PDFelement vs Soda PDF
We give PDFelement a 2.8 GPA and Soda PDF a 2.6, out of 4.0. PDFelement grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, 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
Soda PDF
Windows PDF editor with an online version, sold by subscription
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAPDFelementGood | 2.6GPASoda PDFGood | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CNo confirmed price: Soda's prices only show at checkout, and its marketing pages show changing promotions, such as $49.95 for Pro against $110. With nothing confirmed it's a C, and there's no perpetual license to spread out. |
| 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. | CThe online quick tools are free for 2 files a day or 3MB a file. Editing, OCR, forms and AI can be tried but not saved or downloaded, so you can't really finish anything for free. |
| 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 and pages, converts to Office and PDF/A, OCRs, builds forms, sends for e-signature, batch-processes and translates. It covers the whole job. The AI chat is capped by plan, at 10 questions on Standard. |
| 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. It's an editor you install, or open in a browser, with nothing to set up first. |
| 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 and the web, with Dropbox, Google Drive, SharePoint and Evernote. Mac, Linux and phones get the browser version only. |
| Best for | a full PDF editor you can buy outright | rolling out a PDF editor across Windows PCs |
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 Soda PDF. How we grade
Where they differ
- Soda PDF has a free plan. PDFelement does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only PDFelement lists macOS, iOS and Android apps.
- PDFelement can be bought with a one-time purchase.
At a glance
| PDFelement | Soda PDF | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $11.99 per quarter for one platform | Not published |
| Free plan | None | Online quick tools are free up to 2 files a day or 3MB a file; editing, OCR, forms, AI and translation can be tried but not saved or downloaded. |
| 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 | ||
| Made by | Wondershare | Avanquest Software |
| Price read from | pdf.wondershare.com | Not confirmed |
| 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
Soda PDF
- Windows offices that deploy a PDF editor across many PCs
- Teams of 3 to 19 that want a per-license discount
- People who need a quick free conversion now and then
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.
Soda PDF
- Prices appear only at checkout, which could not be read; marketing pages show changing promotional prices, such as $49.95 for Pro against $110.
- The desktop app is for Windows only; Mac, Linux and phone users work in the browser.
- Soda PDF is sold only by subscription; there is no perpetual license.
- AI chat is capped by plan, at 10 questions on Standard, 50 on Pro and 200 on Business.
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.
Soda PDF
- Edit and convert
- Edit text and pages, insert and extract pages, and export PDFs to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, text, HTML, PDF/A or images.
- OCR
- Recognizes text in scans and images so it can be searched, and edited on the Business plan.
- Forms and e-signatures
- Build forms with formatted fields and combo boxes, fill and sign them, and send and track signature requests.
- AI tools and translation
- Online chat with a PDF and an AI summarizer, plus translation of up to 1,200 pages a year on Pro and 1,800 on Business.
- Batch processing
- Create, convert, crop, watermark, add headers and footers and apply passwords to many documents at once.
- Business deployment
- The Business plan installs through MSI, Group Policy, SCCM, Terminal Server or Citrix, with self-serve license management and phone support.
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.
Soda PDF
Pricing could not be confirmed. See sodapdf.com.
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.
Soda PDF
- Other savings
10% off per license for teams
Soda PDF Team, for 3 to 19 licenses, has the same features as Pro with a 10% discount on each license.
