# PDFgear

> Free PDF editor for desktop, mobile and web with an AI copilot

PDFgear is a free PDF editor with desktop apps for Windows and Mac, mobile apps for iPhone, iPad and Android, and online tools in the browser. It edits text and images, fills and builds form fields, annotates, converts to and from Office files in batches, runs OCR in more than 30 languages and has an AI copilot for questions about a document. It needs no account, and its maker says it is paid for by investment rather than ads or user data.

- **Category:** PDF Editors
- **Made by:** PDF Gear Tech Pte. Ltd. (since 2022)
- **Website:** https://www.pdfgear.com
- **Runs on:** Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Web, Browser extension
- **Facts last checked:** Oct 18, 2026

## Pricing

PDFgear is free to use.

- **Pricing model:** Free
- **Free plan:** 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:** None listed.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| PDFgear | $0 | Editing, conversion, OCR, signing and the AI copilot on Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and the web, with no account needed. |

Read from https://www.pdfgear.com/insights/is-pdfgear-free.htm on Oct 18, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with PDFgear before buying.

## Key features

- **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.

## Good for

- 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

- 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.

## ToolGPA grades

**GPA: 3.4 out of 4**, graded Oct 18, 2026. PDFgear is free, properly free: desktop apps for Windows and Mac, phone apps and browser tools, with text editing, OCR and an AI copilot, no account and no ads. The maker says investment pays for it. We'd start here. The worry is how long it lasts, as PDFgear already says some advanced features may become paid.

- **Value for money: A.** Nothing 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: A.** Every 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: B.** Edits 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: B.** No store rating on record. No account to make and nothing to set up: install it and start editing.
- **Platforms and integrations: B.** Windows, 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.

These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from PDFgear's own pages on 18 October 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews.

## Where it stands among PDF editors

- PDFgear's GPA of 3.4 is higher than 15 of the 15 other PDF editors we grade.
- It stands best on free plan and trial (A, above 14 of 15) and worst on ease of use (B, above 2).
- PDFgear has no paid plan.
- On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 3.0 out of 4, and no tool on the category's chart scores higher without costing more.

The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/pdf-editors

## Keep it, or make your own?

**Keep it.** PDFgear is free, so making your own would save you nothing. And it is not the kind of software a weekend replaces. It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 3.4 is higher than 15 of the 15 other PDF editors we grade.

- You could make: Forms: an app builder makes this well.
- You could not: Editing the text inside a PDF without breaking its layout.
- You could not: Apps for macOS, Windows, iOS and Android that stay in step with each other.
- You could not: AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
- You could not: The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.

A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it.

## Works with

ChatGPT, eSignGear

**Tags:** PDF editing, AI features, Forms

## Alternatives

- [PDF24 Tools](https://toolgpa.com/tools/pdf24): Free online PDF tools paid for by ads, plus an offline Windows app. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/pdf24-vs-pdfgear)
- [UPDF](https://toolgpa.com/tools/updf): PDF editor with AI chat, one license across desktop and mobile. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/pdfgear-vs-updf)
- [PDFelement](https://toolgpa.com/tools/pdfelement): Wondershare's PDF editor, by subscription or a one-time license. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/pdfelement-vs-pdfgear)
- [Smallpdf](https://toolgpa.com/tools/smallpdf): 30-plus PDF tools in the browser, with Windows and mobile apps. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/pdfgear-vs-smallpdf)
- [PDF Expert](https://toolgpa.com/tools/pdf-expert): PDF reader and editor for Mac, iPhone and iPad from Readdle. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/pdf-expert-vs-pdfgear)

## Sources

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 18, 2026:

- https://www.pdfgear.com/insights/is-pdfgear-free.htm
- https://www.pdfgear.com
- https://www.pdfgear.com/about-pdfgear/
- https://www.pdfgear.com/pdfgear-for-windows/
- https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pdf-gear-pdf-editor-reader/id6465897558
- https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pdfgear-pdf-editor-reader/id6469021132
- https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/pdfgear-pdf-read-edit-con/loeihpckhhjnallmllkbhmlccgoglgei

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/pdfgear
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).