PDFelement vs PDFgear
We give PDFelement a 2.8 GPA and PDFgear a 3.4, out of 4.0. PDFgear grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
PDFelement
Wondershare's PDF editor, by subscription or a one-time license
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAPDFelementGood | 3.4GPAPDFgearVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | ANothing to pay, and it edits existing text, converts, OCRs and has AI. The maker says investment pays for it, not ads or selling data. Hard to beat free for a full editor, though some advanced bits may become paid later. |
| Free plan and trial | 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. | AEvery feature on every platform, with no signup, no ads and no caps on record. A free tool that edits text properly is rare in this category. |
| Features | 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. | BEdits text, images and form fields like a word processor, batch-converts to Office, OCRs in 30-plus languages, annotates and has an AI copilot. It covers the whole job. Sending for signature is on eSignGear, its separate site. |
| Ease of use | B4.62 from 7,575 App Store ratings. It's a desktop editor you install and start using, with nothing to configure first. | BNo store rating on record. No account to make and nothing to set up: install it and start editing. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | BWindows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android, the web and a browser extension. That's everywhere bar Linux, but integrations stop at ChatGPT and its own eSignGear, so no top grade. |
| Best for | a full PDF editor you can buy outright | a full PDF editor that costs nothing |
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: PDFelement and PDFgear. How we grade
Price against what you get
PDFelement starts at $4 a month and scores 3.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. PDFgear has no paid plan and scores 3.0.
They score the same, and PDFgear starts $4 a month lower. Of the other PDF editors on the chart, none scores higher than PDFelement for less, and none scores higher than PDFgear 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
- PDFelement starts at $11.99 per quarter for one platform. PDFgear is free.
- PDFgear has a free plan. PDFelement does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only PDFgear lists a browser extension.
- PDFelement can be bought with a one-time purchase.
At a glance
| PDFelement | PDFgear | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free |
| Starts at | $11.99 per quarter for one platform | Free |
| Free plan | None | Every feature is free on every platform with no signup; the maker says it shows no ads, does not sell data and covers its costs with investment. |
| Free trial | Free trial: most tools for 14 days with a few uses each; saved files carry a watermark | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Wondershare | PDF Gear Tech Pte. Ltd. |
| Price read from | pdf.wondershare.com | pdfgear.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
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
PDFgear
- Anyone who wants a full PDF editor without paying or signing up
- Windows and Mac users replacing a paid editor for everyday edits
- People who want to ask questions of long PDFs with built-in AI
Worth knowing
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.
PDFgear
- PDFgear says most features will stay free but some advanced options, such as cloud AI tools and special conversions, may become paid.
- Some advanced conversions upload files to its Amazon cloud servers; the maker says they are deleted straight after processing.
- There is no Linux version; the apps cover Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad and Android.
- It is a young product: the first version came out in 2022.
Key features
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.
PDFgear
- Text and image editing
- Edits existing text, images, shapes, links, signatures and fillable form fields in a PDF, much like a word processor.
- Batch conversion
- Converts between PDF and Word, Excel, PowerPoint, text and images, with a batch mode for many files at once.
- OCR
- Pulls text out of scanned pages and turns scans into editable Word or text files, in more than 30 languages.
- AI copilot
- Answers questions about a document and summarizes it; the maker says it pays for the ChatGPT API behind it from its own funding.
- Annotation
- Highlight, underline and strike through text, and add notes, comments, stamps, shapes and text boxes.
- Online tools and eSignGear
- Browser tools for editing, merging, splitting, compressing and signing, plus eSignGear, a separate site for sending documents for e-signature.
Plans
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.
PDFgear
PDFgear$0
Editing, conversion, OCR, signing and the AI copilot on Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and the web, with no account needed.
Ways to pay less
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.
PDFgear
No public discounts listed.
