features

• Convert PDF formats
• Edit PDF with annotating tools
• Create PDF forms

Price: Free version available

9. PDFedit

PDFedit is an efficient PDF viewer and editor for several platforms, there are numerous PDF editing options on its dashboard. Generally, it allows you to edit PDFs with text, lines, and brushes, convert PDF format, protect PDFs with passwords, etc. It is comprehensive but also may confuse new users with not-very-clear navigation. Its program is lightweight and available on various platforms.

Product Features

• Convert file formats
• Edit PDF with annotating tools
• Password protect PDF documents

Price: Free

10. PDF Xchange Editor

PDF Xchange Editor is also a helpful open-source PDF editor for Windows. It is proficient in viewing and editing PDF files. Within the software, 75% of features are free to access. You can utilize it to annotate PDFs, convert other formats to PDFs, comment on a PDF file, etc. It also explores an inbuilt OCR feature that can help you edit existing content in a PDF, but it is available in the pro version.

Product Features

• Convert to PDF
• Annotate PDF documents
• Edit text in PDF

Price: Free version available

11. Smallpdf

Smallpdf is an online free PDF editor with a high reputation in the market. It offers 20+ PDF editing tools for users to access. For example, you can use it to convert PDF, edit PDF, compress PDF, e-sign PDF, etc. 6000+ well-known businesses trust and collaborate with it. Therefore, it is a relatively reliable and safe online software.

Product Features

• Convert PDF formats
• Edit PDF with annotating tools
• e-sign PDF documents

Price: Free version available

12. PDFelement

PDFelement is a great alternative to the comprehensive Adobe Acrobat. It provides numerous PDF editing features, such as annotating, converting file formats, editing existing words, signing PDFs, adding passwords, etc. In addition, PDFelement offers a cloud storage function that allows you to preserve PDF files online. The free version is powerful enough, but it may be short of some PDF-converting features.

Product Features

• OCR PDF files
• Annotate PDF easily
• Cloud storage of PDFs

Price: Free version available

13. Okular

Okular is more like a file viewer that can check PDF, EPub, DjVU, MD, and image files. You can open and view a PDF document in it as simply as reading an eBook. In addition, it allows you to annotate the PDF with notes, lines, highlighters, etc. Using its magnifier mode, you can also copy and paste any text in the PDF document. It supports multiple platforms and languages, allowing all kinds of users to access it.

Product Features

• View and annotate PDFs
• Copy and paste content into a PDF

Price: Free

14. Scribus

Scribus is also a free and open-source PDF editor that deserves a recommendation. You can use it to open and edit PDF documents, add news texts, lines, rectangular boxes, etc. This program has better compatibility as well. Users on Windows, Mac, and Linux can install it directly. But its user interface and some operations are somewhat outdated. It is a good PDF editing and reading option if this doesn’t matter to you.

Product Feature

• Read and edit PDF files
• Annotate PDFs

Price: Free

15. Sejda PDF Editor

Sejda PDF Editor is an online open-source PDF editor with over a million users all over the world. With several simple drag-and-drop operations, you can successfully make some changes to a PDF file online for free. Its free version allows you to upload PDF documents up to 200 pages within 50 Mb, and you can cope with 3 tasks per hour. To eliminate these restrictions, you have to purchase its premium version.

Product Feature

• Annotate a PDF
• Insert images, links, etc.
• Manage PDF pages

Price: Free version available

16. Preview

Preview is an inbuilt file checker and editor for the Mac system only. You can use it to open and edit a PDF file. Therefore, it can also be seen as an open source PDF editor. To be brief, it can help you annotate PDF files, password-protect PDFs, add a signature to PDF, fill PDF forms, etc. It is powerful enough and can prevent you from installing issues.

Product Features

• Annotate PDF files
• Fill out PDF forms
• Password protect PDFs

Price: Entirely free for Mac users

17. DocFly

DocFly is a well-known web-based PDF editing tool. It enables you to view, edit, convert and protect PDF files online for free. Just upload your PDF to its online server, then you can edit it without effort. Apart from its convenience feature, this tool also guarantees your data security. The provided security protocols will secure uploaded files. It is on the top list of the best online open-source PDF editors.

Product Feature

• Markup PDF files online
• Convert PDF to/from others
• Password protect PDF files

Price: Free

Bottom Line

This post lists the best open-source PDF editors in the field right now. You can compare the above-recommended products, including price, main features, pros and cons, and compatibility, and then select one to process PDF files for a long time. In contrast, open-source PDF editors may more or less lack PDF editing features. If you need a more comprehensive one, the best alternative PDFgear Desktop, is a better choice.