Lumin vs Xodo (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Lumin and Xodo share a 2.2 GPA, both have a free plan, and Xodo starts cheaper, at $7.99 a month against $9 a month.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on all five counts.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Lumin
Cloud PDF editor with team collaboration and e-signing
Xodo
PDF tools on web, desktop and mobile, sold separately or as a suite
Which one is for you
Pick Lumin if
- Fits if a small team edits and signs PDFs together in a browser
- Works for people who need a few signed documents a month at no cost
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you handle many files, as Free allows 3 documents a month and Starter 10
- Watch out: a document counts as completed when you share, download, print or sync it
- Watch out: extra document blocks are added automatically unless an admin switches it off
- Pricey if you need redaction or Slack and Drive connectors, which need Business at $99 a month per team
- Not for you if you want a desktop program, as there is none
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
| 2.2GPALuminFair | 2.2GPAXodoFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CStarter is $9 a month and Pro $19 a month per team, so five people pay under $4 each on Pro; one person pays more than the $6.67 middle. Business is $99 per team. | 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 | CFree plan with 3 completed documents a month, plus a 7-day trial of each paid plan. | 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 | CEditing, collaboration, e-signatures, Google Drive sync and AI tools. Redaction and domain control are Business only. | 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 rating on record; a web app where you set up a workspace and connect Drive. | 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 | BWeb, iOS, Android and a browser extension, with eight integrations. No desktop program. | 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 | sharing and signing PDFs in the browser | 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: Lumin and Xodo. How we grade
Price against what you get
Lumin starts at $9 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Xodo starts at $7.99 a month and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and Xodo starts $1.01 a month lower. Of the other PDF editors on the chart, 8 score higher than Lumin for less, and 8 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.
- Lumin also covers documents.
At a glance
| Lumin | Xodo | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $9 per month (Starter plan, 10 docs a month) | $7.99 per month, billed annually ($10.99 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Basic PDF editing and e-signatures; 3 documents a month and annotation on up to 3 docs. | 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 on every paid plan | 3-day free trial of Xodo Web or PDF Studio, payment method required |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Lumin PDF Corporation | Apryse Software Inc. |
| Price read from | luminpdf.com | xodo.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Lumin
- Plans are capped by completed documents a month: 3 on Free, 10 on Starter and 200 on Pro and Business.
- A document counts as completed when you share, download, print or sync it, and extra blocks are added automatically unless an admin turns that off.
- Redaction, domain control and connectors such as Slack and Drive sit on Business, at $99 a month per team.
- The pricing page shows monthly figures only and does not say whether yearly billing is cheaper.
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
Lumin
- PDF text and page editing
- Edit text directly, add shapes and images, and merge, split, extract and rearrange pages.
- Real-time collaboration
- Teammates can edit the same file at once, with comments, tagging and view or edit sharing links. Collaboration is a paid feature.
- E-signatures and fillable fields
- Sign documents, add fillable fields and check boxes, and send or share forms with customers.
- Google Drive sync
- Changes can sync back to the original file in Google Drive, and storage can be restricted to one platform on higher plans.
- Redaction and scanned-text search
- Conceal sensitive content and make scanned PDFs searchable. Redaction is listed on Business and above.
- AI tools
- Includes a PDF summarizer, chat with a PDF and an AI agreement generator, available through Lumin AI.
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
Lumin
Free$0
Basic PDF editing and e-signatures, 3 completed docs a month, mobile and desktop apps.
Starter$9
per month, starting price; billing basis not shown
Student plan: 10 docs a month, retained document access, Google integration and signing.
Pro$19
per month per team, starting price; billing basis not shown
200 docs a month team-wide, advanced PDF editing, document collaboration and 5 agreements a month.
Business$99
per month per team, starting price; billing basis not shown
Adds member access control, domain control, sign-in enforcement, connectors, redaction and priority support.
EnterpriseCustom
Sold through sales: storage controls, enterprise SSO, Microsoft integration, onboarding and a customer success manager.
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
Lumin
- Nonprofit
Discounts for not-for-profits
Lumin states that it offers discounts to non-profit organizations; the amount is not published.
- Education
Free for K-12 teachers and students
Lumin says it is committed to keeping the product free for K-12 teachers and students.
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, Lumin or Xodo?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Xodo is cheaper to start with: $7.99 a month, against $9 a month for Lumin. Lumin starts at $9 per month (Starter plan, 10 docs a month), and Xodo starts at $7.99 per month, billed annually ($10.99 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Lumin or Xodo?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Lumin and Xodo have a free plan.
Which platforms do Lumin and Xodo run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Lumin lists a browser extension and only Xodo lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps. Both list a web app and 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.