What’s the Best PDF Editor for Mac in 2023?

PDF files have become an essential part of our lives. They serve a multitude of purposes, from creating new documents to making edits on existing ones, and even converting various file formats into PDF. For Mac owners, having a reliable PDF editor that seamlessly integrates with their system is paramount. The challenge, however, lies in the vast array of free and paid PDF editors available in the market. The process of selecting the best PDF software can be quite overwhelming.

Among the diverse selection of PDF editors competing for your attention, pdfFiller emerges as a standout choice for individuals and businesses working on Mac. Its appeal lies not only in its impressive feature set but also in the fact that it’s a cloud-based software with a user-friendly interface. Also, pdfFiller has proven to be a fantastic value-for-money option among popular PDF editors for students. We’ll delve into pdfFiller’s capabilities and how it caters to Mac users, ensuring a seamless and efficient digital document management experience.

If you’re ready to embark on a journey to discover the best PDF editors for Mac in 2023, tailored to your unique needs, read on. Whether you’re working within a budget or seeking a premium solution to enhance your PDF editing workflows on your Mac, our guide has you covered.

In this article, we aim to simplify the decision-making process behind choosing the PDF editor that’s compatible with Mac. Our guide will cover a range of options, from free to premium solutions, all while taking into account the latest developments.

Table of contents

1. Top 3 Factors to Consider When Choosing PDF Editing Software for Mac
2. Best Mac PDF Editor in 2023
3. Free PDF Editor for Mac
4. Online PDF Editors for Mac
5. Now You Know How to Choose the Best PDF Editor for Mac

Top 3 Factors to Consider When Choosing PDF Editing Software for Mac

Operating System Compatibility

One of the critical factors to consider when selecting a PDF editor for your Mac is its compatibility with the current version of your operating system. You want to ensure that the software you choose is fully compatible with macOS, providing a seamless and efficient user experience. Additionally, it’s essential to check for any potential issues such as high memory usage that may arise when running the software on your specific macOS version. Always check the system requirements and supported macOS versions before making a decision.

Features and Functionality

Another crucial aspect to look for in a PDF editor is its features and functionality. Different editors offer a wide range of tools and capabilities, from basic options that allow you to create a PDF document, edit PDF files, and convert a PDF file to other popular to more advanced PDF features like form creation and document merging. Consider your specific requirements and choose a PDF editing tool that offers the necessary features to meet your editing needs.

Security and Privacy

When dealing with sensitive files, security and privacy become paramount. Look for a PDF editor that prioritizes data security and offers encryption options to protect your documents. Additionally, it is essential to choose an editor that respects your privacy and does not store or share your files without your consent.

Best Mac PDF Editor in 2023

Overview of Paid and Free PDF Editors for Mac

If you’re looking for a more advanced PDF editing experience and a comprehensive set of powerful PDF editing tools for your personal or business needs, investing in a paid Mac PDF editing software is worth considering. These editors offer a wide range of functionalities to streamline your editing process.

1. pdfFiller

pdfFiller is the best web-based all-in-one PDF software in 2023, offering a versatile and user-friendly solution to cater to your specific PDF editing needs. Whether you’re a professional, a Mac enthusiast, or anyone in need of powerful PDF tools, pdfFiller has you covered with its robust features.

As a cloud-based PDF editor, pdfFiller provides the flexibility to work with your PDF files remotely on both Windows and Mac systems, making it an ideal choice for users of Mac laptops who need seamless compatibility. With pdfFiller, you can confidently handle PDF creation, editing, and file management, ensuring your documents are tailored to your exact requirements.

What sets pdfFiller apart is its ability to convert PDF files to and from popular formats while preserving quality, making it a valuable tool for Mac users who often work with different file types. Moreover, pdfFiller supports eSigning and remote online notarization, adding an extra layer of convenience and security to your digital documents.

For those who frequently merge multiple PDF files into a single document, pdfFiller streamlines this process, simplifying the document organization process.  

pdfFiller offers three subscription plans tailored to your needs:

• Basic ($8/mo): Edit, fill, draw, print, save, or fax PDFs; convert Word documents to PDFs and vice versa; highlight and add annotations to PDF files; access your documents from anywhere; customer support within a day.
• Plus ($12/mo): Includes everything in the Basic plan, plus create reusable templates, merge, rearrange, or add pages, and add basic fillable fields; customer support within 30 minutes.
• Premium ($15/mo): Everything in the Plus plan, plus send out documents to sign via signNow, access document templates in the US Legal Forms library, create advanced workflows, collect and export data, and enjoy instant chat customer support.

Additionally, pdfFiller offers a 30-day free trial period, allowing Mac users to explore its advanced features before committing to a subscription. Join the community of over 64 million users who trust pdfFiller by airSlate as their preferred PDF editor for Mac. Experience the ease and efficiency of pdfFiller for all your PDF editing needs on your Mac device.

2. Adobe Acrobat Pro DC

Adobe Acrobat Pro DC is one of the most popular PDF software on Mac in the market and offers a comprehensive suite of features. This paid PDF editor for Mac allows you to edit and convert PDF files to different formats, create and fill in PDF forms, and secure your documents with encryption. While Adobe Acrobat Pro DC comes with a subscription-based pricing model, it provides a wide range of advanced tools for Mac: 

• Acrobat Standard ($12.99/mo) has a limited set of PDF editing features that allows users to view, print, share, and comment, edit text and images in a PDF file; create, fill out, sign, and send forms; collect signatures and send bulk eSignature requests.
• Acrobat Pro ($19.99/mo) in addition to the Acrobat Standard features also allows users to Turn scanned documents into editable, searchable PDFs; Redact to permanently remove sensitive visible information; Compare two versions of a PDF to review all differences and more.  

 Acrobat DC has a free 7-day trial period. 

 3. Nitro PDF Pro

Nitro PDF Pro is a feature-rich PDF editor for Mac that offers a robust set of editing tools. Effortlessly modify PDFs by adding, editing, highlighting, and annotating text and images. Use OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to transform scanned content into editable text. Seamlessly convert your PDF documents, craft, sign, and complete interactive forms. Secure sensitive data through redaction, encryption, and password protection. Nitro PDF offers several subscription options, including plans for macOS users:

• Nitro PDF Essentials for Mac ($166/year) is a plan geared specifically for macOS users. It offers a selection of core PDF features, allowing you to create PDFs and combine files; convert files to and from PDF; edit PDF files; review, markup, and annotate PDFs; build and fill out PDF forms; keep PDFs secure and more.
• Nitro PDF Pro for Mac ($230/year) has all the features from the Essentials plan plus a set of advanced business features such as the possibility to convert PDFs to Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF/A; the possibility to add and edit permissions; create and edit tables of contents and bookmarks, PDF portfolios, and more.

Nitro PDF has a free 14-day trial period.

4. Foxit PDF Editor

Foxit PDF Editor is a PDF management platform that empowers users to view, create, edit, share, organize, collaborate, export, and scan PDF on your Mac. For large businesses and enterprises, Foxit offers pre-installed solutions in the form of Foxit PDF Editor Pro and Pro+, both of which require separate licenses for Windows and macOS. Efficient document transactions rely on eSignatures for timely completion. While pdfFiller offers an integrated legally-binding electronic signature to a PDF solution, eSign PDFs with Foxit e-signature service is not supported on Mac. Foxit PDF offers a variety of subscription options, including plans for macOS users:

• Foxit PDF Editor Suite Pro ($166/year) is a plan for Windows and macOS users. It offers a selection of capabilities, allowing you to create and convert PDFs from/to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, XPS, RTF/TXT, HTML, XML, and images; comment, annotate, compare, merge, and split PDFs; protect PDF files with passwords and certificates, and many more. Also, this PDF software on your Mac can help you introduce the AI-Based Redaction and ChatGPT into your daily workflows.

Foxit PDF Editor for Mac ($188/one-time) is a plan specifically for macOS users. The list of capabilities is similar to those offered in Foxit PDF Editor Suite Pro, however there’s a difference in the number of supported integrations. This PDF editor only Integrates with ECM systems and cloud services, including SharePoint, iManage10, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box, and Dropbox. Also, cloud document storage is unavailable.

Foxit all-in-one PDF Editor for Mac has a free 14-day trial period.

Free PDF Editor for Mac

Overview of Free PDF Editors for Mac

If you’re on a budget or prefer not to spend money on a PDF editing tool, there are several free options you can install on your Mac. While these free editors may not offer as many features as their paid counterparts, they can still get the job done for basic editing tasks. Take a closer look at the list below to choose the best free PDF editor for Mac.

1. LibreOffice

Image source: LibreOffice help

LibreOffice is a free, open-source office suite that includes a powerful PDF editor. It provides a comprehensive range of features, including the ability to edit text, images, and other elements in your PDF files.  LibreOffice offers a user-friendly interface and is compatible with macOS, making it an excellent option for users that need to edit PDF files on Mac on a daily basis.   

2. Inkscape

Image source: Inkscape tutorials

Inkscape is a free, open-source vector graphics editor that also doubles as a PDF editor. While it is primarily designed for creating and editing vector graphics, it can be used to edit a PDF document. Inkscape offers a range of tools for editing text, images, and shapes in your PDF files, making it suitable for basic editing tasks. Still, it should be noted that Inkscape is not suitable for more complex PDF tasks.

3. Apple Preview

Image source: Macstories

Apple Preview is a built-in PDF Mac app that can also be used as a PDF viewer and editor. While it may not offer advanced editing features, Preview allows you to annotate PDFs, highlight text, add signatures, and even fill out forms. The tools in the Markup toolbar can help you collaborate on PDF documents — use them to suggest changes to a PDF and to respond to suggestions. Overall, Preview is a convenient option for Mac owners who require basic PDFediting capabilities without installing additional software.

4. Skim

Online PDF Editors for Mac

Overview of Online PDF Editors for Mac

If you prefer a web-based PDF editing solution, there are several online PDF editors available for Mac. These editors allow you to edit your PDF files without the need to install any software. Some of these 

1. Sejda

Sejda is a versatile PDF editor, available in both online and desktop versions (Mac, Linux, and Windows). This PDFsoftware enables you to edit the content of your PDF files, whether it’s adding or removing text, reordering pages, applying watermarks, and much more. Additionally, it seamlessly integrates OCR technology, allowing you to convert scanned documents into editable text. Sejda’s user-friendly interface and robust editing capabilities make it the go-to choice for Mac users who regularly handle PDFs, text, and images.

Sejda provides three subscription options, including:

• Web Week Pass ($5/one-time payment for 7 days; access to online capabilities only)
• Web Monthly ($7.50/mo, recurring billing; access to online capabilities only) 
• Desktop+Web Annual ($63/year)

2. PDFescape

PDFescape provides three pricing plans, including:

• Free (free PDF editing online;  create and fill forms; share PDF documents)
• Premium ($2.99/mo, desktop and online PDF editing; power PDF editing features; print to and scan to PDF)
• Ultimate ($5.99/mo; all in Premium plan + advanced form creation and eSignature)

3. Soda PDF Online

Soda PDF Online is a comprehensive web-based PDF editor that offers a range of features for Mac. It allows you to edit text, images, and pages in your PDF files, as well as convert files to different formats and secure your documents. Soda PDF Online provides a complete PDF editing solution accessible from any browser.

Soda PDF provides three pricing plans, including:

• Standard ($7.72/mo; view, create, convert, and edit PDF files)
• Pro ($8/mo; view, create, convert, and edit PDF files and pages; edit forms; comment; eSign and OCR)
• Business ($17.5/mo; all Pro tools + expert phone support, flexible deployment options; self-serve plan management)

4. Smallpdf

Smallpdf is a web-based free PDF editor Mac owners can use for their document needs. The free version provides essential functionality, enabling you to edit text, add annotations, and perform basic operations like merging and splitting PDF files. Although the free version comes with certain limitations, it remains a valuable tool for straightforward editing tasks.

 Smallpdf has three pricing options:

• Free (access to 21 PDF tools; website and mobile PDF app)
• Pro ($9/mo; PDF compression, PDF converter to Word, file storage, etc.)
• Business (custom pricing offer)

Now You Know How to Choose the Best PDF Editor for Mac

Choosing the best PDF editor for your Mac in 2023 depends on your specific requirements and preferences. Consider factors like features, ease of use, and overall performance to find the editor that suits your editing needs. Whether you opt for a free or paid editor, ensure that it provides the necessary tools to efficiently edit and manage your PDF files.