# PDFpen Software Pricing, Alternatives & More 2026 | Capterra > With the help of Capterra, learn about PDFpen Software - reviews, pricing plans, popular comparisons to other PDF products and more. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/229255/PDFpen --- # PDFpen Software Review 2026: Features, Reviews, Integrations, Pros & Cons Last updated on December 14, 2025 Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. Independent research methodology Capterra’s researchers use a mix of verified reviews, independent research and objective methodologies to bring you selection and ranking information you can trust. While we may earn a referral fee when you visit a provider through our links or speak to an advisor, this has no influence on our research or methodology. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/resources/proprietary-data-research/) How Capterra verifies reviews Capterra carefully verified over 2.5 million+ reviews to bring you authentic software experiences from real users. Our human moderators verify that reviewers are real people and that reviews are authentic. They use leading tech to analyze text quality and to detect plagiarism and generative AI. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/resources/how-we-verify-reviews/) How Capterra ensures transparency Capterra lists all providers across its website—not just those that pay us—so that users can make informed purchase decisions. Capterra is free for users. Software providers pay us for sponsored profiles to receive web traffic and sales opportunities. Sponsored profiles include a link-out icon that takes users to the provider’s website. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/resources/how-we-ensure-transparency/) [Description](#description)[Use cases](#use-cases)[Alternatives](#alternatives)[Features](#features)[Pricing](#pricing)[Support](#support)[Reviews](#reviews) PDFpen ## What is PDFpen ? PDFpen is a powerful, comprehensive PDF editor for Mac. Add signatures, text, and images. OCR scanned docs. Make changes and correct typos. Fill out forms. Export to Word. Save to iCloud, Evernote, or any other Cloud service of choice. Combine PDFs, delete, extract, and organize pages. Add proofreading marks, save commonly used objects to the Library. Reduce file size. For additional advanced features, try PDFpenPro. ## What is PDFpen used for? [PDF](https://www.capterra.com/pdf-software/)[OCR](https://www.capterra.com/ocr-software/) Top alternative Featured Overall rating Based on 4 user reviews Reviews sentiment Positive \- Neutral \- Negative \- Starting price $79.95 Flat Rate, One Time Free trial available Capterra Shortlist charts the highest-rated and most popular products... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Do you work for PDFpen ?[Manage this product listing](https://digitalmarkets.gartner.com/get-listed/claim-bx?url=https://textexpander.com&name=PDFpen ) ## Compare with a popular alternative Capterra selects software alternatives based on relevant features, verified user reviews and user interactions. Placement may be influenced by client status. ### PDFpen 4.3 (4) VS. [4.7 (4,186)](https://www.capterra.com/p/251329/Adobe-Acrobat-DC/reviews/) Starting Price $79.95 Flat Rate, One Time Starting Price $19.99 Per User, Per Month Free Trial Free Version Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version Ease Of Use 4.5 (4) Ease Of Use 4.6 (428) Value For Money 4.0 (4) Value For Money 4.3 (346) Customer Service 4.0 (4) Customer Service 4.3 (281) ## PDFpen alternatives [4.6 (307)](https://www.capterra.com/p/176854/Flipsnack/reviews/) Starting price Contact vendor for pricing Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 93% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [ABBYY FineReader PDF](https://www.capterra.com/p/65868/ABBYY-FineReader/) [4.7 (428)](https://www.capterra.com/p/65868/ABBYY-FineReader/reviews/) Starting price $16.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 95% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/65868/ABBYY-FineReader/) [Nitro PDF](https://www.capterra.com/p/167449/Nitro/) [4.5 (570)](https://www.capterra.com/p/167449/Nitro/reviews/) Starting price $17.70 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 92% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/167449/Nitro/) [iLovePDF](https://www.capterra.com/p/173963/iLovePDF/) [4.7 (1,756)](https://www.capterra.com/p/173963/iLovePDF/reviews/) Starting price $9.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 97% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/173963/iLovePDF/) ## Features Features with the highest number of reviews are displayed first. Those that have no reviews appear next, sorted alphabetically. Annotations 4.7 (3) 100.00% of 3 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Highlight content and/or make notations about parts of content Convert to PDF 4.7 (3) 100.00% of 3 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Create, edit, convert to and from PDF files Digital Signature 4.3 (3) 100.00% of 3 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Electronic signing method that validates the authenticity and integrity of a digital document Encryption 4.7 (3) 100.00% of 3 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Convert data into a code for security Merge/Append Files 4.7 (3) 100.00% of 3 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Merge or combine files / add pages to a document PDF Reader 4.3 (3) 100.00% of 3 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important View, search, and print PDF files. PDFpen 9 features Highlight content and/or make notations about parts of content Software's ability to perform similar action on multiple similar files simultaneously Create, edit, convert to and from PDF files Electronic signing method that validates the authenticity and integrity of a digital document Digitally sign online documents Convert data into a code for security Merge or combine files / add pages to a document View, search, and print PDF files. Add a digital mark to show ownership of an image, video, document, etc. Features 4.3 (4) 4.3 Based on 4 reviews ## Pricing Value for money 4.0 (4) Free Trial Basic $79.95 Flat Rate,One Time Value for money 4.0 (4) 4.0 Based on 4 reviews ## Support, customer service and training options Customer Service 4.0 (4) Support - Email/Help Desk - FAQs/Forum - Knowledge Base - Phone Support - 24/7 (Live rep) - Chat Training - In Person - Live Online - Webinars - Documentation - Videos Deployment - Web - Android - iPhone/iPad Typical users - Freelancers - Small businesses - Mid size businesses - Enterprises Customer Service 4.0 (4) 4.0 Based on 4 reviews ## User reviews Overall rating 4.3 Based on 4 reviews Filter by rating 5(2) 4(1) 3(1) 2(0) 1(0) Mentioned topic Sorted by most recent Ben E. Owner Publishing ### "Best in class PDF workflow on macOS" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 4.0 4.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 June 15, 2023 I'm a happy user of PDFpen for nearly a decade. It's my go-to PDF app on Mac, although Highlights is rapidly replacing it in some cases. Pros It truly is a drop-in replacement for Acrobat and comes packed with features that make it a great choice for anyone looking for a comprehensive PDF editor.One of the standout features of this software is its annotation and signature capabilities. These tools are incredibly intuitive and easy to use, allowing users to add comments, highlights, and even digital signatures to their PDFs with ease.Additionally, the software's ability to convert files to PDF/A format is a huge plus for anyone looking to create long-term archives of their documents. This feature ensures that your files will remain accessible and readable for years to come, making it a valuable tool for businesses and individuals alike.Overall, I highly recommend this software to anyone in need of a powerful and feature-rich PDF editor. Its seamless integration with existing workflows and its robust set of tools make it a top choice for professionals and casual users alike. Cons PDFpen Pro has a few issues that make it a less-than-ideal choice for users. Firstly, the UI is not very user-friendly when it comes to discovering features. This can make it frustrating for users who are trying to accomplish specific tasks but are unable to find the right tools.Additionally, since the app has been taken over by Nitro, there is some uncertainty about the direction of its development. This lack of clarity can make it difficult for users to feel confident about investing in the app or relying on it for their PDF editing needs.Overall, while PDFpen Pro may have some useful features, its usability issues and uncertain future make it a less-than-reliable choice for users in the long run. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Mohammad M. Technical Office Engineer Civil Engineering ### "A Robust PDF Software That Prevails Over The Competition" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 December 31, 2022 I'd say it's a well-crafted piece of software that strikes a perfect balance between simplicity & rich feature-set, thus making it a compelling choice for those who wish to utilize PDF files without any hassle. Pros The features, ease of use thanks to its ever-improving UI with the timely, meaningful updates makes it a worthy investment on a software that cause no hindrances to my productivity. Furthermore, the synchronization of every viewed or edited PDF file across my devices makes it tremendously convenient to switch between my tablet & computer on the go to carry on from where I left off. Cons I cannot think of any demerit encountered with the software. It's great. Switched from [Adobe Acrobat Reader](https://www.capterra.com/p/170833/Acrobat-Reader-DC/) [Soda PDF](https://www.capterra.com/p/226942/SODA-PDF/) [Lumin PDF](https://www.capterra.com/p/214552/Lumin-PDF/) Poor performance coupled with messed-up conversion of images & Arabic text via OCR & export to different formats ultimately deviated me to another PDF-handling software, which turned out to be PDFpen. Alternatives considered [Tungsten Power PDF](https://www.capterra.com/p/198843/Kofax-Power-PDF/) [AVG Internet Security Business Edition](https://www.capterra.com/p/199318/AVG-Internet-Security-Business-Edition/) [PDFCreator](https://www.capterra.com/p/170829/PDFCreator/) Reasons for choosing PDFpen Upon trying out these programs in their provided trial period, I found out PDFpen to be the most accurate among the lot. That's why I stayed using it ever since. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. AU Anonymous User Senior Front-End Developer - Web Designer & UI Developer Internet ### "Un software per l'editing PDF affidabile e facile da usare" 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 3.0 3.0 Likelihood to Recommend 7/10 December 6, 2022 In azienda lo abbiamo testato e preso in seria considerazione come software adatto per l'editing PDF ma poi abbiamo ripiegato su Adobe Acrobat soprattutto perché acquistando la Adobe Creative cloud lo avevamo già incluso nel pacchetto di programmi. Comunque PDFpen è un ottimo software per creare e modificare rapidamente documenti pdf. Pros PDFpen è un software per l'editing PDF affidabile e facile da usare. PDFPen permette all'utente di creare documenti PDF da zero e di modificarli aggiungendo testo, immagini, annotazioni, firme digitali e tanto altro in maniera semplice grazie ad un'interfaccia molto intuitiva. Offre all'utente anche la possibilità di impedire la modifica del documento PDF da parte di terzi. PDFPen ha inoltre un ottimo strumento OCR. Cons Non ho trovato niente che non funzioni nel software. Peccato che PDFpen sia disponibile solo per utenti Mac. Alternatives considered [Adobe Acrobat Reader](https://www.capterra.com/p/170833/Acrobat-Reader-DC/) [Adobe Acrobat](https://www.capterra.com/p/251329/Adobe-Acrobat-DC/) [PDFelement](https://www.capterra.com/p/148193/PDFelement-6/) Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. JK Jeffrey K. Partner Legal Services ### "Not as good as Adobe" 3.0 Overall Rating 3.0 3.0 Ease of Use 3.0 3.0 Features 3.0 3.0 Customer Service 4.0 4.0 Likelihood to Recommend 1/10 October 15, 2019 It became worth it for us to pay monthly for Adobe- a far superior product. Pros We wanted a inexpensive option for a comprehensive pdf editor and viewer. It has some functionality similar to Adobe but it didn’t add up. Cons The program continuously crashed and was terribly slow. The redact function was horrible. Switched from [Foxit PDF SDK](https://www.capterra.com/p/182861/Foxit-PDF-Software-Development-Kit/) Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Independent research methodology Capterra's researchers use a mix of verified reviews, independent research and objective methodologies to bring you selection and ranking information you can trust. While we may earn a referral fee when you visit a provider through our links or speak to an advisor, this has no influence on our research or methodology. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/resources/proprietary-data-research/) How Capterra verifies reviews Capterra carefully verified over 2.5 million+ reviews to bring you authentic software experiences from real users. Our human moderators verify that reviewers are real people and that reviews are authentic. They use leading tech to analyze text quality and to detect plagiarism and generative AI. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/resources/how-we-verify-reviews/) How Capterra ensures transparency Capterra lists all providers across its website—not just those that pay us—so that users can make informed purchase decisions. Capterra is free for users. Software providers pay us for sponsored profiles to receive web traffic and sales opportunities. Sponsored profiles include a link-out icon that takes users to the provider's website. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/resources/how-we-ensure-transparency/)