6 free PDF editing and conversion apps to use instead of Adobe Acrobat by Adobe
The best free alternative to Adobe Acrobat is Dorabot PDF tools. Runs in the browser and covers the everyday Acrobat jobs: merge, split, compress, and convert PDF to Word or Excel.
Other great options: PDF24 Creator, PDFsam Basic, Sumatra PDF, LibreOffice and Stirling-PDF.
Quick pick: To merge, split, compress or convert PDFs to Word quickly, use the Dorabot PDF tools or PDF24. For confidential files that should stay on your computer, use PDFsam. If you only need to read PDFs fast, Sumatra PDF is enough.
Reviewed November 2026 against each vendor's official website.
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Runs in the browser and covers the everyday Acrobat jobs: merge, split, compress, and convert PDF to Word or Excel.
Free PDF tools from Dorabot that run in your browser with no sign-up. Merge and compress PDFs, convert PDF to Word or Excel, and turn JPG images into PDF.
Platforms: Web
A huge set of PDF tools, plus a Windows app that processes files locally.
Free PDF toolbox from Germany: compress, merge, split, convert to Word, OCR, sign and password-protect. A Windows app works offline.
Platforms: Windows · Web
Merges, splits and rotates pages on your own machine without uploading anything.
Open-source desktop tool to merge, split, rotate and extract PDF pages. Files never leave your computer.
Platforms: Windows · Mac · Linux
An ultra-light reader that opens PDFs instantly, unlike the heavier Acrobat Reader.
Very lightweight open-source PDF reader for Windows. It also opens EPUB, MOBI and CBZ comics.
Platforms: Windows
LibreOffice Draw can edit text and images in simple PDFs.
Open-source office suite that replaces Microsoft Office: Writer, Calc, Impress and Draw. Works fully offline and is available in many languages.
Platforms: Windows · Mac · Linux
For companies: self-host it on your own server for 50+ PDF operations while documents never leave your network.
Open-source PDF toolkit you host on your own server with Docker, with 50+ operations. Merge, split, compress, OCR, sign and convert without documents leaving your company.
Platforms: Self-hosted · Windows · Mac · Linux
| App | Type | Platforms | Ease of use | GitHub stars |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Dorabot PDF tools | Dorabot tool | Web | Easy to use | — |
 PDF24 Creator | Free | Windows, Web | Easy to use | — |
 PDFsam Basic | Open source | Windows, Mac, Linux | Easy to use | 4,661 |
 Sumatra PDF | Open source | Windows | Easy to use | 17,957 |
 LibreOffice | Open source | Windows, Mac, Linux | Easy to use | — |
 Stirling-PDF | Open source | Self-hosted, Windows, Mac, Linux | Technical setup | 95,986 |
Open source: anyone can use, study and modify it, including businesses. Free: no cost, but the code is closed. Freemium: a lasting free plan with paid tiers for extra features. Source available: code is public but the license adds conditions.
The most popular picks are Dorabot PDF tools, PDF24 Creator, PDFsam Basic and Sumatra PDF. To merge, split, compress or convert PDFs to Word quickly, use the Dorabot PDF tools or PDF24. For confidential files that should stay on your computer, use PDFsam. If you only need to read PDFs fast, Sumatra PDF is enough.
LibreOffice Draw opens a PDF as editable text boxes, which works well for short files with simple layouts. A more reliable route is to convert the PDF to Word with the Dorabot PDF tools, make your edits, then export it back to PDF.
Microsoft Office4 alternativesOffice suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
Microsoft Word4 alternativesWord processing
Microsoft Excel4 alternativesSpreadsheet
PowerPoint4 alternativesPresentation
Outlook3 alternativesEmail and calendar
Microsoft Visio3 alternativesDiagramming and flowchart
Microsoft Project4 alternativesProject planning and scheduling