7 best Adobe Acrobat alternatives for Mac (Free & paid PDF editors)

Adobe has clearly made a name for itself with its suite of creative and productive tools. One of those is Adobe Acrobat, which is made for PDF management and creation, but the program isn't cheap. Especially if you only need it every once in a while or need services outside of Acrobat's toolkit, it can be worth looking for alternatives.

While macOS comes with its own collection of apps, many users, like me, often look for similar tools. Today, I'm here to help you find the best Adobe Acrobat equivalent for Mac

Is Adobe Acrobat available for Mac? (Yes — but here's when you don't need it)

Adobe Acrobat is available cross-platform, on macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android. Availability has never really been a problem for Adobe, but it's rather the compatibility with the user's needs and affordability. If you've been searching for other options, I've compiled this table to give you a head start.

These are apps that I've personally gone and tested that won't cost you an arm and a leg like Adobe apps at full price:

Adobe Acrobat alternatives	What’s the app about
NitroPDF Pro	Microsoft Word-like familiar interface for creative editing.
PDFSearch	AI-powered PDF text search.
PDF Squeezer	Drag-and-drop PDF compression.
PDF Pals	AI summaries and information about PDF documents.
Preview	Simple-as-can-get PDF manager.
Smallpdf	Comprehensive toolkit for all PDF functions.
Foxit PDF Editor	Smart document solution with translation, rewriting, and more.

If you work with long documents and need a quick overview before deciding whether to read in full, this free article summarizer GPT can help you extract the key points from any article or document in seconds. I use it as a first pass before going deeper into the documents I need to cite.

Feature comparison: Acrobat vs alternatives (Editor, OCR, eSign, redaction)

App	PDF editing	OCR	eSign	Redaction	AI features	Pricing
Adobe Acrobat Pro	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	$9.99/mo +tax via Setapp
Nitro PDF Pro	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	$9.99/mo +tax via Setapp
PDF Search	❌	✅	❌	❌	✅	$9.99/mo +tax via Setapp
PDF Squeezer	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	$9.99/mo +tax via Setapp or as a standalone app via Marketplace
PDF Pals	❌	✅	❌	❌	✅	$9.99/mo +tax via Setapp
Apple Preview	✅ (basic)	✅	✅ (basic)	❌	❌	Free
Smallpdf	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌	Free, or $10.99/mo
Foxit PDF Editor	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	Free or $14.99/mo

Best Adobe Acrobat alternatives for Mac: quick comparison

Want a little deep dive into each alternative? I've got you covered below.

Nitro PDF Pro — Best all-in-one Acrobat alternative for Mac

Best for: Full Acrobat replacement with editing, OCR, e-sign, and redaction

Platforms: Mac / iOS

Nitro PDF Pro is the best Adobe Acrobat alternative as it's the tool that comes closest in terms of features and functionalities. It makes PDF editing quite easy as its interface is more like a lovechild of Microsoft Word and a PDF management tool.

Nitro PDF Pro lets you turn physical scans into OCR (optical character recognition) editable text to make management easy. You can create and edit PDFs using a variety of drawing features, audio recording, comment tracking, and more. You can also merge PDFs, convert them to different formats, sign, and even protect them using user permissions and encryption.

• Pros: Strong editing features and a familiar, user-friendly interface.
• Cons: May struggle with advanced editing tasks.

Need a full Acrobat replacement on Mac? Nitro PDF Pro covers editing, OCR, e-sign, and redaction. The Word-like interface makes it the easiest switch from Acrobat, without the Acrobat price. Available in Setapp. Try Nitro PDF Pro Free.

PDF Search — Best for AI-powered PDF search on Mac

Best for: Finding information quickly across large PDF collections 

Platforms: Mac / iOS

AI is being used for practically everything nowadays — and in most cases, it's incredibly useful. PDF Search is an AI-based PDF app that allows you to search through your PDF documents through content matching and text search. While PDFs are usually difficult to look through, this app makes it easy to check related terms and combinations of terms and gives you results in an easily understandable format.

• Pros: High-speed PDF search and AI support.
• Cons: Best for people who need to search through documents, not modify documents.

PDF Squeezer — Best for compressing PDFs on Mac (without quality loss)

Best for: Large PDFs that need sharing 

Platforms: Mac / iOS

If you've got PDFs with tons of images, different fonts, and media attachments, it's no surprise that they're going to be pretty large files. Luckily, PDF Squeezer exists so you can seamlessly shrink those documents for other uses, whether sending them over email or on the web. All you have to do is drag and drop your files into the interface, and you can reduce your PDFs all at once. On top of that, you won't have to worry about ruining the quality of your files, as you can manually customize the quality before compression even begins.

• Pros: Quick and easy PDF compression.
• Cons: Unable to edit or modify documents — solely for compression.

It also supports batch compression and entire folder processing — ideal after exporting from an editor like Nitro PDF Pro when you need to meet upload or email size limits.

Need to find something specific across dozens of PDFs? PDF Search finds it in seconds with AI. Semantic search, ranked results, built-in reader, and Wi-Fi sync for iPhone/iPad. Rated 92% by 364 users. Available in Setapp. Try PDF Squeezer Free.

PDF Pals — Best for chatting with PDFs (summaries + citations)

Best for: Extracting information from long documents quickly 

Platforms: Mac 

Writer, student, or need to skim through PDF documents for work? The task has never been easier with PDF Pals. While long PDFs are usually your worst enemy, this app turns them into true pals thanks to its interactive features like an OCR engine and AI. You can essentially "chat" with your PDFs, finding sources to claims and having it do the reading comprehension for you.

A key differentiator for sensitive workflows: PDF Pals processes everything locally — your PDFs stay on your Mac, no uploads required. All answers come with citations so you can verify exactly where the information came from.

• Pros: One-of-a-kind app that gives you insights from your PDFs through AI.
• Cons: Not very good for traditional PDF tasks.

Note: If you download the app through Setapp, it will use either Setapp AI credits or your personal API key.

Apple Preview — Best free PDF reader for Mac (basic edits + sign)

Best for: Viewing, annotating, and signing PDFs without installing anything

Platforms: Mac / iOS 

The built-in default is the simplest PDF manager on macOS. Even for beginners, this simple app can open up any PDF, let you do basic markups, and save your changes. It's essentially a no-frills app that is more than good enough for the casual PDF user.

• Pros: Extremely simplistic user interface that is comfortable to use.
• Cons: May be overly basic for people who deal with PDFs often.

Smallpdf — Best web-based PDF toolkit (edit, compress, sign)

Best for: Occasional PDF tasks without dedicated software 

Platforms: Web 

Got a few one-off documents to handle and don't really want to download an entire third-party tool for them? Smallpdf is a browser-based PDF toolkit with a variety of tools, such as eSign PDF, Compress PDF, and Edit PDF, to perform all sorts of tasks.

• Pros: Virtually every PDF tool you need as a standalone tool.
• Cons: May be too segmented if you're looking for an all-in-one platform that can do it all.

Foxit PDF Editor — Best Acrobat alternative for business (editing + redaction + AI)

Best for: Business PDF solution with AI, translation, and redaction 

Platforms: Mac / Windows / Web

Marketed as an "intelligent document solution," Foxit PDF Editor is a comprehensive solution for businesses that regularly manage PDFs. The AI assistant can summarize documents, translate into 30 languages, and rewrite documents, and you can pair that with classic tools like creating, filling, and signing.

• Pros: Multiple functionalities, including OCR, editing, and AI capabilities, such as translation and summarization.
• Cons: Can be considered quite pricey and may not have all the functions you need.

Best free Adobe Acrobat alternatives for Mac

If you don't feel like adding yet another subscription to your bill, there are still some great free options:

• Apple Preview: The most obvious starting point, as it's already on your Mac. It's basic, but Apple has made it more powerful over the years with features like OCR and form-filling.
• Smallpdf: The free tier is enough for basic editing, annotation, and form filling.
• Foxit PDF Editor: The free version allows viewing, annotating, highlighting, and filling forms.

If you already have a Setapp subscription, you can also get Nitro PDF Pro, PDF Pals, and PDF Search without extra payment and use all the features.

Best Adobe Acrobat alternative for specific tasks

Adobe Acrobat can do pretty much everything, but chances are you don't need all those features. If you tend to focus more on particular tasks, you can give them extra weight when choosing an Adobe Acrobat alternative:

• Best for eSigning: Nitro PDF Pro supports it natively.
• Best for OCR (turning scans into editable text): Nitro PDF Pro has a very capable on-device option on both Mac and iOS. Prizmo is also a strong alternative that specializes in OCR.
• Best for redacting sensitive information: Nitro PDF Pro allows you to permanently remove or hide sensitive details instead of just covering them up with a black box.
• Best for compressing PDFs: PDF Squeezer is purpose-built to reduce PDF size.
• Best for filling and managing forms: Nitro PDF Pro and Foxit PDF Editor offer strong form management features.

If you want something as close to Adobe Acrobat as possible, Nitro PDF Pro is the one.

Privacy & security considerations when using AI PDF tools

Since PDF is the format used for most work and personal documents, privacy and security are worth addressing.

AI tools mostly process information online, meaning that they send information contained in the document to a server. If you often deal with sensitive documents and want to use PDF editors, it's always advisable to use offline tools.

PDF Pals is a notable exception. It processes everything locally with no uploads required, making it a safer choice for confidential documents. At the moment, there aren't many PDF editors, if any, that offer fully offline AI tools beyond this.

Alternatives we didn't include (And why)

There are a few tools you might have expected to find that we didn't include in our list of the best Adobe Acrobat alternatives:

• Wondershare PDFelement — Feature-rich, but it tends to be sluggish when working with large files.
• PDFgear — Quite capable, but users often express concerns around privacy and security. There's also a lack of transparency regarding the company behind it.
• Drawboard PDF — Primarily an iPad and Windows app with no proper Mac version.

We also didn't mention most online tools, as there's always a privacy concern when you need to upload your files.

How to choose the best Adobe Acrobat alternative for Mac (Checklist)

Finding a good alternative to Adobe Acrobat for macOS is about knowing what features you need and what they are for. After all, you don't want to pick a solution just because it has more features than all the other apps — you might not need them anyway and could end up getting overwhelmed. Instead, follow these steps for the best results:

• Identify your specific needs: Do you need to compress files, or is editing perhaps your main priority at the moment? Write down a list of features that are must-haves, some that are nice-to-haves, and leave those you really don't need out.
• Consider compatibility with macOS and other Apple devices: Are you only looking to use the app on your Mac, or do you want it to be accessible on your iPhone or other devices, too?
• Test apps through free trials or demos before committing: Many apps and programs out there (even Adobe!) provide trial periods that could allow you to experiment before making a final decision. Take advantage of them and weigh your options after a first-hand look.

Read also:

• Search for text with PDF Search
• Setapp alternatives
• Best AI writing assistant

What is Adobe Acrobat? (Features, pricing, and why people switch)

Adobe Acrobat is a program for all things PDF. You can easily edit PDFs, turn documents into PDFs, view them, and even annotate or secure them — whatever tickles your fancy. Professionals, students, small business owners, enterprise business owners, and even individuals who need it for personal use all look to Acrobat as a solution. 

As part of the Adobe name, it's become a well-established choice.

Final verdict: Which Adobe Acrobat alternative should you pick?

Now that you've got a list of options to try out, why not put our mini "how-to" guide to the test? Once you've figured out what you need from your PDF tool, you can find the perfect app that provides all of those things and potentially a few extras.

NitroPDF Pro, PDF Pals, PDF Search, and PDF Squeezer — four Adobe Acrobat replacements. One Setapp subscription. Try all of them free for 7 days: 

• Nitro PDF Pro (edit/sign/OCR/redact)
• PDF Search (AI search)
• PDF Squeezer (compression)
• PDF Pals (AI chat, on-device). 

Cancel before Day 7 — $0 charged. Get 250+ Mac Apps Free.

FAQ: Adobe Acrobat alternatives for Mac

What is the alternative to Adobe Acrobat for Mac? 

Nitro PDF Pro is the best alternative to Adobe Acrobat for Mac. It's more of a like-for-like replacement as it still offers most of the features provided by Adobe Acrobat. If you don't want a paid tool, you can use Apple Preview for basic edits.

What is the best PDF editor for Mac? 

The best PDF editor for Mac is Nitro PDF Pro, as it offers advanced features like AI-powered document analysis, OCR for scanned docs, enterprise-grade security, and unlimited e-signing.

Is there a free version of Adobe Acrobat for Mac? 

There is a free Adobe Acrobat for Mac, like a built-in Preview, but it only lets you do basic tasks. For advanced options, consider using Nitro PDF Pro.

What is the Apple equivalent of Adobe? 

Preview is the native Apple equivalent of Adobe Acrobat. It provides everything you need in a user-friendly interface to annotate, sign, and view PDFs.

Does Apple Mac have Adobe? 

Apple Mac has an Adobe app available on macOS.

Which is the best PDF reader for Mac? 

Apple Preview is the best free built-in reader for Mac. If you need heavier annotation and workflows, consider a dedicated editor like Nitro PDF Pro.

What's the best Adobe Acrobat alternative for Mac with no subscription?

Apple Preview is the best Adobe Acrobat alternative for Mac with no subscription. It offers basic use at no cost, though you'll need a more powerful tool like Nitro PDF Pro for editing. Nitro PDF Pro is available through Setapp.

What's the best Adobe Acrobat alternative for Mac for redaction? 

Nitro PDF Pro supports true redaction — permanently removing sensitive details rather than just covering them with a black box — along with permission controls and PDF security features.

Are web-based PDF editors safe for sensitive documents? 

Web-based PDF editors are generally not safe for sensitive documents as they upload them to their servers. For confidential files, prefer offline tools. PDF Pals is an on-device AI PDF tool that processes everything locally with no uploads.