Nitro PDF Pro vs PDFelement
We give Nitro PDF Pro a 2.2 GPA and PDFelement a 2.8, out of 4.0. PDFelement grades higher on value for money and 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.
Nitro PDF Pro
Desktop PDF editor for Windows and Mac with AI tools, billed yearly
PDFelement
Wondershare's PDF editor, by subscription or a one-time license
How we grade them
| 2.2GPANitro PDF ProFair | 2.8GPAPDFelementGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DStandard is $15 a user a month, billed as $180 a year, with no monthly option. That's the dearest end of PDF editors. Classic is $270 once for three years on Windows, which spread over its term is middling, but it's the core tools only. | 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 | CNo free plan, but a 14-day trial with no credit card needed. Enough to see if it fits, then you pay. | 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 | CCreates, converts, edits and OCRs PDFs, with AI that summarizes, translates and pulls tables into Excel, plus Office add-ins. But sending for signature is Nitro Sign, a separate product, and 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 desktop editor you install and start using, with an Office-style ribbon on Windows that'll feel familiar to anyone who lives in Word. | 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 | BWindows, Mac, iPhone and the web, with Word, Outlook, SharePoint, OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox and Box. No Android app, which keeps it off the top grade. | 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 | Windows offices that want an Office-style PDF editor | 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: Nitro PDF Pro and PDFelement. How we grade
Price against what you get
Nitro PDF Pro starts at $15 a month for each person 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 $11 a month lower. Of the other PDF editors on the chart, 6 score higher than Nitro PDF Pro 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
- Nitro PDF Pro starts at $15 per user / month, billed annually. PDFelement starts at $11.99 per quarter for one platform.
- Only PDFelement lists an Android app.
- PDFelement can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Nitro PDF Pro also covers documents.
- PDFelement also covers forms.
At a glance
| Nitro PDF Pro | PDFelement | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $15 per user / month, billed annually | $11.99 per quarter for one platform |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card required | Free trial: most tools for 14 days with a few uses each; saved files carry a watermark |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Nitro Software, Inc. | Wondershare |
| Price read from | gonitro.com | pdf.wondershare.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Nitro PDF Pro
- Windows offices that want an Office-style PDF editor
- Businesses that manage PDF licenses for many staff from one console
- Buyers who would rather pay once for three years on Windows
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
Nitro PDF Pro
- The Standard subscription is billed yearly, $180 per user; the pricing page shows no month-to-month option.
- Nitro PDF Classic runs on Windows only and covers a three-year term rather than a permanent license.
- Sending documents for e-signature is Nitro Sign, a separate product from $10 per user a month billed annually.
- There is no Android app; SSO and Azure Information Protection need Nitro PDF Plus, priced through sales.
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
Nitro PDF Pro
- Create and convert
- Builds PDFs from scratch and converts to and from Word, Excel, PowerPoint and image files, and turns web pages into PDFs with working links.
- Edit and organize
- Edit text and pages, reorder, delete and rotate pages, and combine and split files, with an Office-style ribbon on Windows.
- Nitro AI
- Every PDF plan includes a document assistant that searches, summarizes and translates, plus tools that extract form fields and tables into Excel.
- Review and share
- Share PDFs for viewing and comments from desktop, mobile or a browser, and track activity on documents sent out for review.
- Office add-ins
- Create, protect and send PDFs from inside Microsoft 365 apps on Windows.
- Admin portal and analytics
- Every plan includes a web admin console to provision users and reassign licenses, and Nitro Analytics to track usage.
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
Nitro PDF Pro
Nitro PDF Standard$15
per user / month, billed annually
Billed as $180 a year: create, convert, edit, annotate and share PDFs, Nitro AI tools, the admin portal, integrations and round-the-clock support.
Nitro PDF Classic$270
one-time, per license, for 3 years of use
Core PDF tools for Windows only: create, edit, export, combine and split, and password protection, paid once for a three-year term.
Nitro PDF PlusCustom
Sold through sales: Standard plus SSO, domain control, Azure Information Protection, usage analytics and a success manager where eligible.
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
Nitro PDF Pro
- Other savings
Volume discounts through sales
Nitro's pricing page says volume discounts are available on Nitro PDF Standard and Plus for larger teams, quoted by its sales team.
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.
