The PDF Expert Insider’s Guide
Everything we know about PDF Expert in one document: what it costs, its grades, getting a refund, getting help and what else to look at. Read it here, or keep a copy.
PDF Expert
The Insider’s Guide
PDF reader and editor for Mac, iPhone and iPad from Readdle
Every plan, grade, refund rule and rival among PDF editors, read from PDF Expert’s own pages.
Made by Readdle · checked Oct 18, 2026 · toolgpa.com
Contents
- 01WelcomeWhat it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
- 02What it costsEvery plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
- 03What it doesIts main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
- 04Where it standsIts grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
- 05The alternativesThe tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
- 06Quick answersThe questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
- 07About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
ToolGPA put this guide together from PDF Expert’s own pages, its app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on PDF Expert’s page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Oct 18, 2026.
Part 01 · Overview
Welcome
What it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
2.2
GPA, above 0 of the 15 other PDF editors we grade
PDF Expert is a desktop and mobile PDF app for Apple devices only: Mac, iPhone and iPad, with no Windows or browser version. The free app reads, annotates, fills and signs PDFs, and Premium adds text and image editing, conversion to and from Office files, merging, compression, redaction, OCR and the PDF Copilot AI assistant. One Premium subscription covers all three devices.
To get you started, here are 9 things to know about PDF Expert, taken from its own pages and our grades.
If anyone you work with is on Windows, though, it's a non-starter.
- 1
Best for PDF editing across a Mac, iPad and iPhone
PDF Expert is a desktop and mobile app for Apple devices only: Mac, iPhone and iPad.
- 2
Paid plans start at $6.67 a month when paid by the year
As its pricing page puts it: $79.99 per year.
- 3
There is a free plan
The free app reads PDFs, highlights and marks them up, adds notes and stamps, and fills and signs forms; editing, converting and AI need Premium.
- 4
It runs on 2 platforms
macOS and iOS.
- 5
Text and image editing
Premium edits text in a PDF much like a word processor, adds, replaces and resizes images, and adds links and outlines.
- 6
Convert, merge and compress
Creates PDFs from Word files and images, converts PDFs to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, images and text, and merges, splits and shrinks files.
- 7
Annotate, fill and sign
Highlight, draw, add notes, stamps and audio notes, and fill and sign forms, including AcroForms and static XFA forms, in the free app.
- 8
A 2.2 GPA, above 0 of 15
That is against the other PDF editors we grade, on value, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
- 9
Keep it
The plain part of PDF Expert you could make: forms. What surrounds it you could not. The 3 things listed below take a company, not a weekend.
PDF Expert at a glance
- Pricing
- Free plan, from $79.99 per year
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- 1-week free trial of Premium through the App Store
- Runs on
- macOS, iOS
- Made by
- Readdle
- Category
- PDF Editors
- Our grade
- 2.2 GPA, fair
- Store rating
- 4.7 on the App Store, 216,183 ratings
The report card
Best for PDF editing across a Mac, iPad and iPhone
PDF Expert is a desktop and mobile app for Apple devices only: Mac, iPhone and iPad. The free app reads, marks up and signs, and Premium at $79.99 a year edits text, converts and redacts on all three. If anyone you work with is on Windows, though, it's a non-starter.
| Subject | Grade | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C | Premium is $79.99 a year and covers your Mac, iPhone and iPad in one go. That's right in the middle of what PDF editors charge: fair, nothing special. Business is $80 a seat a year. |
| Free plan and trial | C | The free app is genuinely useful: read, highlight, add notes, fill and sign forms. But editing text, converting, merging and the AI all need Premium. The 1-week trial runs through the App Store. |
| Features | C | Edits text like a word processor, converts to Office, merges, compresses, redacts and measures drawings, with an AI assistant. The gaps: OCR is listed for the Mac only, and there's no form builder or sending for signature on record. |
| Ease of use | B | 4.67 from 216,183 App Store ratings, a whisker off the top grade. It's an app you open and use, and it's made for marking up with an Apple Pencil on an iPad. |
| Platforms and integrations | C | Mac, iPhone and iPad only. No Windows, no Android, no browser version, and no integrations on record. Lovely if you're all-in on Apple, no use if you're not. |
An A is worth 4 points, a B 3, a C 2, a D 1 and an F nothing. The GPA is the average of the five.
Who PDF Expert is for
- Great if you live on a Mac and an iPad and want one subscription for both
- Handy when you mark up PDFs with an Apple Pencil
- Good for students who mostly read, highlight and sign, for free
Who it is not for
- Skip it if you or your team use Windows or Android at all
- Not for you if you build fillable forms, as that isn't on record here
- Tight if you need OCR on an iPhone or iPad, as it's listed for the Mac
Good to know
Good for
- Mac, iPad and iPhone users who want one subscription across all three
- iPad users who annotate PDFs with Apple Pencil
- Students and readers who mostly read, mark up and sign PDFs for free
Worth knowing
- Runs on Apple devices only: there is no Windows, Android or browser version.
- Editing, converting, merging, compressing, redaction and PDF Copilot all need Premium; the free app reads, annotates and signs.
- The education discount is stated as 30% off the annual plan in one place on the pricing page and as 50% in another.
- The Mac App Store also sells an in-app purchase named PDF Expert for $139.99 without saying what it covers; pdfexpert.com does not list it.
Part 02 · Pricing
What it costs
Every plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
$6.67
A month to start, paid by the year. There is a free plan too
PDF Expert has a free plan. Paid plans start at $79.99 per year.
That's right in the middle of what PDF editors charge: fair, nothing special.
Free
$0
Read, annotate, fill and sign PDFs on Mac, iPhone and iPad.
Premium
$79.99
per year
Edit text, images and links, convert, OCR, merge and compress, redact, translate and PDF Copilot, on iPhone, iPad and Mac, with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Business
$80
per seat / year, before tax
Premium for teams bought online, each seat covering up to 3 devices, with a Business Manager to add, remove and reassign seats.
The free plan
The free app reads PDFs, highlights and marks them up, adds notes and stamps, and fills and signs forms; editing, converting and AI need Premium.
Trying it first
1-week free trial of Premium through the App Store
Read from pdfexpert.com on Oct 18, 2026.
Ways to pay less
Education
Discount for students and educators
Verifying a school email on the pricing page sends a discount on the annual plan, given there as 30% and also as 50%; the App Store lists an education purchase at $39.99.
Stated on pdfexpert.com
Part 03 · Features
What it does
Its main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
2
Places it runs: macOS and iOS
PDF reader and editor for Mac, iPhone and iPad from Readdle. Here is what it does, as its own site describes it, and what it covers: AI features, forms, pDF editing.
Edits text like a word processor, converts to Office, merges, compresses, redacts and measures drawings, with an AI assistant.
- Text and image editing
- Premium edits text in a PDF much like a word processor, adds, replaces and resizes images, and adds links and outlines.
- Convert, merge and compress
- Creates PDFs from Word files and images, converts PDFs to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, images and text, and merges, splits and shrinks files.
- Annotate, fill and sign
- Highlight, draw, add notes, stamps and audio notes, and fill and sign forms, including AcroForms and static XFA forms, in the free app.
- PDF Copilot
- Premium's AI assistant lists main points, summarizes, answers questions with references and explains words or phrases in a document.
- OCR and scan clean-up
- Recognizes text in scanned documents on Mac, and an AI Enhance feature removes shadows and distortion from scans.
- Measuring and redaction
- Scale and measure drawings with polygon, polyline and redline tools, and permanently black out sensitive text.
Where it runs
- macOS
- iOS
What it works with
Its own pages name no integrations.
PDF Expert is made by Readdle.
Part 04 · Standing
Where it stands
Its grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
0/15
Other PDF editors it is graded above
PDF Expert's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 0 of the 15 other PDF editors we grade, and level with 4.
It stands best on ease of use (B, above 2 of 15) and worst on free plan and trial (C, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $6.67 a month when paid by the year, against a middle price of $6.67 for the category: 5 of the 10 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 5 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 16 PDF editors we grade, cut by the letter each got. PDF Expert’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 2 of 15
- CFree plan and trialAbove 0 of 15
- CFeaturesAbove 0 of 15
- BEase of useAbove 2 of 15
- CPlatforms and integrationsAbove 0 of 15
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 13 PDF editors. Further left costs less; higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. PDF Expert is the marked dot.
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
Keep it, or make your own?
Whether this is something you could build for yourself with an AI app builder, and what you would give up.
Keep it
The plain part of PDF Expert you could make: forms. What surrounds it you could not. The 3 things listed below take a company, not a weekend.
That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 11 of the 15 other PDF editors grade higher. It costs $79.99 a year.
What you could make
- Forms: an app builder makes this well.
What you could not
- Editing the text inside a PDF without breaking its layout.
- Apps for macOS and iOS that stay in step with each other.
- AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
What this rests on. PDF Expert’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.
Part 05 · Alternatives
The alternatives
The tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
UPDF, PDFelement, Adobe Acrobat, PDFgear and Foxit PDF Editor
The 5 tools PDF Expert is most often weighed against, with where each one differs from it.
- 3.0GPA
UPDF
Free trial · from $49.99/yr
PDF editor with AI chat, one license across desktop and mobile.
- PDF Expert has a free plan. UPDF does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only UPDF lists Windows and Android apps.
- UPDF can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- 2.8GPA
PDFelement
Free trial · from $11.99
Wondershare's PDF editor, by subscription or a one-time license.
- PDF Expert has a free plan. PDFelement does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only PDFelement lists a web app.
- Only PDFelement lists Windows and Android apps.
- 2.6GPA
Adobe Acrobat
Free plan · from $14.99/mo
Adobe's PDF editor for desktop, web and mobile, with an AI tier.
- Only Adobe Acrobat lists a web app.
- Only Adobe Acrobat lists Windows and Android apps.
- Only Adobe Acrobat lists a browser extension.
- 3.4GPA
PDFgear
Free
Free PDF editor for desktop, mobile and web with an AI copilot.
- Only PDFgear lists a web app.
- Only PDFgear lists Windows and Android apps.
- Only PDFgear lists a browser extension.
- 2.8GPA
Foxit PDF Editor
Free trial · from $129.99/yr
PDF editor for Windows, Mac and web, yearly or as a one-time license.
- PDF Expert has a free plan. Foxit PDF Editor does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Foxit PDF Editor lists a web app.
- Only Foxit PDF Editor lists Windows and Android apps.
Part 06 · Questions
Quick answers
The questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
15
Questions, each answered in a line or two
The short version of everything above, for when you only need the answer. Each one is told in full in its part of the guide.
Is PDF Expert free?
PDF Expert has a free plan. The free app reads PDFs, highlights and marks them up, adds notes and stamps, and fills and signs forms; editing, converting and AI need Premium.
How much does PDF Expert cost?
PDF Expert lists 3 plans. Free: $0.
What platforms does PDF Expert work on?
PDF Expert is available on macOS and iOS.
Does PDF Expert offer any discounts?
PDF Expert publicly lists the following: Discount for students and educators.
How is PDF Expert rated?
PDF Expert's iPhone and iPad app averages 4.7 out of 5 from 216,183 ratings on the App Store in the United States, as read on Oct 18, 2026.
Does PDF Expert have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 18, 2026. PDF Expert is listed for macOS and iOS.
Does PDF Expert have a Windows app?
No Windows app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 18, 2026. PDF Expert is listed for macOS and iOS.
Is PDF Expert open source?
PDF Expert is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Oct 18, 2026.
Does PDF Expert have a student discount?
Discount for students and educators. Verifying a school email on the pricing page sends a discount on the annual plan, given there as 30% and also as 50%; the App Store lists an education purchase at $39.99.
Does PDF Expert have a free trial?
Yes. 1-week free trial of Premium through the App Store.
Who makes PDF Expert?
PDF Expert is made by Readdle.
What are the alternatives to PDF Expert?
The closest alternatives to PDF Expert in our directory are UPDF, PDFelement, Adobe Acrobat, PDFgear and Foxit PDF Editor.
How does PDF Expert compare with other PDF editors?
PDF Expert's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 0 of the 15 other PDF editors we grade, and level with 4.
Is PDF Expert good value for money?
ToolGPA grades PDF Expert C for value for money. Its paid plans start at $6.67 a month when paid by the year, against a middle price of $6.67 for the category: 5 of the 10 others that charge start lower.
Could I make my own version of PDF Expert?
The plain part of PDF Expert you could make: forms. What surrounds it you could not.
Where this guide comes from
The prices, plans, platforms and features were read from PDF Expert’s own pages on Oct 18, 2026, and the grades were given on Oct 18, 2026. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Readdle's own pages on 18 October 2026, and its App Store rating. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews.
Every tool we list gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. How each is decided is at toolgpa.com/grades. This guide is ToolGPA’s own work; it is not made, paid for or approved by Readdle. Prices change, so check pdfexpert.com before you buy.
Part 07 · About
About ToolGPA
Who made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
2,281
Tools graded, in 73 categories
ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.
ToolGPA is free to read. It may earn a commission from affiliate links and it works with sponsors, but anything paid for is labelled and no one can pay for a grade. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.
2,281
tools graded
73
categories
426
price changes on record
579
apps priced in 12 countries
What else is on toolgpa.com
- PDF Expert, kept up to dateEverything in this guide, with prices and grades as they are todaytoolgpa.com/tools/pdf-expert
- How grades are givenThe rules behind every letter and every GPAtoolgpa.com/grades
- Value chartsWhat each tool costs against what it scores, for every categorytoolgpa.com/charts
- CompareAny two tools side by side, plan by plantoolgpa.com/compare
- Price changesEvery price rise and cut on record, each with its sourcetoolgpa.com/price-changes
- Prices by countryWhat apps cost on the App Store in 12 countriestoolgpa.com/prices-by-country
- Pay lessEvery public discount: yearly billing, students, nonprofitstoolgpa.com/save
- Keep or makeWhich tools are worth paying for, and which you could build yourselftoolgpa.com/keep-or-make
Scan for the live page
Prices and grades as they are today
Quoting this guide?
Please name ToolGPA and link to the live page, so readers can check the figures for themselves:
ToolGPA, "PDF Expert: The Insider's Guide", checked Oct 18, 2026. https://toolgpa.com/tools/pdf-expert
Know someone choosing between PDF editors?
Send them this guide: toolgpa.com/tools/pdf-expert/guide
ToolGPA elsewhere: youtube.com/@toolgpa
See our other guides
The best-graded PDF editors after PDF Expert, each with an Insider's Guide of its own.
- PDF Editors Insider's GuideEvery one of the 16 PDF editors we grade, compared
- PDFgear Insider's GuideFree PDF editor for desktop, mobile and web with an AI copilot3.4 GPA
- PDF24 Tools Insider's GuideFree online PDF tools paid for by ads, plus an offline Windows app3.0 GPA
- UPDF Insider's GuidePDF editor with AI chat, one license across desktop and mobile3.0 GPA
Choosing software? Every tool graded, every price dated.
Compare tools at toolgpa.com ›Everything in this guide is ToolGPA’s own summary of what PDF Expert’s pages, its app-store listings and public reviews said on the dates shown. Grades are our judgement under the rules at toolgpa.com/grades. ToolGPA uses affiliate links and may earn a commission from them, and it works with sponsors; anything paid for is labelled, and no one can pay for a grade. PDF Expert is a trademark of its owner, and this guide is not made, paid for or approved by Readdle. Prices and plans change: check pdfexpert.com before you buy.