Drawboard PDF vs Xodo (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Drawboard PDF grades higher than Xodo: 2.6 against 2.2 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 and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, features and ease of use.
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
Xodo
PDF tools on web, desktop and mobile, sold separately or as a suite
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 Xodo if
- Fits if you're on Linux and need a desktop PDF editor
- Works for people who only need browser tools, at $7.99 a month on a yearly plan
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want web, desktop and phone without paying $14.99 a month for the full Suite
- Not for you if you want a refund safety net, as Xodo doesn't give them
- Tight if you're on the free plan, at 1 action a day, and the 3-day trial needs a payment method
- Watch out: the $240 perpetual license covers two devices and only 12 months of version upgrades
- Too light for building forms, as no form builder is on record, and the only integration is Xodo Sign
How we grade them
| 2.6GPADrawboard PDFGood | 2.2GPAXodoFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CXodo Web is $7.99 a month on a yearly plan and the desktop editor $9.99, both normal for PDF editors. The full Suite is $14.99, or $8.99 for new yearly subscribers until Dec 31, 2026. The $240 perpetual license, spread over three years, is middling too. |
| 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. | CThere's a free plan, but it's 1 action a day on the web tools, barely a taste. The 3-day trial needs a payment method, and Xodo doesn't give refunds. |
| 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. | CEdits, compresses, redacts, OCRs, converts, compares two PDFs, checks PDF/A and even edits Word files, with AskPDF AI. But no form builder is on record, and the web plan has no desktop app. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating is on record, and an app built around pen markup and drawing scales takes a little learning. | C4.35 from 1,703 App Store ratings, below most PDF apps here. And working out which of the separate products you need takes some reading first. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWindows, Mac, iPhone, Android and web, with Revit, Procore and Autodesk Forma links, so it covers every device type. | BWeb, Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone and Android, six platforms. But the only integration on record is Xodo Sign, so it stops at B. |
| Best for | marking up drawings and PDFs with a pen | a desktop PDF editor that also runs on Linux |
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 Xodo. 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. Xodo starts at $7.99 a month and scores 2.3.
Drawboard PDF scores higher and starts $1 a month lower. Of the other PDF editors on the chart, 6 score higher than Drawboard PDF for less, and 10 score higher than Xodo 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
- Xodo can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Drawboard PDF also covers documents and file sharing.
At a glance
| Drawboard PDF | Xodo | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $83.92 per year (Pro Plus) | $7.99 per month, billed annually ($10.99 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Essential markup tools plus Store+Share with 10 cloud documents (40 MB limit per document) and unlimited contributors. | 1 action a day with limited Xodo Web tools and 1GB of Xodo Drive; the Xodo PDF Reader and mobile apps can be installed free. |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial of any Pro plan; Windows and iOS ask for a credit card up front | 3-day free trial of Xodo Web or PDF Studio, payment method required |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Drawboard Pty Ltd | Apryse Software Inc. |
| Price read from | drawboard.com | xodo.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.
Xodo
- Each product is sold separately: the Web plan has no desktop app, and only the Document Suite covers web, desktop and mobile.
- The free plan allows only 1 action a day, and the free trial needs a payment method.
- Xodo does not give refunds; a cancelled plan runs to the end of the paid period.
- The perpetual license includes only 12 months of version upgrades and covers two devices.
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.
Xodo
- Edit, redact and organize
- Edit, compress, annotate and redact PDFs, merge, split and reorder pages, and add passwords or strip hidden data.
- Convert and OCR
- Converts to and from PDF and between image formats, runs OCR on scans, and validates PDF/A on the web.
- Compare and edit DOCX
- Shows two PDFs side by side to compare them, and edits Word files without Microsoft Word.
- AskPDF AI
- Summarizes PDFs and answers questions about them, as one of the web tools on paid plans.
- Offline desktop editor
- PDF Studio runs on Windows, macOS and Linux without an internet connection and automates repetitive PDF tasks.
- Mobile apps
- iOS and Android apps for editing, annotating, signing and sharing documents, included in the Document Suite.
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.
Xodo
Free$0
One action a day on the web tools, no premium tools and 1GB of Xodo Drive.
Xodo Web$7.99
per month, billed annually ($10.99 billed monthly)
40+ online tools with unlimited use and downloads, including AskPDF AI, strong compression and PDF/A; no desktop app.
Xodo PDF Studio Desktop$9.99
per month, billed annually ($19.99 billed monthly)
Offline desktop editor for Windows, macOS and Linux with 60+ tools.
Xodo Document Suite$14.99
per month, billed annually ($24.99 billed monthly)
Web, desktop and mobile in one subscription with priority support; $8.99 a month for new annual subscriptions through Dec 31, 2026.
PDF Studio Perpetual License$240
one-time purchase per user
PDF Studio Desktop without a subscription, on up to two devices, with 12 months of free version upgrades.
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.
Xodo
- Other savings
40% off Document Suite for life, until Dec 31, 2026
New annual Document Suite subscriptions started by Dec 31, 2026 cost $8.99 a month ($107.93 a year), a discount that stays on every renewal while the plan is active.
- Annual discount
Lower price with yearly billing
Xodo lists Web at $7.99 a month billed yearly against $10.99 monthly, PDF Studio at $9.99 against $19.99, and the Suite at $14.99 against $24.99.
- Other savings
Volume discounts for teams
Xodo discounts team licenses by seat count, starting at 2 seats for the Web and Document Suite plans and growing with volume for PDF Studio.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Drawboard PDF or Xodo?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Drawboard PDF is cheaper to start with: $6.99 a month when paid by the year, against $7.99 a month for Xodo. Drawboard PDF starts at $83.92 per year (Pro Plus), and Xodo starts at $7.99 per month, billed annually ($10.99 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Drawboard PDF or Xodo?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Drawboard PDF and Xodo have a free plan.
Which platforms do Drawboard PDF and Xodo run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Xodo lists a Linux app. Both list a web app and macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
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.