Drawboard PDF vs PDF Annotator (2026): which should you pick?

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 PDF Annotator if

• Fits if you mark up and sign PDFs by pen on Windows
• Works for people who measure on plans in PDFs

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you use a Mac or phone, as it is Windows only
• Not for you if you need to edit existing text, which the pages read do not list
• Watch out: the license covers version 10, and a later major version needs an upgrade or Upgrade Assurance at $39.94
• Watch out: prices exclude VAT and volume pricing needs a quote

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.

PDF Annotator

• It runs on Windows only; there is no Mac, mobile or browser version.
• The license covers version 10; a later major version needs an upgrade purchase or Upgrade Assurance.
• Prices exclude VAT, and volume pricing needs a quote for purchase orders.
• It is built for marking up and organizing pages, and the pages read do not list editing of existing text.

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.

PDF Annotator

Pen, text and highlighter

Write by hand or type comments directly on a PDF, and mark passages with a text marker.

Shapes, stamps and images

Arrows, lines, rectangles and circles, more than 330 predefined stamps, date and signature stamps, and inserted images.

Measuring tools

Dimension distances and areas and measure angles on PDF plans or technical drawings.

Formula editor

Creates and edits scientific formulas, with LaTeX support.

Create and combine PDFs

A virtual PDF printer creates PDFs from other applications, and pages can be inserted, merged and reordered.

Full-screen presentation

Presents PDFs full screen, with annotation tools available while presenting.

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.

PDF Annotator

• License$79.95

  one-time per user, for 1 to 4 users

  Perpetual license for version 10 with free updates within that version; volume prices fall to $23.95 per user at 1,000 or more.

• Upgrade Assurance$39.94

  for 2 years per user, one-time

  Optional add-on covering 2 years of all updates, including major ones, and priority support tickets.

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.

PDF Annotator

• Education

  Student and faculty licenses

  The shop page has separate Student Licenses and Faculty Licenses tabs; prices are shown there.