Drawboard PDF vs Foxit PDF Editor (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Foxit PDF Editor grades higher than Drawboard PDF: 2.8 against 2.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Drawboard PDF grades higher on the free plan. Foxit PDF Editor grades higher on features and ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Drawboard PDF
PDF markup app with pressure-sensitive ink and measurement tools
Foxit PDF Editor
PDF editor for Windows, Mac and web, yearly or as a one-time license
Which one is for you
Pick Drawboard PDF if
- Fits if you mark up plans and drawings with a pen or stylus
- Works for students and site teams who need measurement on a PDF
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free, because it holds 10 cloud documents of 40 MB each
- Watch out: the 7-day Pro trial needs a credit card up front on Windows and iOS
- Pricey if you need Pro Unlimited at $159.99 a year, and everything paid is a subscription
- Skip it if you want to change the text of a PDF, as it is built for markup
- Watch out: Drawboard Projects is a separate team product at $29 to $39 per user a month
Pick Foxit PDF Editor if
- Fits if you're leaving Acrobat and want the same jobs done for $129.99 a year
- Makes sense if you'd rather pay once, as a $209.99 perpetual license is still sold
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to edit on your phone on the base plan, as mobile needs PDF Editor+ at $159.99 a year
- Watch out: the $10.99 and $13.99 monthly prices are annual plans billed monthly; there's no month-to-month plan
- Tight if you lean on the AI, as 300 credits a month is it before a $49.99-a-year add-on
- Pricey if you send lots of documents to sign: PDF Editor+ has 150 envelopes a year, and unlimited is Foxit eSign, sold separately
- Not for you if you only fix a typo now and then, since free editors here do that
How we grade them
| 2.6GPADrawboard PDFGood | 2.8GPAFoxit PDF EditorGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CPro Plus is $83.92 a year, about $7 a month, which is inside the middle of the PDF category at $7.99. Pro Unlimited is $159.99 a year. | C$129.99 a year for PDF Editor, the plan that edits text on Windows, Mac and web. That's the dear end of normal for PDF editors. Spread over three years, the $209.99 perpetual license costs less, but still sits in the middle. |
| Free plan and trial | BEssential markup tools and 10 cloud documents of up to 40 MB are free for good, which one person can live on. The paid trial is 7 days. | CNo free plan. There's a 14-day trial of PDF Editor+ with no card needed. After that you pay or stop. |
| Features | CInk and text markup, measurement, redaction, OCR, signatures and page tools. It is a markup app, so editing the text of a PDF is not what it is for. | BEdits text and images, converts to and from Office, OCRs scans, builds forms with JavaScript, redacts, compares versions and adds Bates numbers. It covers the whole job. Smart Redact and the phone apps wait for PDF Editor+, and heavy AI use costs extra. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating is on record, and an app built around pen markup and drawing scales takes a little learning. | B4.5 from 4,763 App Store ratings for the Foxit PDF Editor app. On a computer it's an editor you install and start using, with nothing to set up first. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWindows, Mac, iPhone, Android and web, with Revit, Procore and Autodesk Forma links, so it covers every device type. | AWindows, Mac, web, iPhone and Android, with Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Google Drive, Dropbox, Box and Salesforce. Just note the phone apps come with PDF Editor+, not the base plan. |
| Best for | marking up drawings and PDFs with a pen | an Acrobat-style editor you can still buy outright |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Drawboard PDF and Foxit PDF Editor. How we grade
Price against what you get
Drawboard PDF starts at $6.99 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Foxit PDF Editor starts at $10.83 a month when paid by the year for each person and scores 3.3.
Foxit PDF Editor scores higher, and starts $3.84 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other PDF editors on the chart, 6 score higher than Drawboard PDF for less, and none scores higher than Foxit PDF Editor for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Foxit PDF Editor can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Drawboard PDF also covers file sharing.
- Foxit PDF Editor also covers forms.
At a glance
| Drawboard PDF | Foxit PDF Editor | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $83.92 per year (Pro Plus) | $129.99 per user / year |
| Free plan | Essential markup tools plus Store+Share with 10 cloud documents (40 MB limit per document) and unlimited contributors. | None |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial of any Pro plan; Windows and iOS ask for a credit card up front | 14-day free trial of PDF Editor+, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Drawboard Pty Ltd | Foxit Software Incorporated |
| Price read from | drawboard.com | foxit.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Drawboard PDF
- Paid features are subscription-only; the pricing FAQ says there is no one-time purchase except the 3-year education offer.
- The pricing page shows Pro Plus and Pro Unlimited individual rates only as the usual yearly rates in the education block.
- Drawboard Projects is a separate team product, $29 per user a month (Team) or $39 (Growth), $22.50 and $30.83 billed yearly.
Foxit PDF Editor
- The iOS and Android apps, AI Smart Redact and the 150 eSign envelopes a year come only with PDF Editor+; PDF Editor covers Windows, macOS and web.
- Both subscriptions are annual; the $10.99 and $13.99 monthly figures are an annual plan billed monthly, not a monthly plan.
- More AI use costs extra: the AI Assistant add-on is $49.99 a year for 2,000 credits a month and access to Foxit Workspace.
- Unlimited e-signature sending needs Foxit eSign, a separate product sold per user by the year.
Key features
Drawboard PDF
- Pen-style ink and text markup
- Pressure-sensitive digital ink, highlight, underline and strikethrough, with touch and stylus support (Surface, Apple Pencil) or a mouse.
- Measurement
- Pro tools include calibrated length, rectangular area and polygon area measurements on drawings.
- Store+Share
- Upload annotated PDFs to the cloud and mark them up with others in real time. Reviewers do not need a paid plan.
- Redaction, OCR and signatures
- Pro adds redaction, OCR, unlimited signatures, custom templates and a text review export.
- Page tools
- Insert, rotate and delete pages, merge and split documents, and flatten annotations to export or shrink a file.
- Team licence admin
- An Admin Portal lets a team buy more licences, disable users and manage billing in one place.
Foxit PDF Editor
- Editing and page tools
- Edit text and images, add, delete and reorder pages, merge and split files, compare two versions, add Bates numbering and reduce file size.
- Conversion and OCR
- Converts PDFs to and from Word, Excel and PowerPoint, exports images, turns scans into searchable text and checks PDF/A and accessibility.
- Forms and signing
- Create fillable forms with JavaScript, fill and sign, and add certificate signatures; PDF Editor+ can also send for e-signature through Foxit eSign.
- Redaction and protection
- Password protection, copy and edit restrictions and manual redaction on both plans, with AI Smart Redact to find personal data on PDF Editor+.
- AI Assistant
- Summarizes, translates, rewrites and answers questions about documents, with 300 credits a month included in every subscription.
- Foxit DMS
- Every subscription includes Foxit's document management system with unlimited cloud storage, shared workspaces, check-in and check-out and version history.
Plans
Drawboard PDF
Free$0
Text review, digital ink, shapes, signatures, bookmarks, search and page insert, rotate and delete.
Pro Plus$83.92
per user / year, price shown as the usual rate
More tools and cloud space for regular reviewers. Students and educators pay $10 once for 3 years.
Pro Unlimited$159.99
per user / year, price shown as the usual rate
Unlimited cloud documents. Students and educators pay $20 once for 3 years.
Foxit PDF Editor
PDF Editor$129.99
per user / year ($10.99 a month on an annual plan billed monthly)
Windows, macOS and web apps: editing, conversion, OCR, forms, compare and security, with Foxit DMS and 300 AI credits a month.
PDF Editor+$159.99
per user / year ($13.99 a month on an annual plan billed monthly)
Everything in PDF Editor plus the iOS and Android apps, AI Smart Redact and Foxit eSign Essentials with 150 envelopes a year.
Foxit PDF Editor 14 (Perpetual)$209.99
one-time purchase per user
A perpetual license for version 14 of the editor, paid once instead of a subscription.
Volume LicensingCustom
Quoted for 30 or more licenses, subscription or perpetual, with discounts of up to 30% and one renewal date.
Ways to pay less
Drawboard PDF
- Education
3 years of Pro for a one-off $10 or $20
Students, teachers and school staff with a school email pay $10 for Pro Plus or $20 for Pro Unlimited, valid for 3 years, with no renewal.
Foxit PDF Editor
- Other savings
Volume discounts from 30 licenses
Foxit's pricing page gives discounts of up to 30% on orders of 30 or more licenses, for subscriptions or perpetual licenses, quoted by its sales team.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Drawboard PDF or Foxit PDF Editor?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Drawboard PDF starts at $83.92 per year (Pro Plus), and Foxit PDF Editor starts at $129.99 per user / year. One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Drawboard PDF or Foxit PDF Editor?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Drawboard PDF has a free plan. Foxit PDF Editor does not, though it has a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.