LightPDF vs UPDF
We give LightPDF a 2.8 GPA and UPDF a 3.0, out of 4.0. UPDF grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money, 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
UPDF
PDF editor with AI chat, one license across desktop and mobile
How we grade them
| 2.8GPALightPDFGood | 3.0GPAUPDFVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | A$49.99 a year on the US App Store, among the cheapest paid editors here, and one license covers every platform. The $79.99 perpetual license, spread over three years, is cheaper still, though the AI isn't in it and updf.com may charge differently. |
| 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. | CThere's a free version, but it's 2 conversions a day, AI on 5 files and a watermark on anything you save. Fine for a look around, not for real work. |
| 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 to Office and PDF/A, OCRs in 38 languages, builds forms, redacts, compares and batch-processes, with Bates numbers. It covers the whole job. The Mac App Store edition leaves out OCR; the updf.com download has it. |
| 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. | BNo store rating on record. It's an app you install and start editing in, with nothing to set up 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 and Android, synced through UPDF Cloud, plus Dropbox. No browser version and a short integration list, so it stops at B. |
| Best for | AI translation and data extraction on a budget | one cheap license for computer and phone |
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 UPDF. 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. UPDF starts at $4.17 a month when paid by the year and scores 3.0.
UPDF scores higher and starts $1.82 a month lower. Of the other PDF editors on the chart, 4 score higher than LightPDF for less, and none scores higher than UPDF 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. UPDF starts at $49.99 per year (US App Store).
- LightPDF has a free plan. UPDF does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only LightPDF lists a web app.
- UPDF also covers forms.
At a glance
| LightPDF | UPDF | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $5.99 per month | $49.99 per year (US App Store) |
| 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 version: 2 conversions a day, AI on 5 files, and a watermark on saved changes |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Wangxu Technology Co., Ltd. | Superace Software Technology Co., Ltd. |
| Price read from | lightpdf.com | apps.apple.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
UPDF
- People who work on PDFs across a computer, a phone and a tablet
- Buyers who want a perpetual license at a lower price than Acrobat
- Students and researchers who summarize and translate long PDFs
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.
UPDF
- updf.com answered with a bot check, so prices are from the US App Store, where some purchases carry no billing period; website prices may differ.
- The AI assistant is a separate subscription; free AI use stops at 5 files and 100 questions.
- The Mac App Store edition lacks OCR; the edition downloaded from updf.com includes it.
- The free version limits conversions to 2 a day and adds a watermark when saving changes.
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.
UPDF
- Text and image editing
- Change the font, size and color of existing text, resize, crop, replace or extract images, and add or remove links.
- AI assistant
- Chats with a PDF to summarize it, translates whole files while keeping the layout, turns PDFs into mind maps and answers questions about images.
- Convert and OCR
- Converts PDFs to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF/A, images, text and HTML, and recognizes text in scans in 38 languages.
- Forms, signatures and redaction
- Create fillable forms, fill and sign them, add digital signatures, redact sensitive text, compare two PDFs and set passwords.
- Batch processing
- Converts, merges, compresses, encrypts and runs OCR on many files at once, and adds watermarks, headers and Bates numbers in bulk.
- UPDF Cloud
- Syncs files and saved signatures across Windows, macOS, iOS and Android, with 10GB for paid users and 1GB free.
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.
UPDF
Annual Subscription$49.99
per year (US App Store)
UPDF Pro on every platform with 10GB of UPDF Cloud; the stores also list Monthly ($9.99) and Quarterly ($19) subscriptions.
Perpetual License$79.99
one-time purchase (US App Store)
UPDF Pro paid once, without the AI assistant, which is sold only as a subscription.
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.
UPDF
- Lifetime license
Perpetual license
UPDF sells a perpetual license as a one-time purchase, listed at $79.99 on the US App Store; it does not include the AI assistant.
