PDF editors compared: which one fits the job
No PDF editor suits every job. To rewrite pages, build forms or use a desktop program, Adobe Acrobat, Foxit PDF Editor, Nitro PDF or PDF-XChange Editor does more than CECO PDF. CECO PDF's own strength is narrower: it corrects a word, date or number where it stands, in a scan or a text PDF, and checks that nothing else changed.
Which one for which job
- Rewriting text and pictures, making forms: a full editor. Adobe Acrobat, Foxit PDF Editor and Nitro PDF all list editing text and images1, 2, 3, and PDF-XChange Editor is a Windows program you pay for once4.
- A quick change in the browser: Sejda's online editor changes existing text within its free limits5, Smallpdf does on its Pro plan6, and iLovePDF's Edit PDF page says you can select existing text to edit it7. Editing a PDF without Acrobat sets them beside the Mac's Preview.
- Sending a document for other people to sign: Acrobat, Foxit PDF Editor+, Nitro, Smallpdf and iLovePDF offer signature requests1, 2, 3, 8, 9. CECO PDF does not.
- Free, without an account: PDF24 says its online tools have no limits and need no registration, and PDF24 Creator runs the same tools offline on Windows10, 11.
- One wrong word, date or number in a scan, changed without disturbing the rest: CECO PDF, which checks every correction before you can download it: editing the text of a PDF, of a scan, or a date or a number you typed wrong, and how a correction is made and checked.
The editors side by side
Two tables: what each one does with text and with scans, then where it runs and the price its maker's page showed on .
Changing text, and scanned pages
| Editor | Text already in the PDF | Scanned pages |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe Acrobat | Yes, on Standard, Pro and Studio1; not in the free online editor12 | Pro and Studio: “Turn scans into editable PDFs”1 |
| Foxit PDF Editor | Yes: “Edit text, images, and pages”2 | “Make scanned documents searchable and editable”13 |
| PDF-XChange Editor | Yes: its features include “Overtype” to edit text4 | OCR included; a more accurate engine in Editor Plus4 |
| Nitro PDF | Yes: “Edit text and images”3 | “Turn scanned documents into editable searchable PDFs”3 |
| Smallpdf | On the Pro plan6 | OCR first, then edit in its PDF Editor6 |
| iLovePDF | Its page says: “Select text to edit, move, or delete the existing content”7 | OCR to a searchable PDF, or a scan to Office files14, 15 |
| Sejda | Yes, within the free limits5 | A separate OCR tool; its editor does not change text in scans5, 16 |
| PDF24 | Its advice: convert to Word, edit, convert back17 | OCR to a searchable PDF18 |
| CECO PDF | Corrects a word, date or number where it stands, and checks it: editing PDF text | The same, on the scan's own picture: editing a scanned PDF |
Where it runs, and the price shown
| Editor | Runs on | Price shown |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe Acrobat | Desktop, mobile and web browser1 | Standard US$14.99, Pro US$19.99 a month on an annual plan billed monthly1 |
| Foxit PDF Editor | Windows, macOS and web2 | US$129.99 per user a year; a perpetual licence for $209.99, paid once2 |
| PDF-XChange Editor | Windows 10 and later4 | From USD $62.00, paid once4 |
| Nitro PDF | Windows, Mac and iOS19 | $15 USD per user a month ($180 a year)3 |
| Smallpdf | Browser, and an app for Windows20 | USD 12.00 a month, or USD 108.00 a year8 |
| iLovePDF | Browser; desktop and mobile apps on Premium9 | 7 US$ a month, or 47 US$ a year9 |
| Sejda | Browser, and a desktop app for Windows, Mac and Linux21 | $7.50 a month for the web; $63 a year with the desktop app22 |
| PDF24 | Browser, and PDF24 Creator for Windows11 | Nothing: paid for by advertising10 |
| CECO PDF | Browser | €0.99 a document; Personal €9.99 a month; VAT included |
Adobe Acrobat: editing, scans and signatures, by subscription
Adobe's three plans for one person, Standard, Pro and Studio, all list editing text and images with the formatting adjusted for you, and signing documents, requesting signatures and tracking the responses1. Turning scans into editable PDFs is listed for Pro and Studio, not for Standard1. Adobe says that when you edit a scan, Acrobat applies OCR automatically and converts it to “a fully editable copy of your PDF”, and that new text “matches the look of the original fonts in your scanned image”23. Acrobat runs on the desktop, on mobile and in a browser1. Its free online editor adds text boxes, comments and highlights, but Adobe says it does not let you edit existing body text, and downloading the result needs a free Adobe account12. Adobe shows each country its own prices. In US dollars, Standard was US$14.99 and Pro US$19.99 a month on an annual plan billed monthly, or US$24.99 and US$29.99 month to month1.
Foxit PDF Editor: by the year, or paid for once
Foxit PDF Editor runs on Windows, macOS and the web. Its plan lists editing text, images and pages, converting to and from Word, Excel and PowerPoint, creating, filling, signing and sending forms, OCR for scans and comparing two versions of a PDF2. Foxit describes making scanned documents “searchable and editable”13. PDF Editor+ adds the mobile apps and Foxit eSign, with 150 envelopes a year, to request signatures and track the responses2. PDF Editor was US$129.99 per user a year and PDF Editor+ US$159.99, with monthly billing from $10.99. Foxit also sells a perpetual licence, Foxit PDF Editor 14, for a one-time $209.99, and says every plan starts with a 14-day free trial without a credit card2.
PDF-XChange Editor: Windows, paid for once
PDF-XChange Editor runs on Windows 10 and later and is sold as a perpetual licence: one payment, then use it indefinitely4. Prices started at USD $62.00 for Editor and USD $79.00 for Editor Plus, and the free version leaves “70% of features” unrestricted4. Its features include typing over existing text and OCR; Editor Plus adds a more accurate OCR engine, fillable forms and comparing documents4. Of the licences in this comparison that you buy once and keep, it costs the least, which makes it the one to look at on Windows if you would rather not subscribe.
Nitro PDF: Windows, Mac and iOS
Nitro PDF runs on Windows, Mac and iOS19. Its plans list editing text and images, reordering and deleting pages, and turning scanned documents into editable, searchable PDFs, and Nitro Sign sends documents for e-signature3. Nitro PDF Standard was $15 USD per user a month ($180 a year), with tax calculated at checkout. Nitro PDF Classic, for Windows, was $270 USD per licence, paid once for three years of use. Nitro offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card3.
Smallpdf: tools in the browser, text editing on Pro
Smallpdf works in the browser, and its Windows app works offline20. The free plan has a limited number of downloads8. With a free account you can add text, images, highlights and drawings; changing text already in the PDF needs Pro, which has a 7-day free trial6. For a scan, Smallpdf says its OCR tool turns the scanned document into editable text, which you then change in its PDF Editor6. Pro includes Sign.com Premium for signature requests, and a free Sign.com account is limited to 2 documents a month8. Smallpdf says it deletes uploaded files from its servers after one hour24. Pro was USD 12.00 a month, or USD 9.00 a month billed as USD 108.00 a year8.
iLovePDF: browser tools, with apps on Premium
iLovePDF works in the browser. Its desktop app, for Windows and Mac, and its mobile apps come with Premium9, 25. Its Edit PDF page describes adding text, shapes, comments and highlights, and says “Select text to edit, move, or delete the existing content”7; its user's guide describes adding text, images and shapes26. Its OCR tool makes a scanned PDF selectable and searchable, and it converts scanned PDFs to Office files14, 15. Premium includes digital signatures9. iLovePDF says processed files are deleted within two hours, and that signed documents are kept for up to 5 years to comply with legal requirements27. Premium was 7 US$ a month, or 47 US$ a year9.
Sejda: existing text, in the browser or on the desktop
Sejda's online editor changes existing text: click it, then change the words, the font, the size or the colour5. It also adds text, images, links and form fields, covers parts of a page with white, and finds and replaces every occurrence of a word5. It says “Changing existing text within scanned documents is not supported”, and for a scan offers adding new text, images and annotations instead5. Free use covers documents of up to 200 pages or 50 MB, and 3 tasks an hour, and uploaded files are deleted after 2 hours5. Sejda Desktop runs on Windows, Mac and Linux and processes files on your own computer, free with daily limits21. Sejda cost $7.50 a month for the web, $63 a year with the desktop app, or $5 for 7 days of the web tools22.
PDF24: free tools, and an offline Windows program
PDF24 says its online tools are free, paid for by advertising, with no limits and no registration, on servers in Germany, and that uploaded files are deleted after one hour10. To change the text of a PDF, PDF24's own advice is to convert it to Word, edit it there and convert it back17; what Word, Google Docs and Canva do to a PDF says what that round trip changes. Its OCR tool makes scans searchable18. PDF24 Creator brings the same tools to Windows 10 and 11, as a free program for private and business use that works offline, so files stay on your computer11.
CECO PDF: corrections that are checked
CECO PDF is built around correction. It corrects text where it stands: a typo, a name, a date or a number, in a scan or in a PDF whose words are real text, in the browser with nothing to install. After each correction the page is drawn again, before and after, a scan at 300 dots per inch and a page of real text at 150, and the corrected file can be downloaded only once no pixel outside the corrected words has changed. A correction it cannot match to the page is refused, and the document stays as it was. It has no replace-all, and it does not send documents to other people to sign. Besides corrections, it lays text boxes, images, shapes, highlights and notes over a page with Edit PDF, redacts with Redact PDF, and merges, splits, compresses, reads scans with OCR, compares and converts PDFs: every tool.
It removes words rather than covering them: removing text from a PDF says why a white box over a word leaves it in the file, and redacting a PDF takes private details out of the file. And when a document should become one you go on writing, its PDF to Word says whether it became editable text or pictures of its pages.
Corrections are free, up to 10 a day. Signed in, your first corrected download each day costs nothing; after it, one takes a credit or a plan. One corrected document costs €0.99, and a pack of 10 costs €4.99; the Personal plan is €9.99 a month or €89.99 a year, and Business €24.99 a month or €224.99 a year. Prices include VAT, and the pricing page says what each allows.
Correct a PDF now — it opens the tool, with nothing to install.
Where the other editors do more
- Writing. Acrobat, Foxit, Nitro, PDF-XChange and Sejda change existing text freely, Smallpdf does on Pro, and iLovePDF's page says its editor edits the existing content1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. CECO PDF changes the words you select, where they stand, and nothing else.
- Forms. Foxit creates, fills, signs and sends forms, PDF-XChange Editor Plus makes fillable forms, and Sejda adds form fields2, 4, 5. CECO PDF adds real form fields over the blanks of a form: Make PDF fillable.
- Signatures from other people. Acrobat, Foxit PDF Editor+, Nitro, Smallpdf and iLovePDF send documents to be signed1, 2, 3, 8, 9.
- Programs for your computer. Acrobat, Foxit, PDF-XChange and Nitro have desktop programs1, 2, 4, 19, and Sejda Desktop, PDF24 Creator, Smallpdf's Windows app and iLovePDF's desktop app say they work on your own computer, without uploading11, 20, 21, 25. CECO PDF runs only in the browser, Safari included: on a Mac, and on an iPhone or iPad.
- Paying once. PDF-XChange Editor and Foxit PDF Editor 14 are sold as perpetual licences2, 4.
- Changing a word everywhere at once. Sejda finds and replaces every occurrence5. CECO PDF has no replace-all on purpose: each change is made where you point, and checked there.
Where CECO PDF is different
- Each correction is checked. The page is drawn again, a scan at 300 dots per inch and a page of real text at 150, and compared with the original pixel by pixel, and the download stays closed until nothing outside the corrected words has changed. How it works follows one correction from start to end.
- It works on the scan itself. Where a page has real text, the new words are typed into it. On a scan they are made from the page's own letters where it has them, or drawn to match the letters around them, and the result says which.
- It refuses what it cannot do well. A selection that misses the words, a stamp across the line, or paper that cannot be matched gets a refusal and its reason, and the document stays as it was.
- A record of every change. A corrected file carries a record of each correction, and with a Business plan you can issue a signed certificate that anyone can check at the certificate check.
- Measured, and published. How easily its corrections can be found by forensic detectors is on the measured results, weak results included.
- Paid by the document. €0.99 buys one corrected document, with no subscription.
CECO PDF refuses identity documents at upload. Correct only documents that are yours, or that you are entitled to alter, as the terms say.
How we checked
We read each maker's own pages, listed under Sources with the day each was read: prices, product pages, help pages and their questions and answers. Every statement about another tool comes from those pages, quoted where the exact words matter, and where they do not say something, neither do we. We did not upload files to any of these tools: this compares what each maker says its tool does, not our own tests of it. We chose the editors people most often weigh against each other when they compare PDF editors; others, such as PDFelement, PDF Expert, Xodo and PDFescape, are not covered here.
Prices are the ones each page showed us, in the currency it showed. They can differ by country, tax and offer, so check the maker's page before you buy. Facts about CECO PDF come from the service itself: its prices, limits and how long it keeps files are read from its own settings each time this page is served. If something here is out of date, the page is corrected and dated again.
Sources
Each page below was read on its maker's own website, on the day given beside it. A number in the text leads to the page the fact came from.
- Adobe: Acrobat plans and pricing, US prices. www.adobe.com/acrobat/pricing.html?country=US, read on
- Foxit: Foxit PDF Editor pricing, with its questions and answers. www.foxit.com/pdf-editor/pricing, read on
- Nitro: Plans and pricing. www.gonitro.com/pricing, read on
- PDF-XChange: PDF-XChange Editor. www.pdf-xchange.com/product/pdf-xchange-editor, read on
- Sejda: Online PDF editor. www.sejda.com/pdf-editor, read on
- Smallpdf: Edit PDF, and its questions and answers. smallpdf.com/edit-pdf, read on
- iLovePDF: Edit PDF. www.ilovepdf.com/edit-pdf, read on
- Smallpdf: Pricing and plans. smallpdf.com/pricing, read on
- iLovePDF: Pricing, with the plans compared. www.ilovepdf.com/pricing, read on
- PDF24: Merge PDF. tools.pdf24.org/en/merge-pdf, read on
- PDF24: PDF24 Creator. tools.pdf24.org/en/creator, read on
- Adobe: Acrobat online: free PDF editor. www.adobe.com/acrobat/online/pdf-editor.html, read on
- Foxit: Foxit PDF Editor. www.foxit.com/pdf-editor, read on
- iLovePDF: OCR PDF. www.ilovepdf.com/ocr-pdf, read on
- iLovePDF: Frequently asked questions. www.ilovepdf.com/help/faq, read on
- Sejda: OCR PDF. www.sejda.com/ocr-pdf, read on
- PDF24: Edit PDF, and its questions and answers. tools.pdf24.org/en/edit-pdf, read on
- PDF24: OCR PDF. tools.pdf24.org/en/ocr-pdf, read on
- Nitro: Nitro PDF. www.gonitro.com/pdf, read on
- Smallpdf: Desktop app for Windows. smallpdf.com/download/windows, read on
- Sejda: Sejda PDF Desktop. www.sejda.com/desktop, read on
- Sejda: Plans and prices. www.sejda.com/upgrade, read on
- Adobe: Edit your scanned PDF documents with OCR. www.adobe.com/acrobat/how-to/ocr-software-convert-pdf-to-text.html, read on
- Smallpdf: Merge PDF, and its questions and answers. smallpdf.com/merge-pdf, read on
- iLovePDF: iLovePDF Desktop. www.ilovepdf.com/desktop, read on
- iLovePDF: User's guide to the tools. www.ilovepdf.com/help/documentation, read on
- iLovePDF: Security and data protection. www.ilovepdf.com/help/security, read on
More from the blog
- Five ways to change text in a scan, compared
- Merge PDF tools compared: free limits, privacy and what is kept
- Compress PDF tools compared: what you choose, and what you get
- Can you edit a PDF in Word, Google Docs or Canva?
- How to edit a PDF without Adobe Acrobat
- How to edit your resume or CV when you only have the PDF
- Every comparison and guide, on one page
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