Top 10 Adobe Acrobat Alternative for Mac
When it comes to PDF viewing, editing, annotating, collaborating, signing, or whatever task it is that you want to accomplish, you might use Adobe Acrobat on your Mac without even giving a second thought. How about we say you hold that thought. Let’s say you are looking for an alternative for Adobe Acrobat on your Mac since it has been a while since you have used this tool and now you want to give some other tool a try.
So, here we are with some of the best Adobe Acrobat alternatives that will spice up your PDF workflow.
Best Adobe Acrobat Alternatives for Mac
| Table of Contents |
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| 1. Wondershare PDFelement
2. Foxit PDF Editor 3. PDFpen 4. Readdle PDF Expert 5. PDF Professional 6. ABBYY FineReader PDF 7. PDF Studio for Mac 8. Kdan PDF Reader 9. Skim 10. Preview |
1. Wondershare PDFelement
Searching for an alternative for Adobe Acrobat for Mac? You need something which is equally efficient. And for that matter, you can consider PDFelement from Wondershare. It is easy to use and comes packed with several great features with which you can view, edit and perform tons of other things on your PDF.
Pros:
Editing PDF is a cakewalk – add texts and images, links, or whatever it is
Features to secure your PDF
Convert PDF to various file formats
Creating e-signatures on PDF is simple
Easy annotation
Cons:
Sometimes larger PDF files may create issues
2. Foxit PDF Editor
When you have made the decision to replace Adobe Acrobat with some other PDF tool, you can consider Foxit PDF Editor. For one, it offers great cloud storage integrations and it makes creating, signing, and annotating PDF files a breeze.
Pros:
Create PDFs from the scratch
Easily edit PDFs on Mac
Robust protection features
Review PDFs
Seamless cloud integration
Cons:
Some features that are available on Windows are not available on Mac
3. PDFpen
PDFpen is a feature-rich PDF application that can be a great Adobe Acrobat alternative. From editing texts, correcting typos, managing OCR documents, dealing with images, there is hardly any task that PDFpen from Nitro can’t do.
Pros:
Proofread OCR documents
Add or remove pages easily
Manage and edit PDFs on the go thanks to cloud integration
Snap objects with guides
Easy editing of text
Cons:
Lacks some features present in other Adobe Acrobat DC alternatives
4. Readdle PDF Expert
PDF Expert is another great alternative if you want to switch from Adobe Acrobat. It is not just your standard PDF viewer but it also lets you perform a host of various other tasks on your PDFs such as annotating, merging, and splitting PDFs, form building, and many others.
Pros:
Comes with a free trial
Multiple view modes
Easy annotation while reading
Fill and sign forms
Fix typos, change images and add links
Cons:
Interface could have been better
Trial version gives you limited features
5. PDF Professional
The name speaks for itself. PDF Professional is a great alternative for Adobe Acrobat. It has everything you need to edit, annotate, read or convert PDF files on your Mac. Something that will instantly grab your attention or any user’s attention for that matter is its interface.
Pros:
Several reading modes
Various tools for exceptional annotation
Easy editing
form-filling capabilities
PDF convertor and compressor
Cons:
Editing big files can be an issue at times
6. ABBYY FineReader PDF
You are probably looking for a better alternative to Adobe Acrobat reader that can help you juggle your PDF-related tasks in a better manner. Enter ABBYY FineReader Pro for Mac. It lets you work with utmost efficiency when it comes to sorting digital documents.
Pros:
Easy conversion to a variety of formats
Better cross-compatibility with iPhone
It can make photographed document searchable
Interactive UI and comes with Dark Mode support
Supports several languages
Cons:
The editing functionality can be improved
7. PDF Studio for Mac
Qoppa Software which is the maker of PDF Studio for Mac, itself calls this tool a reliable Adobe Acrobat alternative and in our opinion, it does walk its talk. To what extent? We’d recommend that you at least give it a try and let us know in the comments section below.
Pros:
Functionality to edit and manage OCR documents
Quick signing capabilities
Easily create and edit PDFs
Markup and annotation toolset
Batch processing capabilities
Cons:
Conversion to some popular formats is not possible
8. Kdan PDF Reader
When looking for an apt replacement for Adobe Acrobat Alternative on your Mac, you would look for a PDF application that doesn’t just help you edit PDFs but even manages them well. Keeping that in mind
Pros:
Flexible text editing
Easy compression of PDF files without compromising on quality
Easy form-filling
Cross compatibility with other PDF applications
Seamless e-signing
Cons:
Users who have converted docs have at times reported issues storing it
9. Skim
This is an open-source alternative to Adobe Acrobat. You will find that it is light yet a fast PDF application. One of the key highlights of Skim is that it has a Spotlight search which makes its searchability better than many of its counterparts.
Pros:
Easily add and edit notes
Smart tools to crop elements
One-swipe highlight
View notes in highlights
High customizability
Cons:
Outdated interfaces
OCR features absent
10. Preview
The list will be incomplete if we don’t incorporate Preview in it. Why? Because it is right there in your Mac. And, if you don’t want to spend another penny on an application, you can count on Preview.
Pros:
Sign forms
Annotate PDFs
Combine/ merge PDFs
Reorder, delete and rotate pages in PDFs
Add shapes, notes, pop-ups
Cons:
Limited features
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Is there a free alternative to Adobe Acrobat?
If you go through the list mentioned above, you will find that many of the above alternatives for Adobe Acrobat, do give you a trial version. However, you can try Preview if you want a completely free alternative to Adobe Acrobat. And, the best part, it is right there in your Mac.
2. How Do I Set Adobe Reader as Default on Mac?
Even after having an Adobe alternative on your Mac, if you want Adobe Acrobat as your default PDF reader, here are the steps to do so –
1. Hold the Control key and then single-click a PDF file
2. Select Get Info
3. Click on the Open with dropdown
4. Choose Adobe Acrobat
5. Next, click on the Change All button
There you are! Adobe Acrobat is now your default program for your PDF documents.
Wrapping Up
Now that you have several Adobe Acrobat alternatives for your Mac, why not pick your favorite, give it a spin, in fact, we’ll say you use your chosen tool exhaustively and give us honest feedback. And, in case your favorite PDF application didn’t make it to the list, do let us know in the comment section below.