Drawboard PDF review (2026): is the free plan enough?
PDF markup app with pressure-sensitive ink and measurement tools
Black Friday: is there a Drawboard PDF sale?
Drawboard PDF report card
Good · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 13, 2026
Best for marking up drawings and PDFs with a pen
Drawboard PDF is a markup app for PDFs, aimed at architects, engineers and students, with the essentials free and Pro plans from $83.92 a year. Measurement, redaction, OCR and more storage are on the paid plans, and there is no one-time purchase except a 3-year education offer.
Who Drawboard PDF is for
- Fits if you mark up plans and drawings with a pen or stylus
- Works for students and site teams who need measurement on a PDF
Who Drawboard PDF is not for
- Tight if you stay free, because it holds 10 cloud documents of 40 MB each
- Watch out: the 7-day Pro trial needs a credit card up front on Windows and iOS
- Pricey if you need Pro Unlimited at $159.99 a year, and everything paid is a subscription
- Skip it if you want to change the text of a PDF, as it is built for markup
- Watch out: Drawboard Projects is a separate team product at $29 to $39 per user a month
Why Drawboard PDF gets a 2.6
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- CValue for moneyPro Plus is $83.92 a year, about $7 a month, which is inside the middle of the PDF category at $7.99. Pro Unlimited is $159.99 a year.
- BFree plan and trialEssential markup tools and 10 cloud documents of up to 40 MB are free for good, which one person can live on. The paid trial is 7 days.
- CFeaturesInk and text markup, measurement, redaction, OCR, signatures and page tools. It is a markup app, so editing the text of a PDF is not what it is for.
- CEase of useNo store rating is on record, and an app built around pen markup and drawing scales takes a little learning.
- APlatforms and integrationsWindows, Mac, iPhone, Android and web, with Revit, Procore and Autodesk Forma links, so it covers every device type.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Drawboard's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
Make Drawboard PDF? Put this grade on your site
Paste this where you want the badge. It links here and follows the grade if it changes. About badges
<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/drawboard-pdf#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/drawboard-pdf.svg" alt="Drawboard PDF: 2.6 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Drawboard PDF stands among PDF editors
Drawboard PDF's GPA of 2.6 is higher than 20 of the 45 other PDF editors we grade, and level with 10.
It stands best on platforms and integrations (A, above 40 of 45) and worst on features (C, above 2).
Its paid plans start at $6.99 a month when paid by the year, against a middle price of $7.99 for the category: 12 of the 26 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. 6 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 46 PDF editors we grade, cut by the letter each got. Drawboard PDF’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 5 of 45, level with 18
- BFree plan and trialAbove 35 of 45, level with 3
- CFeaturesAbove 2 of 45, level with 24
- CEase of useAbove 2 of 45, level with 8
- APlatforms and integrationsAbove 40 of 45, level with 5
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 32 PDF editors. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
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
Keep Drawboard PDF, or make your own?
Keep it
The plain part of Drawboard PDF you could make: documents. What surrounds it you could not. The 5 things listed below take a company, not a weekend.
It costs $83.92 a year.
What you could make
- Documents: an app builder makes this well.
What you could not
- Editing the text inside a PDF without breaking its layout.
- Storing and serving files for other people.
- Apps for macOS, Windows, iOS and Android that stay in step with each other.
- Several people working in it at the same moment.
- Hooks into the device itself: Apple Pencil.
What this rests on. Drawboard PDF’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Drawboard PDF?
Drawboard PDF is a markup and annotation app for PDFs, aimed at architects, engineers, builders and students who review drawings and documents. The essentials are free, and paid Pro plans add measurement, redaction, OCR and more cloud storage. A separate product, Drawboard Projects, handles team design reviews.
Worth knowing
- Paid features are subscription-only; the pricing FAQ says there is no one-time purchase except the 3-year education offer.
- The pricing page shows Pro Plus and Pro Unlimited individual rates only as the usual yearly rates in the education block.
- Drawboard Projects is a separate team product, $29 per user a month (Team) or $39 (Growth), $22.50 and $30.83 billed yearly.
Key features
- Pen-style ink and text markup
- Pressure-sensitive digital ink, highlight, underline and strikethrough, with touch and stylus support (Surface, Apple Pencil) or a mouse.
- Measurement
- Pro tools include calibrated length, rectangular area and polygon area measurements on drawings.
- Store+Share
- Upload annotated PDFs to the cloud and mark them up with others in real time. Reviewers do not need a paid plan.
- Redaction, OCR and signatures
- Pro adds redaction, OCR, unlimited signatures, custom templates and a text review export.
- Page tools
- Insert, rotate and delete pages, merge and split documents, and flatten annotations to export or shrink a file.
- Team licence admin
- An Admin Portal lets a team buy more licences, disable users and manage billing in one place.
Drawboard PDF pricing
As of Nov 13, 2026, Drawboard PDF has a free plan, and paid plans start at $83.92 per year (Pro Plus).
- Starts at
- $83.92 per year (Pro Plus)
- Free plan
- Essential markup tools plus Store+Share with 10 cloud documents (40 MB limit per document) and unlimited contributors.
- Free trial
- 7-day free trial of any Pro plan; Windows and iOS ask for a credit card up front
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Text review, digital ink, shapes, signatures, bookmarks, search and page insert, rotate and delete. |
| Pro Plus | $83.92per user / year, price shown as the usual rate | More tools and cloud space for regular reviewers. Students and educators pay $10 once for 3 years. |
| Pro Unlimited | $159.99per user / year, price shown as the usual rate | Unlimited cloud documents. Students and educators pay $20 once for 3 years. |
Read from drawboard.com on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Drawboard PDF before you buy.
Ways to pay less
- Education3 years of Pro for a one-off $10 or $20
Students, teachers and school staff with a school email pay $10 for Pro Plus or $20 for Pro Unlimited, valid for 3 years, with no renewal.
Stated on drawboard.com
How people rate the Drawboard PDF app
4.8
out of 5 for the iPhone and iPad app
- 5 stars87%
- 4 stars9%
- 3 stars2%
- 2 stars<1%
- 1 star1%
2,028 ratings on the App Store in the United States, read Nov 13, 2026. It rates the app, not everything the product does. See the listing
Works with
- Revit
- Procore
- Autodesk Forma
Drawboard PDF alternatives
- Drawboard PDF vs PDF Expert
Free plan · from $79.99/yr
- Drawboard PDF vs Xodo
Free plan · from $7.99/mo
- Drawboard PDF vs Bluebeam Revu
Free trial · from $260/yr
- Drawboard PDF vs PDF Annotator
Free trial · from $79.95 one-time
- Drawboard PDF vs Foxit PDF Editor
Free trial · from $129.99/yr
Common questions
Does Drawboard PDF have a Linux app?
No Linux app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 13, 2026. Drawboard PDF is listed for Web, Windows, macOS, iOS and Android.
Is Drawboard PDF open source?
Drawboard PDF is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Nov 13, 2026.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026. What people say is linked where it appears.