PDFgear is a multi-platform app whose Singapore-based developers claim offers everything you need to do to a PDF, all under one roof, and all for free. We’ve tested plenty of the best free PDF editors, and when you consider some of these hide more advanced features behind a subscription, or lack specific tools altogether, this is certainly an attractive proposition. 

Like all the best PDF editors, this one is available on desktop, mobile, and the web - so, we took a look at each app to see what it can do.  

PDFgear: Pricing & plans

• No charge whether you use the service offline or online, no watermark, no need to create an account. 

OK, the advertising says it’s free, but there’s got to be a catch, right? Apparently not. We’ve looked around and tried various features, but it looks like the developers are true to their word: not only is PDFgear totally free to use, it won’t watermark your work, nor will you need to create an online account. 

We contacted the company about this, and their response hinted at the possibility this might not be the case in the future: “PDFgear is free to use at the current stage, and there are no other versions that contain more functions.” So for right now, everything is free, and that’s worth celebrating. 

PDFgear is available to try by clicking here. 

• Pricing & plans: 5/5 

PDFgear: Desktop app

• So many features and possibilities - PDFgear lets you edit, annotate, fill in and sign, as well as offering numerous conversion tools

We tested out version 2.1. You’ll find the interface clean and simple. Most of the welcome page is dedicated to various shortcuts which will allow you to perform quick, one-step functions, such as rotating a PDF, taking a screenshot and using the OCR software. As you[‘d expect, there’s also conversion tools and a PDF merger.  

You can display the ‘hottest’ tools, narrow down the results to merely ‘convert’ from or to PDFs, or simply focus on the ‘split & merge’ tools, or just display everything. Click on the tool you need, locate the file you wish to alter, use fields to input your instructions, and save the results. It’s simple, but it’s not drag-and-drop-simple. 

For instance, when splitting a PDF, you need to state which pages you wish to split and put that information in a field. You don’t have a visual representation of the file, or thumbnails of the pages, so no way to just click on the ones you need. Most of the conversion tools don’t need much input, so when it comes to them, such a basic interface works great. 

But these are just the appetisers. To the left is a simple sidebar with a single button: ‘Open File’. This enables you to load a PDF into PDFgear, and gain access to all of its tools. This is where editing the text contained within PDFs is possible. Highlighting text, adding shapes, overlaying images, inserting new URL links, notes, it’s all there for you to use. 

You’ll find some tabs at the top of the page. This is from where you can access the signing and form filling options for instance. There’s even a way to set a password to access your document, or redact certain sensitive sections of it. PDFgear covers pretty much all the bases. 

• Desktop app: 4.5/5

PDFgear: Mobile app

• A good number of options while you’re on the go, but the potential privacy issue when it comes to accessing your camera from within the app could be a concern for some. 

On Android and iOS, PDFgear lacks the shortcut feature that is so prominently displayed in the desktop version. We also couldn’t find a way to edit the text already present in a PDF. However, the annotation options are vast. The interface works in either landscape or portrait orientation, you can highlight and underline text in multiple colours, draw, add shapes and notes, pretty much the same as what you can do with the Desktop version. 

There’s a cool feature when adding a Text Box: you can turn on your phone’s camera and grab any text it sees. PDFgear will automatically OCR said text and insert it into your document as a moveable and resizable text box. The character recognition isn’t perfect, but thankfully, you'll be able to edit the content, font size and colour. 

There is however a privacy concern when using an iPhone (we couldn’t check this on an Android device). Usually, when you choose to access your camera for the first time from a new app, your iPhone asks you for permission for it to do so, but here, no such permission was requested. Maybe something Apple should look into? 

Additional features include organising pages, creating new ones, and splitting pages from a PDF, as well as built-in eSignature software. It’s a great tool to have when you need to annotate a PDF on the go, and you get to import documents directly from your iPhone, iCloud Drive or Dropbox.  

• Mobile app: 3.5/5

PDFgear: Web app

• If you need to annotate or fill in a PDF and you’re nowhere near your computer or phone, this would be a godsend.

If you don’t have your computer or mobile device handy, but still need to work on some documents, you can do this without having to download an app onto the machine you’re borrowing: just use PDFgear straight from the developers’ website under the ‘Products’ menu, then select the online tool you’d like to use. 

When it comes to annotation, form building, conversation, splitting and merging, and more, the online tools are very similar to the Desktop version. The only drawback is an interface that isn’t ideally suited for the purpose: you constantly have to visit a dropdown menu to choose the tool you need, and doing so overwrites whatever document you might’ve had on the page at the time. 

The service’s forte lies in its desktop app, so it isn’t too surprising the online version isn’t as polished. PDFgear even quietly urges you to download their app, with a prominent red button, top right of the page. Despite this, you can do everything you’d expect, aside from editing the text of a PDF. We weren’t able to find a tool that does that. The ‘Edit PDF’ option is actually the annotation tool. 

The biggest drawback is of course having to be online to use the service, which isn’t surprising, but it’s worth noting that if your internet drops, so will your ability to work in PDFgear, and if you’re not comfortable uploading a document in order to work on it, then this version is a no-go for you. 

PDFgear works best and is the most feature-rich on a desktop (or laptop), but it’s good to have options, as the mobile version can be fantastic when you’re on the go, while the online version could save your bacon if you’ve got no other option. The fact this app is free and so feature rich is most impressive, just as long as it remains that way. 

• Web app: 3.5/5

PDFgear: Scorecard

Should I buy?

Buy it if...

You’re in the market for a powerful and versatile PDF editor, that works on any device you happen to be in front of when you need it.  

Don't buy it if...

You don’t need to edit, annotate or fill in a PDF, or you view free services with deep suspicion. 

PDFgear: Alternatives

If PDFgear doesn't do what you need, check out Adobe Acrobat. Soda PDF Online, Nitro PDF Pro, and Foxit PDF Editor. If you’re on a Mac, give Apple Preview a look. It's fairly basic, but contains many common features for free 

• Best alternatives to Adobe Acrobat: Tested, reviewed, rated by us

When we last reviewed Tungsten Power PDF, it was known as Kofax Power PDF - so, we wanted to see what's changed with this software beyond the name.

Having tested the best PDF editors around, we were curious to see if Tungsten Automation's app still deserves a place in the round-up of top-rated apps around.

Tungsten Power PDF: Pricing & plans

• A multi-platform tool with a two-week free trial

Power PDF is available on a free 15-day trial, no credit card required, although you will need to give them your name, email address, and country of residence, in order to gain access to the link to download it. We appreciate the fact the software is multi-platform, although puzzlingly there are some disparities between platforms. You have ‘Power PDF for Mac’, and ‘Power PDF Standard’ and ‘Power PDF Advanced’ for Windows.

The specs for Windows include a minimum of 1.5GHz CPU, 1GB of RAM and 1GB of Storage. You also need to have anything from Windows 8.1 to 11 installed. Mac users require MacOS 10.15 to 14 - although we tested it on Sequoia (MacOS 15) and it worked fine there too.

Should you decide to purchase the software (yes: purchase, not subscription!), Standard for Windows or the Mac version will set you back $129 / £95 / $171AUD. Windows’ Advanced version is available for $179 / £131 / $237AUD. As you’d expect, Advanced has more features, which we’ll dive into later in this review.

You can check out the software by clicking here.

• Pricing & plans: 4.5/5

Tungsten Power PDF: Interface

• Clean traditional interface makes it easy to find all the tools you need

Launch the PDF reader and editor and you’ll find the interface to be very clean and uncluttered. There’s a small menu bar at the top with seven options. Click on one to reveal a series of contextual tools represented by large icons right underneath that menu bar, all specific to each category. The bulk of the interface highlights some frequently used tools and your recently opened documents, or showcases the PDF you’ve got currently open.

One thing we greatly appreciated is a welcome improvement to the interface since we last explored this software: prior to this version, Tungsten Power PDF was very old school, with each new file opening a brand new window with its own menu bar, tools, etc. Now, each opened file appears in its own separate tab, within the main window, decluttering your workspace massively.

• Interface: 5/5

Tungsten Power PDF: Tools

• Many excellent tools to annotate, reorder, and otherwise modify existing PDF, and create new ones

If you’re familiar with such PDF tools, you’ll find the features instantly recognisable. Being able to convert any Microsoft document (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) to PDF, or grab files directly from your scanner is but a few clicks away. A browser extension is available for Chrome and Edge to allow you to open and create PDFs directly from there (although this is superfluous on Macs, as they've been able to do this as standard from any app, since the early days of Mac OS X).

All this is pretty basic stuff. What’s more interesting is how you can modify an existing PDF - and Power PDF doesn’t disappoint.

You’ll find a lot of hands-on manipulation is possible, like dragging the thumbnail of a page from one document onto the sidebar of another (although you’ll have to open those files as two separate ‘instances’ for that to work: you can’t move pages that way from one tab to another). But it doesn’t end there: if you need to reorder the pages of a PDF, just click on its thumbnail and drag it up or down the list to change its position.

Right-click on a thumbnail grants you access to more controls, such as being able to rotate a page or even delete it (although handy keyboard shortcuts are also available to invoke such commands more quickly).

You’re able to annotate a PDF with ease - most handy when collaborating with others, or if you need to set reminders for yourself. The options here are quite extensive. You have a highlighting tool with a choice of colors, as well as the ability to underline, squiggle or strikethrough content. Annotations are done by adding a text box, speech bubble, callout, or even an attachment, among others.

You can create forms with various options such as checkboxes, radio buttons, dropdown menus, add shapes (polygons, rectangles, ovals, that sort of thing), and there’s even a freehand tool. With all of this available, you can alter a PDF, or even create one from scratch, to your heart’s content.

Other tools allow you to look for specific sections with the help of a handy search field. You’ll also find an OCR tool, and the ability to apply digital signatures with the built-in eSign software. There’s a lot there to enjoy, including what is probably the most important aspect of PDF software: being able to edit the original content. In that respect, Power PDF does an excellent job: it’s well implemented, and easy to use, allowing you to select paragraphs, edit them, move them around and resize them, and do the same for images and other media.

• Tools: 4.5/5

Tungsten Power PDF: Advanced options

• Some Standard tools for Macs only included in the Advanced PC version

Interestingly enough, the Mac version possesses a couple of tools not present in the Standard Windows version. These include the ability to redact text and graphics from PDF files.

It could be because many of the other tools Tungsten Power PDF offers are already present in Apple Preview. One of the best free PDF editors available, which comes bundled with every Mac, so a few additional power options are most welcome.

The Advanced version is a more powerful - and more expensive - package, which also has other features not present in the Mac version, such as password protection, batch processing, and real-time collaboration. It’s clearly designed with businesses in mind, and as most of those work with Windows, which could explain the lack of support for Macs for those tools.

• Advanced options: 4/5

Tungsten Power PDF: Scorecard

Should I buy?

Buy it if...

You need to make alterations to PDF documents, reorder pages, delete some altogether, make annotations, add text - the list is quite extensive, and would cater to most needs short of radically altering the PDF’s existing content. 

Don't buy it if...

Your needs are more basic than that, and all you require is just the ability to read a PDF, or complete a form. In this case, Tungsten Power PDF risks being overkill. 

For more PDF tools, we reviewed the best alternatives to Adobe Acrobat.