LightPDF vs PDFelement
We give LightPDF and PDFelement the same GPA: 2.8 out of 4.0. LightPDF grades higher on value for money. PDFelement grades higher on features. They get the same grade on the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
LightPDF
Online PDF editor and converter with AI tools paid for in credits
PDFelement
Wondershare's PDF editor, by subscription or a one-time license
How we grade them
| 2.8GPALightPDFGood | 2.8GPAPDFelementGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | A$15.99 a year, or $39.99 once, for web, desktop and phone with 1,000 AI credits a month. That's the cheapest paid plan among PDF editors by a distance, and the lifetime deal spread over three years is cheaper still. Monthly is $5.99. | BThe Yearly Plan is $79.99 for Windows or Mac, $89.99 for both, middle of the pack. But the $129.99 perpetual license, spread over three years, is properly cheap. Just know it covers version 13 only, and phone and web access is for a limited time. |
| Free plan and trial | CThere's a free plan, but it's web only, with limited access to selected features and files up to 10MB. The 3-day trial covers the yearly plan. | CNo free plan. The 14-day trial lets you try most tools, but only a few times each, and anything you save gets a watermark. It's more of a demo than a trial. |
| Features | CEdits PDFs, even the text in scans, converts, OCRs and signs, and the AI translates whole files, chats with them and pulls invoice data into Excel. Clever stuff. But no form builder or redaction is on record. | BEdits text and images, converts, OCRs and reads tables, builds forms including XFA, redacts, signs with certificates, sends for e-signature and adds Bates numbers. It covers the whole job. Heavier AI use is a separate plan. |
| Ease of use | BNo store rating on record. It's a web app plus apps you install and open, with nothing to set up first. | B4.62 from 7,575 App Store ratings. It's a desktop editor you install and start using, with nothing to configure first. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android, which covers everything. But no integrations or API are on record, and one account works on one device at a time. | BWindows, Mac, iPhone, Android and the web, with 20GB of PDFelement Cloud to sync between them. That's wide, but the only integration on record is its own cloud. |
| Best for | AI translation and data extraction on a budget | a full PDF editor you can 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: LightPDF and PDFelement. How we grade
Price against what you get
LightPDF starts at $5.99 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. PDFelement starts at $4 a month and scores 3.0.
PDFelement scores higher and starts $1.99 a month lower. Of the other PDF editors on the chart, 4 score higher than LightPDF for less, and none scores higher than PDFelement 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
- LightPDF starts at $5.99 per month. PDFelement starts at $11.99 per quarter for one platform.
- LightPDF has a free plan. PDFelement does not, though it has a free trial.
- PDFelement also covers forms.
At a glance
| LightPDF | PDFelement | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $5.99 per month | $11.99 per quarter for one platform |
| Free plan | Free plan on the web only: limited access to selected features, files up to 10MB and cloud storage for 5 files for a year. | None |
| Free trial | 3-day free trial of the yearly plan | Free trial: most tools for 14 days with a few uses each; saved files carry a watermark |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Wangxu Technology Co., Ltd. | Wondershare |
| Price read from | lightpdf.com | pdf.wondershare.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
LightPDF
- People who translate or summarize PDFs with AI on a small budget
- Office staff who turn invoices and bank statements into spreadsheets
- Buyers who want a low one-time price across web, desktop and mobile
PDFelement
- Windows or Mac users who want to pay once for a PDF editor
- People who need OCR, forms and redaction for less than Acrobat Pro
- Users who also want PDF tools on their phone and in a browser
Worth knowing
LightPDF
- AI tools spend credits: 1,000 a month on subscriptions, expiring monthly, or 40,000 in total on Lifetime; more can be bought.
- One Premium account signs in on every platform but works on only one device at a time.
- Cancelling a subscription means filing a support ticket; refunds are offered within 3 days on Monthly, 7 on Yearly and 30 on Lifetime.
- The free plan is web only, with files up to 10MB.
PDFelement
- Prices are shown against much higher crossed-out figures with a countdown; the one-platform price covers Windows or Mac, and both cost more.
- The perpetual license covers PDFelement 13 only, and its mobile and web access lasts for a limited time.
- Heavier AI use is a separate AI plan: $3.99 a month for 1,000 uses or $39.99 a year for 12,000.
- The free trial adds a watermark when saving and allows only a few uses of tools such as eSign and AI.
Key features
LightPDF
- Edit, sign and organize
- Edit, annotate, sign and organize PDFs, and edit the text in images and scanned PDFs while keeping the font and background.
- Convert and OCR
- Converts PDFs to and from other formats and recognizes text in scans, with batch processing on paid plans.
- Chat and translate
- Chat with documents and trace citations, and translate whole PDFs, images and scans into 20+ languages while keeping the layout.
- Data extraction
- Pulls structured data from invoices, receipts, purchase orders and bank statements into Excel, at 2 credits a page.
- AI generation
- Generates PDFs, slide decks, mind maps and summaries from documents, and removes watermarks, logos and handwriting.
PDFelement
- Edit, convert and organize
- Edit text and images, convert to and from Office formats, compress, combine, split, crop and reorder pages, and process files in batches.
- OCR and data extraction
- Turns scans into searchable, editable text, recognizes tables and pulls form data and receipt details out of PDFs.
- Forms, signing and redaction
- Create and fill forms, including XFA, sign with digital certificates, request e-signatures, redact and set passwords.
- AI tools
- Chat with a PDF, summarize, translate, rewrite, check grammar and detect AI-written text; paid plans include 50 AI uses.
- PDFelement Cloud
- Paid plans include 20GB of cloud storage for files and signatures, synced across the desktop, mobile and web apps.
- Measuring and Bates numbering
- Measure distance, perimeter and area on drawings, and add Bates numbers, headers, footers and watermarks.
Plans
LightPDF
Free Plan$0
Web only, files up to 10MB, limited features and cloud storage for 5 files.
Monthly Plan$5.99
per month
Web, mobile and desktop with no file size limit, batch processing, unlimited cloud storage and 1,000 AI credits a month.
Yearly Plan$15.99
per year
The same as Monthly, billed once a year, with 1,000 AI credits a month and a 3-day free trial.
Lifetime Plan$39.99
one-time purchase
Marked as a limited offer: Premium on every platform paid once, with 40,000 AI credits that last until used.
PDFelement
Quarterly Plan$11.99
per quarter for one platform, renews automatically
Shown against a crossed-out $49; $21.99 a quarter for the cross-platform version. All features, 20GB of PDFelement Cloud and no watermark.
Yearly Plan$79.99
per year for one platform, renews automatically
Shown against a crossed-out $129; $89.99 a year cross-platform. A year of updates and all features on desktop, mobile and web.
2-Year Plan$109.99
for 2 years for one platform, renews manually
Shown against a crossed-out $149; $119.99 cross-platform. Two years of updates and all features.
Perpetual Plan$129.99
one-time purchase for one platform
Perpetual use of PDFelement 13, shown against a crossed-out $159; $139.99 cross-platform. Mobile and web access are included for a limited time only.
Ways to pay less
LightPDF
- Annual discount
Yearly plan costs far less than monthly
LightPDF's pricing page lists the Yearly Plan at $15.99 a year against the Monthly Plan at $5.99 a month.
- Lifetime license
Lifetime plan for $39.99
A one-time $39.99 payment buys Premium on web, mobile and desktop with 40,000 AI credits, shown as a limited offer.
PDFelement
- Lifetime license
Perpetual license for PDFelement 13
Wondershare sells a one-time license for version 13 at $129.99 for one platform or $139.99 for Windows and Mac together.
