A free Adobe Acrobat alternative
Plainpage does the everyday PDF jobs most people open Acrobat for, such as editing text, merging, compressing, signing and filling forms, for free in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, and there is no account or subscription.
The everyday PDF jobs, free
Most people open Acrobat for the same handful of jobs. Each one has a free Plainpage tool that runs in your browser, with no account and no subscription.
| What you need to do | Free Plainpage tool |
|---|---|
| Change the existing text in a PDF | Edit PDF |
| Combine PDFs into one | Merge PDF |
| Make a PDF smaller | Compress PDF |
| Sign a PDF | Sign PDF |
| Fill in a PDF form | Fill PDF forms |
| Convert PDF to Word | PDF to Word |
| Make a scan searchable (OCR) | OCR PDF |
| Delete, reorder or rotate pages | Organize pages |
| Split a PDF | Split PDF |
| Add or remove a password | Protect PDF |
| Black out sensitive text | Redact PDF |
| Add page numbers or a watermark | Page numbers |
Why people look for an Acrobat alternative
- Cost. Acrobat’s editing features need a paid subscription; the free Acrobat Reader only views, comments and signs.
- Accounts and installs. Plainpage needs no account and nothing to install. It runs in Chrome, Safari, Edge or Firefox.
- Privacy. Plainpage never uploads your files. Most free online PDF sites send documents to their servers to process them; Plainpage does the work on your own device, and keeps working offline.
Where Acrobat is still the better choice
We’d rather be honest than oversell. Choose Acrobat, or another paid editor, if you need to:
- turn Word, Excel or PowerPoint files into PDF (Word, Google Docs and LibreOffice can also save as PDF themselves);
- add certificate-based digital signatures for formal or regulated documents;
- convert PDF to Word with the exact layout, tables and images intact;
- create fillable form fields from scratch;
- reflow whole paragraphs, or run OCR in languages other than English and Afrikaans.
Also an iLovePDF and Smallpdf alternative
Plainpage covers the same everyday tools as the big online PDF sites. The difference is where the work happens: on your device, with no uploads, no daily limits, no watermark, no sign-up and no paid plan.
Questions
Is there a free alternative to Adobe Acrobat?
Yes. Plainpage is free and covers everyday jobs like editing text, merging, compressing, signing, filling forms, converting to Word and protecting files, all in your browser.
Can I edit a PDF without Adobe Acrobat?
Yes. Edit PDF changes the existing text in a PDF, in the document’s own font, and lets you add text, highlights, drawings and images.
Is Plainpage an alternative to iLovePDF or Smallpdf?
Yes, for the same everyday tools. The difference is that Plainpage never uploads your files, and it has no limits, watermark or paid plan.
Does it work on Mac and Windows?
Yes. It runs in any modern browser on Mac, Windows, Linux, Chromebook, iPhone, iPad and Android. See PDF tools on a Mac.
How can it be free?
Your own device does the processing, so there are no expensive servers to run. Nova Site covers the small hosting cost, and there are no ads and no paid version.