Foxit PDF Editor
The Acrobat alternative for business: edit, OCR, e-sign, and AI-assist documents at lower cost.
About
Foxit has been the main commercial alternative to Adobe Acrobat since 2001, and its PDF Editor is the product most businesses actually compare against Acrobat Pro. Two subscription editions cover the range: PDF Editor at about $110 a year with web and desktop apps, AI assistant, conversion to Microsoft formats, OCR, document comparison, and password protection; PDF Editor+ at about $140 a year adding legally binding e-signatures, signature requests with tracking, redaction, and mobile apps. The 2026.2 release added Foxit Workspace plus local on-device AI with bring-your-own-model support, aimed at regulated industries that cannot send documents to the cloud.
Independent reviews rate it well on value and speed, with G2 reviewers at 4.5 out of 5, and it undercuts Acrobat on price while covering the enterprise checklist: redaction, encryption, SharePoint and cloud integrations, admin console. There is no free version, only a 14-day trial of Editor+, and it is closed source. For teams that want Acrobat-class editing without Acrobat-class pricing, this is usually the first name on the shortlist.
What it can do
- Full PDF editing: text, images, pages, headers, and backgrounds
- AI assistant for summarizing and working with documents
- OCR with an updated engine for scanned documents
- Legally binding e-signatures with request and tracking workflows
- Redaction, encryption, and granular permission controls
- Compare two document versions and review differences
- Convert between PDF and Microsoft Office formats
- Foxit Workspace, local AI, and bring-your-own-model support
Setup
Buy a subscription on foxit.com, download the desktop app for Windows or Mac, and sign in. Web and mobile apps included on Editor+.
Prerequisites
Windows or macOS for the desktop app; iOS or Android for mobile (Editor+). Foxit account and active subscription.
Use cases
Works with
Trust score — 8/10
Scored 8/10 (verified tier, metrics-v1). Evidence: Foxit Software founded 2001 per vendor data; TechRadar's review confirms the two editions at ~$110/yr and ~$140/yr with AI assistant, OCR, comparison, and redaction; Foxit's September 2026 release notes confirm Workspace, local AI, and BYO-model support; G2 shows 4.5/5. Strengths: the established Acrobat alternative, strong enterprise feature set, local AI for regulated industries, competitive pricing. Docked for: (1) subscription-only with no free version and no Linux build; (2) closed source; (3) no independent performance benchmarks. License: proprietary subscription.
How the trust score is built
Full methodology →- Adoption · stars/downloads, log-scaled vs peers
- 9.0/10
- Maintenance · recency, releases, issue load
- 9.0/10
- Openness · license + docs
- 2.0/10
- Manual review · sanity read + red-flag check
- 8.0/10
- · Foxit Software, founded 2001, United States
- · Two editions: PDF Editor (web+desktop, AI assistant, OCR, compare) and PDF Editor+ (e-sign, redaction, mobile)
- · 2026.2 added Foxit Workspace, local on-device AI, bring-your-own-model
- · Legally binding e-signatures with request and tracking workflows
- · Redaction, encryption, permissions; SharePoint and cloud integrations
- · G2 4.5/5; consistently priced below Adobe Acrobat
- · Subscription-only; no Linux build
- · Closed source; no independent performance benchmarks
Sources
Every fact above was checked against these sources. Where a claim comes from the provider and couldn't be independently verified, the text says so.