These are the key points that I explored during the Nitro vs UPDF clash:

• UPDF is a more budget-friendly option than Nitro.
• UPDF has more extensive AI features than Nitro.
• Both Nitro and UPDF have great PDF editor tools.
• Both Nitro and UPDF are versatile and work on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices.
• Nitro is slow sometimes, particularly when working with more PDFs.

Now, let’s dive into the side-by-side comparison of Nitro vs UPDF!

Verdict

Here’s the quick verdict if you don’t want to read the full Nitro vs UPDF review:

Tested with our review & scoring methodology Real-world testing Unbiased evaluation

My ratings: Nitro vs UPDF

How We Test PDF Editors

To keep our reviews and final scores fair and consistent, we evaluate every PDF editor using a standardized testing framework built on over 3 years of hands-on experience testing these tools in real-world scenarios.

Our scoring breakdown after testing 30+ PDF editors:

Want a detailed breakdown of how we test each category?

Learn exactly how we test tools → Review methodology

Key differences between Nitro and UPDF

Here is a short overview of the key differences I found in the Nitro vs UPDF showdown:

Comparison: Nitro vs UPDF

First, I show my experience with both PDF editors when using them on a day-to-day basis. Afterward, I reveal their ideal use cases, as well as strengths and weaknesses based on my testing.

Furthermore, I will break down the features I tried, the pricing plans I discovered, and their alternatives.

How these PDF editors performed in my daily workflow

I used both UPDF and Nitro for several days for my PDF workflows. Below, you will see how this went with each PDF editor.

How Nitro fits into my workflow

Nitro has a robust feature set when it comes to working with PDF forms and documents. You can find everything you need to read, edit, and review PDF documents.

The PDF editing experience was smoother than I expected. One thing I immediately noticed was how precisely Nitro handled text selection, while offering the flexibility to select lines or sections.

The image editor was also outstanding compared to other PDF editors I tried. Adjusting size, position, brightness, colors, and resolution worked well, and I did not run into formatting issues while moving elements around.

Besides standard password protection and redaction tools, the Smart Redaction feature was one of the most useful features I found after testing 30+ alternatives.

The e-signature and form tools were another highlight. Nitro Sign works as a dedicated e-signature app, with custom fields, audit trails, and document workflows that make sense for business users.

The interface was clean and easy to navigate overall. However, I missed the function to switch between multiple open documents, and organizing pages could be faster with a more visual drag-and-drop layout.

Overall, Nitro PDF delivered one of the strongest all-around PDF editing experiences I tried. It combines advanced features with a user-friendly interface, making it a capable choice for professionals and businesses working with PDFs regularly.

Who should choose Nitro?

Who should NOT choose Nitro?

How UPDF fits into my workflow

UPDF has a clean user interface, so even new users can learn all the features quickly. I loved that I could access every tool with one or a maximum of two clicks.

Another thing that stands out is how easy it is to edit PDFs. You can change every element in a PDF file to fit your needs. Compared to other PDF editors, it provides high flexibility for managing all aspects of your PDF files.

Besides the above-described functionalities, I tried other tools as well. For instance, it has an efficient feature for cropping or organizing pages. But you can also combine multiple PDFs into one. These are pretty helpful for saving time and nerves when working on PDFs.

Lastly, my favorite part during the UPDF review was the AI features. I think AI tools can be highly effective when dealing with text-based content. Fortunately, the AI features work nicely with UPDF. If you are someone who has to deal with many PDFs, these AI tools can be life-savers.

Who should choose UPDF?

Who should NOT choose UPDF?

Nitro’s pros and cons

These are the pros and cons I found when testing Nitro.

Nitro’s pros

Nitro’s cons

UPDF’s pros and cons

Here are the wins & trade-offs I saw when using UPDF.

UPDF’s pros

UPDF’s cons

Key features

Let’s start the Nitro vs UPDF clash with their key features!

Nitro’s features

PDF editing features

If you click on the edit button on the left side of the top toolbar, you can edit PDF documents with Nitro. You can create new text or edit the existing content.

What I noticed first, compared to other PDF editors, is how flexible it is when selecting which text you want to edit. It can either select the whole block or just a line, which is a nice touch for more precise PDF editing.

In contrast, I tried numerous PDF editors where it selected the whole page when I wanted to edit only a section.

When making changes in the text, you can adjust font type, size, color, alignment, spacing, and position. Similar to other PDF editors, you can edit both text and images, and insert new ones.

When it comes to the pictures, you can adjust resolution, brightness, color, size, and position. The picture editor worked smoothly during testing and did not encounter any issues.

After you finish editing, you can move the text blocks and pictures around by dragging and dropping them.

PDF reader

Nitro offers practical PDF reading features. You can choose from numerous view options to review your PDF documents.

The default view shows only one page at a time. However, you can easily change this view to facing pages, continuous facing pages, or full-screen mode.

Moreover, you can zoom in and out when viewing your PDF documents.

What I missed when viewing PDFs is the option to switch between dark and light modes, but aside from that, Nitro has the essential tools for PDF reading.

Annotate PDF documents

During my Nitro PDF review, I discovered that Nitro is a solid PDF annotator. With its markup tools, you can highlight text, insert notes, callouts, stamps, shapes, and more.

In addition to the essential annotation features, Nitro PDF lets you attach files and draw.

Overall, these features are useful for small businesses and for users who frequently collaborate on PDF documents.

Sign PDFs

Nitro PDF has a built-in quick signature option that you can use to create your signature and sign documents fast. You can get your signature by drawing, webcam, file insertion, and typing.

Nevertheless, if you need more advanced PDF signing, you can use Nitro Sign, which works as a full-featured e-signature platform. That said, you can insert numerous field types, such as name, date, title, company, signature, and more.

Afterward, just add the recipients and share the document for signing. Nitro Sign also provides an audit trail and a secure record of all actions taken during the signing, making it an ideal choice for businesses.

PDF forms

Nitro offers several tools to help you fill out forms. You can add items such as checkboxes, lists, barcodes, buttons, and more.

When you insert an item, you can easily drag and drop them, duplicate fields, and use more detailed formatting.

I found the Smart Automatic Form Creation a valuable feature here to instantly detect and convert static form elements into interactive fields. Based on my experience, only a few PDF editors offer similar features for faster form creation.

All in all, Nitro PDF has capable form creation tools that are excellent for users who regularly work with PDF forms.

Organize PDFs

If you go to the page layout option on the top toolbar, you can organize your PDF files. You can reorder, delete, rotate them, and more.

The only thing I missed here is an interface that lets me quickly drag and drop pages to rearrange them. In my opinion, it is faster to organize your pages compared to the solution Nitro PDF offers.

PDF Protection and redaction

Security is key when it comes to PDFs, as they can include a lot of sensitive data. With Nitro PDF, you can add an open password and a permission password.

In the case of open passwords, you have to add a password that must be entered each time you access the PDF file. You can set a permission password to allow others to edit and print the PDFs. They are both useful for protecting your PDFs and restricting their accessibility.

In addition, you can mark parts of the documents for redaction, and once you are ready, just click on the Apply Redaction for removal. Nitro PDF not only hides the information but permanently removes it from the document.

One thing that stood out to me is the Smart Reduction feature, which automatically redacts sensitive data from PDFs using AI, such as bank info, email addresses, and more.

After testing some of the most advanced PDF editors, such as Adobe Acrobat, PDF-Xchange, and Tungsten Power PDF, I did not find a more efficient redaction removal method.

PDF conversion and compression

Nitro PDF allows you to convert PDFs into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and image formats. The conversion is almost instant, and you get the file in the desired formats.

Nitro also offers PDF compression features to strip unnecessary objects and compress images to the minimum size. Based on my testing, it worked well and reduced the files’ size by more than 50%.

Optical character recognition

I was curious how Nitro PDF handles scanned documents, so I tried its OCR capabilities. And honestly, the result was better than I expected.

It transformed the scanned document into an easily editable PDF file that I can edit and annotate. The process took about 20-40 seconds, and you can choose whether to make it searchable or editable.

Overall, I was satisfied with the entire process and the OCR output accuracy.

Smart Tools

The Smart Tools are only available from the Web version.

Nitro Assistant helps you summarize and ask questions about your PDF document. The first time I used Nitro’s AI features around 2023 and 2024, I experienced slow response times. However, it’s not the case in 2026.

I got the answers in 10-15 seconds, and the output was reliable.

Besides the AI assistant, you can access Nitro’s table and form extract features to automatically get the key data points from tables and forms. If you deal with many forms and tables daily, this can be a practical solution.

Admin Portal and Analytics

Using the Admin Portal, you can control access, allocate seats, and turn AI tools on/off. This is a unique feature, as neither Adobe Acrobat nor Foxit offers similar features for admins.

With the Analytics feature, you can track the time saved by signing, including an ROI calculator and a productivity score for your users. Such features give you insight into your team’s PDF workflows, making Nitro an appealing option for businesses with serious PDF needs.

UPDF’s features

Let’s see UPDF’s features!

Text editing

While most PDF editors only allow you to add text boxes or comments, UPDF offers way more options to customize and edit the text in your PDF file. You can edit all the elements of the PDF documents smoothly, and the text is no exception.

You can add, remove, and change existing PDF text, which is even more useful than you think. I really loved that I could change the original text in PDF documents, so I did not need to make the changes in the Word document and convert it into PDFs again.

It is also great that you can use custom text. You can customize the text’s color, font, and alignment. Besides these options, you can highlight text similarly to other PDF editors.

Insert images

UPDF offers many functionalities you may need to edit images in PDF files. With UPDF, you can add, crop, replace, rotate, delete, and extract images with a few clicks. Furthermore, it supports drag-and-drop functionality to easily add or replace images.

In a nutshell, UPDF provides all the editing options you need to customize images in PDFs.

Add sticky notes and stickers

When reviewing a PDF file, sticky notes are an excellent way to add comments or notes. With UPDF, you can insert small notes in different places in a PDF file to give feedback or expand information.

Nevertheless, my favorite tool from the edit mode was the stickers during the UPDF review. UPDF has some unique stickers that you can use when editing PDF documents. They can be quite valuable when you need to review PDFs quickly and want to highlight some parts.

Signatures

Many businesses use digital signatures for PDF documents to reduce the chance of fraud and authenticate documents. UPDF offers an easy way to add your signature anywhere on the PDF. Also, you can adjust the field size and edit its properties by double-clicking on it.

Annotation tools

I already mentioned some annotation tools previously, like sticky notes or stickers, but there are some additional tools you may want to try. Such annotation tools can significantly improve your experience with PDFs, especially when it comes to team collaboration.

You can add annotations to your PDF files, including text callouts, strikethrough, and more. I found the openable attachment to be the best annotation tool.

It was so good that I could insert other documents in different parts of the PDFs. Simply put, it makes referencing much easier and more accessible for anyone reading PDFs.

Let’s take a closer look at what AI features this PDF software offers for us!

Summarize PDFs

I do not know about you, but dealing with PDFs is a burdensome and time-consuming task for me. I always try to find a way to make this process faster. Fortunately, UPDF’s AI features made me faster and more productive when working with PDFs.

The AI summaries are useful for digesting documents faster. Thanks to UPDF’s integration with ChatGPT, you can ask AI to summarize your PDF document without switching between apps. It is a pretty efficient way to understand long PDF files without reading the whole document.

The structure of the summary changes every time you ask UPDF, so you need to include your precise instructions in the prompt. My preferred structure for the summary was section-based. It essentially collects the main takeaways for each section, and you can get an overview of what the PDF is about.

Chat with PDFs

Moreover, UPDF has an AI chat feature. Simply put, imagine interacting with ChatGPT; you can ask UPDF to rewrite specific parts of the PDF or just answer your questions regarding the document.

Overall, the AI chat feature is an excellent way to digest PDFs faster and move on to the next task.

Translate PDFs

If you are working in a multicultural environment, the translation tool could be valuable. You can ask UPDF to translate content directly on the page, so you do not need to switch between translators and PDF editors. With just a few clicks, you can translate documents in seconds.

You can find it step-by-step in the above video if you are interested in the whole process and the outcome.

Create mind maps from PDFs

Finally, one of the most exciting features is the mindmaps. You can convert your PDF to a mind map quickly. It not only helps you understand and document faster, but also provides a way to show the overall structure of a subject.

Once UPDF generates the mind map, you can download it in various file formats, such as PDF or JPG.

Pricing

Let’s check their pricing!

Nitro’s pricing

The Nitro Pro Standard costs $180 annually per user and includes all advanced features, from PDF editing to AI tools.

The Nitro PDF Classic is $270 per license. This is a one-time purchase, and the Nitro PDF includes PDF editing features.

If you are looking for a PDF editor for your business, you should check out the Nitro PDF Plus plan. However, you need to contact sales to get volume discounts.

If you need the e-signature features, you can purchase the Nitro Sign Standard for $180 to send documents for signatures, create forms with fields, and track the signing activity.ng. You need to contact sales to get volume discounts.

UPDF’s pricing

UPDF has three plans. The pricing structure changes whether you are an individual, student, or enterprise client.

The free plan includes limited AI assistant features (i.e., Analyze three files, ask 30 questions) and two file conversions per day. While you can use many editing features, UPDF will add watermarks to your document.

With the UPDF Pro license, you can access all the editing features without watermarks. If you are not interested in AI features, a lifetime license is an ideal option.

If you want to use the AI tools, opt for the UPDF with AI plan. Using this UPDF license, you can utilize all the editing and AI features without limits.

Related articles:

• 9 Best PDF Editors In 2026 | 30+ Personally Tested PDF Tools
• The 8 Best Adobe Acrobat Alternatives: 30+ PDF Editors Tested
• The 7 Best PDF Readers For 2026 (Only FREE Options)
• 5 Best Free PDF Editors (No Watermarks & Actually Free Picks)

Nitro and UPDF alternatives

If you feel like Nitro or UPDF is not perfect for you, here are the best alternatives:

Wrap-up: Nitro vs UPDF

Both Nitro and UPDF received the same score after testing them. Nonetheless, the same score doesn’t mean that they are the same.

UPDF is more suitable for individuals who need a PDF editor at a reasonable price, particularly if they want to use it on all their devices.

You should check Nitro in case you run a business or need a PDF editor for an enterprise. It offers advanced PDF management features with high security.

Why you can trust our reviews

At thebusinessdive.com, our team tests, reviews, and compares hundreds of productivity apps every year — from project management tools to note-taking apps. We dive deep into real-world use cases to help you find the right tools that actually improve your workflow, not just add noise.

Our mission? No fluff, no shortcuts—just honest, hands-on insights from productivity pros.

Discover how we stay transparent, read our review methodology, and let us know about any tools we missed.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a better PDF reader than Adobe Acrobat?

Adobe Acrobat is a solid PDF reader and editor. However, there are great alternatives to Adobe Acrobat Reader and Pro on the market, such as UPDF or Nitro. They offer similar PDF features for a significantly lower price.

Which PDF editor is best?

The best PDF editors for me are Tenorshare PDNob, EaseUS PDF Editor, Smallpdf, pdfFiller, PDFgear, and Nitro. There are many other capable solutions, but these impressed me the most.

Is UPDF a good PDF editing software?

UPDF is a perfect and affordable choice for editing your PDFs. It also has extensive AI features that help you understand PDF documents faster.

Is UPDF safe?

After finishing my review and reading other UPDF reviews, I did not find anything suspicious regarding UPDF or Superace Software Technology, which is the owner of this product.

Based on my review and research, I can say that UPDF is a safe app. Furthermore, its security features help to keep your PDF documents safe on all your devices.

Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself, and all opinions expressed here are our own. This post may contain affiliate links that, at no additional cost to you, may earn a small commission. Read the full privacy policy here.

Aron Kantor

Hey there! I am Aron, the founder of Thebusinessdive. I have been testing productivity apps for almost three years now. I reach 25.000 -50.000 people monthly with the mission to help you find the perfect productivity apps. Subscribe to my YouTube channel, newsletter, and social media to hear more about the best productivity tools. Let’s dive in!

thebusinessdive.com

The post Nitro Vs UPDF: Side-by-Side Comparison (2026) appeared first on .

I spent numerous hours with both PDF editors, and I am here to share the benefits and limitations of each tool to ensure you make the right choice.

These are the key points that I explored during the Foxit vs Nitro clash:

• Both PDF software have advanced PDF editing features.
• Nitro has admin & analytics features, while Foxit does not.
• It’s easier to organize pages with Foxit or work with multiple files at once.
• Nitro offers excellent security and redaction tools.
• Foxit supports Android devices, unlike Nitro.
• Nitro has more advanced e-signature features.

Now, let’s dive into the side-by-side comparison of Foxit vs Nitro!

Verdict

Here’s the quick verdict if you don’t want to read the full Foxit vs Nitro review:

Tested with our review & scoring methodology Real-world testing Unbiased evaluation

My ratings: Foxit vs Nitro

How We Test PDF Editors

To keep our reviews and final scores fair and consistent, we evaluate every PDF editor using a standardized testing framework built on over 3 years of hands-on experience testing these tools in real-world scenarios.

Our scoring breakdown after testing 30+ PDF editors:

Want a detailed breakdown of how we test each category?

Learn exactly how we test tools → Review methodology

Key differences between Foxit and Nitro

Here is a short overview of the key differences I found in the Foxit vs Nitro showdown:

Comparison: Foxit vs Nitro

First, I show my experience with both PDF editors when using them on a day-to-day basis. Afterward, I reveal their ideal use cases, as well as strengths and weaknesses based on my testing.

Furthermore, I will break down the features I tried, the pricing plans I discovered, and their alternatives.

My hands-on experience with both PDF editors

I used both Foxit and Nitro for several days for my PDF workflows. Below, you will see how this went with each PDF editor.

My experience with Foxit PDF editor

Foxit has an intuitive user interface, and I found its tools easy to use. It is ideal for both work and personal use.

Essentially, it has similar features to Nitro, but Foxit is significantly cheaper. Another difference I noticed is that Foxit is a fast PDF reader. Even when I opened up larger PDF files, I did not have an issue with the loading time.

Overall, I had a very positive experience with Foxit.

Who should choose Foxit?

Who should NOT choose Foxit?

My experience with Nitro

Nitro has a robust feature set when it comes to working with PDF forms and documents. You can find everything you need to read, edit, and review PDF documents.

The PDF editing experience was smoother than I expected. One thing I immediately noticed was how precisely Nitro handled text selection, while offering the flexibility to select lines or sections.

The image editor was also outstanding compared to other PDF editors I tried. Adjusting size, position, brightness, colors, and resolution worked well, and I did not run into formatting issues while moving elements around.

Besides standard password protection and redaction tools, the Smart Redaction feature was one of the most useful features I found after testing 30+ alternatives.

The e-signature and form tools were another highlight. Nitro Sign works as a dedicated e-signature app, with custom fields, audit trails, and document workflows that make sense for business users.

The interface was clean and easy to navigate overall. However, I missed the function to switch between multiple open documents, and organizing pages could be faster with a more visual drag-and-drop layout.

Overall, Nitro PDF delivered one of the strongest all-around PDF editing experiences I tried. It combines advanced features with a user-friendly interface, making it a capable choice for professionals and businesses working with PDFs regularly.

Who should choose Nitro?

Who should NOT choose Nitro?

Foxit’s pros and cons

It is time to summarize the pros and cons of the Foxit vs Nitro battle. Let’s begin with Foxit!

Foxit’s pros

Foxit’s cons

Nitro’s pros and cons

These are the pros and cons I found when testing Nitro.

Nitro’s pros

Nitro’s cons

Key features

Let’s continue the Foxit vs Nitro clash with a look at their key features!

Foxit’s features

PDF editor

Foxit uses a drag-and-drop system when editing text in your PDF files. To access this feature, just go to the edit tab and select the edit text. When selecting a text box, you can move it around and insert text.

Besides editing existing text, you can add new text to your PDF. Hit the edit button, go to the edit content, and finally, click on the add text tool. This way, you can easily add rich text and move it to your pages by dragging and dropping it.

Also, Foxit PDF editor allows you to use a different font type for the text, adjust the size, and change the margins of a content block and paragraph alignment and spacing. You will see these options on the right side of the PDF editor when editing text.

Apart from text editing, you can insert pictures into PDF documents using Foxit. When inserting a picture, it also follows a drag-and-drop system.

After you insert the picture into the PDF file but want to move it somewhere else, you only need to click on the edited picture, and you can place it somewhere else smoothly.

PDF reader

Foxit has PDF reader tools as well. If you click on the view tab, you will have access to some valuable features to read your PDFs.

You can use the read mode, change to night view if you want, and change between numerous view options. Ultimately, Foxit has all the tools you need for convenient PDF viewing.

Annotate PDF documents

Annotating documents is crucial. It helps to review PDF documents faster and more efficiently, especially if you work as part of a team.

Foxit PDF editor has some useful features for commenting, reviewing, and highlighting text. If you click on the Comment tab on the top toolbar, you will quickly see all the features to annotate PDF documents.

You can choose from numerous options for highlighting text, adding callouts, or adding notes. Whenever you add one of these items, you can further customize it using the window that comesthat opens on the right.

PDF organizer

If you hit the Organize button on the top tools, you will see all the options to organize your PDFs. It has a page panel that allows you to organize pages by dragging and dropping their thumbnails.

Also, you can delete, insert pages, swap, flatten, crop, extract, and split them if you want. It offers a feature to compare documents, where Foxit highlights the parts where the two documents differ from each other.

Forms and signatures

If you want to create forms, Foxit is a good option. It has some useful and easy-to-use tools to create or fill forms within a PDF document. You can add text, drop-down lists, checkboxes, and buttons, so you can generate forms super easily.

If you need to sign your PDF documents, that is not a problem with Foxit PDF editor. You can create your own signature utilizing the Foxit eSign tool. After you generate your signature, you can smoothly add it with a few clicks anytime you need it.

Converting and Scan to PDF

First, Foxit allows you to convert PDFs into different formats, such as Microsoft Office formats or images. However, Foxit has the option to convert paper documents to electronic PDF files.

The best part is that Foxit utilizes OCR to convert scanned documents or images into editable text. I had a positive experience with the OCR and the whole process of converting documents into PDF files.

PDF protection

PDF protection is an essential tool you need for your documents. If you click on the project, you can easily add passwords to your PDFs and restrict access. Just a side note here: there is no way to recover the password from the PDF if you forgot it. So, make sure you save it somewhere else as well.

When restricting access to PDF files, you can choose from multiple options. You can only allow them to print or make changes, but if you want, you can just allow them to copy text.

AI assistant

Foxit has an AI assistant feature that increases productivity and effectively extracts information from your PDFs. The summary feature is especially useful for quickly understanding your PDF.

Nevertheless, you can ask questions about the PDFs, and it really works like an in-built ChatGPT for your PDF files.

Nitro’s features

Let’s see if Nitro PDF editor has better tools!

PDF editing features

If you click on the edit button on the left side of the top toolbar, you can edit PDF documents with Nitro. You can create new text or edit the existing content.

What I noticed first, compared to other PDF editors, is how flexible it is when selecting which text you want to edit. It can either select the whole block or just a line, which is a nice touch for more precise PDF editing.

In contrast, I tried numerous PDF editors where it selected the whole page when I wanted to edit only a section.

When making changes in the text, you can adjust font type, size, color, alignment, spacing, and position. Similar to other PDF editors, you can edit both text and images, and insert new ones.

When it comes to the pictures, you can adjust resolution, brightness, color, size, and position. The picture editor worked smoothly during testing and did not encounter any issues.

After you finish editing, you can move the text blocks and pictures around by dragging and dropping them.

PDF reader

Nitro offers practical PDF reading features. You can choose from numerous view options to review your PDF documents.

The default view shows only one page at a time. However, you can easily change this view to facing pages, continuous facing pages, or full-screen mode.

Moreover, you can zoom in and out when viewing your PDF documents.

What I missed when viewing PDFs is the option to switch between dark and light modes, but aside from that, Nitro has the essential tools for PDF reading.

Annotate PDF documents

During my Nitro PDF review, I discovered that Nitro is a solid PDF annotator. With its markup tools, you can highlight text, insert notes, callouts, stamps, shapes, and more.

In addition to the essential annotation features, Nitro PDF lets you attach files and draw.

Overall, these features are useful for small businesses and for users who frequently collaborate on PDF documents.

Sign PDFs

Nitro PDF has a built-in quick signature option that you can use to create your signature and sign documents fast. You can get your signature by drawing, webcam, file insertion, and typing.

Nevertheless, if you need more advanced PDF signing, you can use Nitro Sign, which works as a full-featured e-signature platform. That said, you can insert numerous field types, such as name, date, title, company, signature, and more.

Afterward, just add the recipients and share the document for signing. Nitro Sign also provides an audit trail and a secure record of all actions taken during the signing, making it an ideal choice for businesses.

PDF forms

Nitro offers several tools to help you fill out forms. You can add items such as checkboxes, lists, barcodes, buttons, and more.

When you insert an item, you can easily drag and drop them, duplicate fields, and use more detailed formatting.

I found the Smart Automatic Form Creation a valuable feature here to instantly detect and convert static form elements into interactive fields. Based on my experience, only a few PDF editors offer similar features for faster form creation.

All in all, Nitro PDF has capable form creation tools that are excellent for users who regularly work with PDF forms.

Organize PDFs

If you go to the page layout option on the top toolbar, you can organize your PDF files. You can reorder, delete, rotate them, and more.

The only thing I missed here is an interface that lets me quickly drag and drop pages to rearrange them. In my opinion, it is faster to organize your pages compared to the solution Nitro PDF offers.

PDF Protection and redaction

Security is key when it comes to PDFs, as they can include a lot of sensitive data. With Nitro PDF, you can add an open password and a permission password.

In the case of open passwords, you have to add a password that must be entered each time you access the PDF file. You can set a permission password to allow others to edit and print the PDFs. They are both useful for protecting your PDFs and restricting their accessibility.

In addition, you can mark parts of the documents for redaction, and once you are ready, just click on the Apply Redaction for removal. Nitro PDF not only hides the information but permanently removes it from the document.

One thing that stood out to me is the Smart Reduction feature, which automatically redacts sensitive data from PDFs using AI, such as bank info, email addresses, and more.

After testing some of the most advanced PDF editors, such as Adobe Acrobat, PDF-Xchange, and Tungsten Power PDF, I did not find a more efficient redaction removal method.

PDF conversion and compression

Nitro PDF allows you to convert PDFs into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and image formats. The conversion is almost instant, and you get the file in the desired formats.

Nitro also offers PDF compression features to strip unnecessary objects and compress images to the minimum size. Based on my testing, it worked well and reduced the files’ size by more than 50%.

Optical character recognition

I was curious how Nitro PDF handles scanned documents, so I tried its OCR capabilities. And honestly, the result was better than I expected.

It transformed the scanned document into an easily editable PDF file that I can edit and annotate. The process took about 20-40 seconds, and you can choose whether to make it searchable or editable.

Overall, I was satisfied with the entire process and the OCR output accuracy.

Smart Tools

The Smart Tools are only available from the Web version.

Nitro Assistant helps you summarize and ask questions about your PDF document. The first time I used Nitro’s AI features around 2023 and 2024, I experienced slow response times. However, it’s not the case in 2026.

I got the answers in 10-15 seconds, and the output was reliable.

Besides the AI assistant, you can access Nitro’s table and form extract features to automatically get the key data points from tables and forms. If you deal with many forms and tables daily, this can be a practical solution.

Admin Portal and Analytics

Using the Admin Portal, you can control access, allocate seats, and turn AI tools on/off. This is a unique feature, as neither Adobe Acrobat nor Foxit offers similar features for admins.

With the Analytics feature, you can track the time saved by signing, including an ROI calculator and a productivity score for your users. Such features give you insight into your team’s PDF workflows, making Nitro an appealing option for businesses with serious PDF needs.

Pricing

Let’s check their pricing!

Foxit’s pricing

Foxit offers two plans. The PDF editor includes the essential features to edit PDF files for $129.99. By choosing this plan, you can create documents, edit them, fill out forms, add security, and more.

Essentially, you can have many advanced features with this plan; the real limitations of this plan are the limited AI credits and signing tools.

Nevertheless, if you need the eSign, smart redact features, and want to use Foxit on your mobile, you must go with the PDF Editor+. You can get this plan for $172.79 per year and access all the advanced features of Foxit.

Lastly, if you want to add AI Assistant, which includes 2000 credits per month, that is an extra $49.99/year.

Nitro’s pricing

The Nitro Pro Standard costs $180 annually per user and includes all advanced features, from PDF editing to AI tools.

The Nitro PDF Classic is $270 per license. This is a one-time purchase, and the Nitro PDF includes PDF editing features.

If you are looking for a PDF editor for your business, you should check out the Nitro PDF Plus plan. However, you need to contact sales to get volume discounts.

If you need the e-signature features, you can purchase the Nitro Sign Standard for $180 to send documents for signatures, create forms with fields, and track the signing activity.ng. You need to contact sales to get volume discounts.

Related articles:

• 9 Best PDF Editors In 2026 | 30+ Personally Tested PDF Tools
• The 7 Best PDF Readers For 2026 (Only FREE Options)
• 5 Best Free PDF Editors (No Watermarks & Actually Free Picks)
• I Tested +30 PDF editors for Windows | Here Are The 8 Best
• Adobe Acrobat Vs Foxit: I Tried Both and Found The BEST (2026)
• Adobe Acrobat Vs Nitro: A Honest Comparison (2026)

Foxit and Nitro alternatives

If you feel like Foxit or Nitro is not perfect for you, here are the best alternatives:

My recommendation: Foxit vs Nitro

After testing both PDF editors, Nitro scored higher for a few reasons. That said, I achieved higher OCR accuracy with Nitro and noticed superior PDF form and signature tools.

The area where Foxit performed better is PDF reading features. It offers more options to view PDFs than Nitro.

When considering the remaining ranking factors, Nitro and Foxit have very similar scores.

So, to summarize, my pick is Nitro, as the higher score suggests. My experience was smoother overall, especially when editing PDFs, extracting text with OCR, creating forms, and managing document signing workflows.

Nitro also stood out with features like Smart Redaction, Admin Portal, Analytics, and its advanced e-signature workflows. While it isn’t the cheapest PDF editor available, it offers a broader business feature set that justifies its pricing for professionals and organizations working with PDFs every day.

However, Foxit is still an excellent choice if you prioritize PDF reading, easier page organization, and managing multiple documents at once.

Why you can trust our reviews

At thebusinessdive.com, our team tests, reviews, and compares hundreds of productivity apps every year — from project management tools to note-taking apps. We dive deep into real-world use cases to help you find the right tools that actually improve your workflow, not just add noise.

Our mission? No fluff, no shortcuts—just honest, hands-on insights from productivity pros.

Discover how we stay transparent, read our review methodology, and let us know about any tools we missed.

Frequently asked questions

Which is better, Foxit or Nitro?

For me, Nitro was more impressive during testing, but Foxit performed well as well.

Is Nitro a good PDF editor?

Nitro Pro is a feature-rich PDF editor for professionals and businesses. Compared to Adobe Acrobat, it delivers similar core capabilities at a lower price while also including AI tools, Admin Portal, Analytics, and advanced document workflows.

Which PDF editor is best?

In my opinion, the best PDF editors in 2026 are Tenorshare PDNob, EaseUS PDF Editor, Smallpdf, pdfGear, pdfFiller, and Nitro.

Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself, and all opinions expressed here are our own. This post may contain affiliate links that, at no additional cost to you, may earn a small commission. Read the full privacy policy here.

Aron Kantor

Hey there! I am Aron, the founder of Thebusinessdive. I have been testing productivity apps for almost three years now. I reach 25.000 -50.000 people monthly with the mission to help you find the perfect productivity apps. Subscribe to my YouTube channel, newsletter, and social media to hear more about the best productivity tools. Let’s dive in!

thebusinessdive.com

The post Foxit Vs Nitro: Why Would You Choose One Over The Other? (2026) appeared first on .

I spent numerous hours with both PDF editors, and I am here to share the benefits and limitations of each tool to ensure you make the right choice.

These are the key points that I explored during the Adobe Acrobat vs Nitro clash:

• Both Nitro and Adobe Acrobat have rich feature sets.
• Nitro PDF offers excellent security and redaction tools.
• Nitro PDF delivers similar core PDF capabilities at a lower price than Adobe Acrobat while offering strong value for professionals and businesses.
• While Adobe Acrobat was slow when handling larger files, I did not experience the same with Nitro.
• Adobe Acrobat supports Android devices, unlike Nitro.
• It’s easier to organize PDF pages with Adobe Acrobat than with Nitro.

Now, let’s dive into the side-by-side comparison of Adobe Acrobat vs Nitro!

Verdict

Here’s the quick verdict if you don’t want to read the full Adobe Acrobat vs Nitro review:

Tested with our review & scoring methodology Real-world testing Unbiased evaluation

My ratings: Adobe Acrobat vs Nitro

Key differences between Adobe Acrobat and Nitro

Here is a short overview of the key differences I found in the Nitro vs Adobe Acrobat showdown:

How We Test PDF Editors

To keep our reviews and final scores fair and consistent, we evaluate every PDF editor using a standardized testing framework built on over 3 years of hands-on experience testing these tools in real-world scenarios.

Our scoring breakdown after testing 30+ PDF editors:

Want a detailed breakdown of how we test each category?

Learn exactly how we test tools → Review methodology

Comparison: Adobe Acrobat vs Nitro

First, I show my experience with both PDF editors when using them on a day-to-day basis. Afterward, I reveal their ideal use cases, as well as strengths and weaknesses based on my testing.

Furthermore, I will break down the features I tried, the pricing plans I discovered, and their alternatives.

My real-life experience with them

Now, let’s see my experience with both PDF apps!

Testing Adobe Acrobat in everyday use

Adobe Acrobat has massive PDF editing features. However, it comes with a price, as you can access these features only with paid plans. With the Adobe Pro License, you can easily organize, edit, and convert PDFs.

It has a clean user interface, and you can access it on Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and online. The only issue that comes up occasionally is that it is quite slow when opening larger PDF files.

Ultimately, I had a positive experience with Adobe Acrobat. Using the Adobe Pro License is ideal for all your PDF needs.

Who should use Adobe Acrobat?

Who should NOT use Adobe Acrobat?

Testing Nitro in everyday use

Nitro has a robust feature set when it comes to working with PDF forms and documents. You can find everything you need to read, edit, and review PDF documents.

The PDF editing experience was smoother than I expected. One thing I immediately noticed was how precisely Nitro handled text selection, while offering the flexibility to select lines or sections.

The image editor was also outstanding compared to other PDF editors I tried. Adjusting size, position, brightness, colors, and resolution worked well, and I did not run into formatting issues while moving elements around.

Besides standard password protection and redaction tools, the Smart Redaction feature was one of the most useful features I found after testing 30+ alternatives.

The e-signature and form tools were another highlight. Nitro Sign works as a dedicated e-signature app, with custom fields, audit trails, and document workflows that make sense for business users.

The interface was clean and easy to navigate overall. However, I missed the function to switch between multiple open documents, and organizing pages could be faster with a more visual drag-and-drop layout.

Overall, Nitro PDF delivered one of the strongest all-around PDF editing experiences I tried. It combines advanced features with a user-friendly interface, making it a capable choice for professionals and businesses working with PDFs regularly.

Who should use Nitro PDF?

Who should NOT use Nitro PDF?

Adobe Acrobat’s pros and cons

Let’s see the pros and cons I discovered after the Nitro vs Adobe Acrobat review.

Adobe Acrobat’s pros

Adobe Acrobat’s cons

Nitro’s pros and cons

Let’s break down the strengths and limitations I found when testing Nitro.

Nitro’s pros

Nitro’s cons

Key features

Let’s compare Adobe Acrobat and Nitro based on their key features!

Adobe Acrobat’s features

PDF editor

The Adobe PDF Library has solid tools to edit your PDFs. On the left sidebar, you can easily access the files that you have worked on or read.

If you click the “All tools” tab, you can access Adobe Acrobat’s tools to edit your PDF. Also, if you click on any part of your PDF, you can highlight, underline, strikethrough, or copy text. Furthermore, it has a movable sidebar that allows you to draw, fill forms, etc.

Adobe Acrobat allows you to add or remove text from a PDF document. Nevertheless, if you want to move some text or images to a different page, Adobe Acrobat does not let you drag and drop the text or image elements. I found this strange, as all the advanced PDF editors have such a drag-and-drop feature.

On the other hand, Adobe Acrobat does a great job when it comes to editing text in a scanned image. It performs optical character recognition, and after that, it allows you to insert, change, or remove the recognized text. This feature works great even in the case of old printed documents.

Overall, you can easily find all the tools you need when editing your PDFs.

Annotate PDF documents

As mentioned, Adobe Acrobat has some useful annotating features like highlighting, underlining, or copying text. It also allows you to add comments, text fields, sticky notes, or shapes.

These are really useful tools when reviewing legal documents for example. But honestly, I miss the stickers. They would make the review process even more efficient and visually appealing.

Organizing PDFs

Adobe Acrobat allows you to insert, replace, extract, rotate, split, and remove pages. While this is not an advanced PDF functionality, it is still nice that you can organize your PDFs smoothly.

You can drag and drop page thumbnails to order them in the way you want them. For example, you can easily drag a Word file into the thumbnail images of your PDF document, and Acrobat is capable of converting it into PDF format, so you can smoothly insert it into the existing PDF pages.

The one thing I did not like here is that the free version does not include even the basic PDF organization features.

PDF form filling and signatures

Just click the “Fill & Sign” tool, and you will have access to all the tools for filling in PDF forms and signing documents. By enabling PDF form filling, you can complete form filling by clicking a text field and typing or inserting a text box.

Moreover, if you click the “Fill & Sign” button in the toolbar, you can quickly draw or type your signature and place it on the form.

Ultimately, Adobe Acrobat has easy-to-use form-filling and signature features.

Encrypt and share

With Adobe Acrobat, you can protect your PDF files with passwords. It is also great that you can limit access to certain features like printing or editing. To use the password protection, click on the “All tools” tab and hit “Protect a PDF.” This way, you can add a password to your PDF files.

Furthermore, you can share PDF documents directly from Adobe Acrobat or after exporting them. You can create a public link to the PDF file or send it as an email attachment through your email app.

AI assistant

Adobe Acrobat also has an AI assistant feature for $4.99 per month if you have a paid plan. It is a useful tool to get quick answers about your PDFs, summarize content, and digest documents faster.

The summary feature works great; Adobe Acrobat creates a summary with one click that pulls key points from your document. It also allows you to chat with multiple documents, so you can find crucial information faster.

However, I have experienced these AI assistant features being limited.

Nitro’s features

Let’s see if Nitro is the best Adobe Acrobat alternative!

PDF editing features

If you click on the edit button on the left side of the top toolbar, you can edit PDF documents with Nitro. You can create new text or edit the existing content.

What I noticed first, compared to other PDF editors, is how flexible it is when selecting which text you want to edit. It can either select the whole block or just a line, which is a nice touch for more precise PDF editing.

In contrast, I tried numerous PDF editors where it selected the whole page when I wanted to edit only a section.

When making changes in the text, you can adjust font type, size, color, alignment, spacing, and position. Similar to other PDF editors, you can edit both text and images, and insert new ones.

When it comes to the pictures, you can adjust resolution, brightness, color, size, and position. The picture editor worked smoothly during testing and did not encounter any issues.

After you finish editing, you can move the text blocks and pictures around by dragging and dropping them.

PDF reader

Nitro offers practical PDF reading features. You can choose from numerous view options to review your PDF documents.

The default view shows only one page at a time. However, you can easily change this view to facing pages, continuous facing pages, or full-screen mode.

Moreover, you can zoom in and out when viewing your PDF documents.

What I missed when viewing PDFs is the option to switch between dark and light modes, but aside from that, Nitro has the essential tools for PDF reading.

Annotate PDF documents

During my Nitro PDF review, I discovered that Nitro is a solid PDF annotator. With its markup tools, you can highlight text, insert notes, callouts, stamps, shapes, and more.

In addition to the essential annotation features, Nitro PDF lets you attach files and draw.

Overall, these features are useful for small businesses and for users who frequently collaborate on PDF documents.

Sign PDFs

Nitro PDF has a built-in quick signature option that you can use to create your signature and sign documents fast. You can get your signature by drawing, webcam, file insertion, and typing.

Nevertheless, if you need more advanced PDF signing, you can use Nitro Sign, which works as a full-featured e-signature platform. That said, you can insert numerous field types, such as name, date, title, company, signature, and more.

Afterward, just add the recipients and share the document for signing. Nitro Sign also provides an audit trail and a secure record of all actions taken during the signing, making it an ideal choice for businesses.

PDF forms

Nitro offers several tools to help you fill out forms. You can add items such as checkboxes, lists, barcodes, buttons, and more.

When you insert an item, you can easily drag and drop them, duplicate fields, and use more detailed formatting.

I found the Smart Automatic Form Creation a valuable feature here to instantly detect and convert static form elements into interactive fields. Based on my experience, only a few PDF editors offer similar features for faster form creation.

All in all, Nitro PDF has capable form creation tools that are excellent for users who regularly work with PDF forms.

Organize PDFs

If you go to the page layout option on the top toolbar, you can organize your PDF files. You can reorder, delete, rotate them, and more.

The only thing I missed here is an interface that lets me quickly drag and drop pages to rearrange them. In my opinion, it is faster to organize your pages compared to the solution Nitro PDF offers.

PDF Protection and redaction

Security is key when it comes to PDFs, as they can include a lot of sensitive data. With Nitro PDF, you can add an open password and a permission password.

In the case of open passwords, you have to add a password that must be entered each time you access the PDF file. You can set a permission password to allow others to edit and print the PDFs. They are both useful for protecting your PDFs and restricting their accessibility.

In addition, you can mark parts of the documents for redaction, and once you are ready, just click on the Apply Redaction for removal. Nitro PDF not only hides the information but permanently removes it from the document.

One thing that stood out to me is the Smart Reduction feature, which automatically redacts sensitive data from PDFs using AI, such as bank info, email addresses, and more.

After testing some of the most advanced PDF editors, such as Adobe Acrobat, PDF-Xchange, and Tungsten Power PDF, I did not find a more efficient redaction removal method.

PDF conversion and compression

Nitro PDF allows you to convert PDFs into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and image formats. The conversion is almost instant, and you get the file in the desired formats.

Nitro also offers PDF compression features to strip unnecessary objects and compress images to the minimum size. Based on my testing, it worked well and reduced the files’ size by more than 50%.

Optical character recognition

I was curious how Nitro PDF handles scanned documents, so I tried its OCR capabilities. And honestly, the result was better than I expected.

It transformed the scanned document into an easily editable PDF file that I can edit and annotate. The process took about 20-40 seconds, and you can choose whether to make it searchable or editable.

Overall, I was satisfied with the entire process and the OCR output accuracy.

Smart Tools

The Smart Tools are only available from the Web version.

Nitro Assistant helps you summarize and ask questions about your PDF document. The first time I used Nitro’s AI features around 2023 and 2024, I experienced slow response times. However, it’s not the case in 2026.

I got the answers in 10-15 seconds, and the output was reliable.

Besides the AI assistant, you can access Nitro’s table and form extract features to automatically get the key data points from tables and forms. If you deal with many forms and tables daily, this can be a practical solution.

Admin Portal and Analytics

Using the Admin Portal, you can control access, allocate seats, and turn AI tools on/off. This is a unique feature, as neither Adobe Acrobat nor Foxit offers similar features for admins.

With the Analytics feature, you can track the time saved by signing, including an ROI calculator and a productivity score for your users. Such features give you insight into your team’s PDF workflows, making Nitro an appealing option for businesses with serious PDF needs.

Pricing

Let’s check their pricing!

Adobe Acrobat’s pricing

Adobe Acrobat has three plans, and you can add the AI Assistant feature for $4.99 per month. Also, the prices are different for individuals, teams, and students & teachers. As the prices vary based on whether you buy it as an individual or team member, let’s focus on the features included in the plans.

The free plan is called Adobe Reader. This plan lets you view, print, share, and add comments to your PDF files.

The Acrobat Standard also includes PDF editor features, so you can edit text and images. You can sign, send, or create digital forms and add your signatures if opting for the Acrobat Standard plan.

Essentially, this plan has all the basic and some advanced features to effectively edit PDFs. It costs $155.88/year/user for individuals and $179.88/year/license for businesses.

The Acrobat Pro plan includes all the PDF features you need. With this plan, you can send bulk e-signature requests, turn scanned documents into editable, searchable PDFs, compare two versions, and add branding.

You can get Acrobat Pro for $239.88/year if you purchase it as an individual. The business license is $287.88/year per license for businesses. If you are a student or a teacher, you can get discounts on the Acrobat Pro plan.

The yearly fee of the AI assistant is $59.88 per user, and it is the same for individuals and businesses.

When taking a look at the paid plans of Adobe Acrobat, you will quickly realize that the price is much higher than that of some of its competitors.

Related article:

• Adobe Acrobat Pricing In 2026 | Why I Regret Buying It

Nitro’s pricing

The Nitro Pro Standard costs $180 annually per user and includes all advanced features, from PDF editing to AI tools.

The Nitro PDF Classic is $270 per license. This is a one-time purchase, and the Nitro PDF includes PDF editing features.

If you are looking for a PDF editor for your business, you should check out the Nitro PDF Plus plan. However, you need to contact sales to get volume discounts.

If you need the e-signature features, you can purchase the Nitro Sign Standard for $180 to send documents for signatures, create forms with fields, and track the signing activity.ng. You need to contact sales to get volume discounts.

Related articles:

• The 8 Best PDF Editors In 2026 | 30+ Personally Tested PDF Tools
• I Tested +30 PDF editors for Windows | Here Are The 8 Best
• The 7 Best Adobe Acrobat Alternatives: 30+ PDF Editors Tested
• Foxit Vs Nitro: Why Would You Choose One Over The Other? (2026)

Other Adobe Acrobat and Nitro alternatives

If you feel like Adobe Acrobat or Nitro is not perfect for you, here are the best alternatives:

Editor’s pick for the best alternative to Adobe and Nitro

Smallpdf is a top lightweight PDF software with numerous tools to convert, compress, and edit PDF files for free. What makes Smallpdf special compared to other PDF editors is that it offers a Chrome extension that allows you to use its tools when you open a PDF in your browser.

Furthermore, you can access its tools inside your Google Workspace and Dropbox App. This way, you can compress, sign, merge, convert, and summarize PDF files with SmallPDF’s AI feature without leaving your Google Workspace.

In addition, Smallpdf recently launched its OneDrive integration, so users can upload OneDrive files to Smallpdf for processing. It works similarly to other integrations, so you can seamlessly manage your PDF documents directly within the OneDrive environment.

Besides the online version, SmallPDF offers a desktop app for Windows. Additionally, it has a mobile version for iOS and Android devices, so you can scan, organize, and share PDF files wherever you are.

As for the pricing, you can easily save approximately $12 per seat per month with Smallpdf compared to Adobe Acrobat.

You can read the full review here: Smallpdf Review 2026 | The Top Lightweight PDF Tool

My recommendation: Adobe Acrobat vs Nitro

Both Adobe Acrobat and Nitro are capable PDF platforms for businesses. However, Nitro offers a better overall value proposition by delivering comparable PDF editing capabilities at a lower price while including AI features, Admin Portal, Analytics, and strong e-signature workflows.

That said, I only recommend Adobe Acrobat over Nitro if you already work within the Adobe ecosystem and it does not make sense to switch. In other cases, my pick would be Nitro.

Why you can trust our reviews

At thebusinessdive.com, our team tests, reviews, and compares hundreds of productivity apps every year — from project management tools to note-taking apps. We dive deep into real-world use cases to help you find the right tools that actually improve your workflow, not just add noise.

Our mission? No fluff, no shortcuts—just honest, hands-on insights from productivity pros.

Discover how we stay transparent, read our review methodology, and let us know about any tools we missed.

Frequently asked questions

Is Nitro PDF better than Adobe Acrobat?

Nitro is a feature-rich PDF editor that offers strong value compared to Adobe Acrobat. While it isn’t the lowest-cost PDF editor available, it delivers comparable capabilities and includes business-focused features such as AI tools, Admin Portal, and Analytics.

Is Nitro a good PDF editor?

Nitro is a solid PDF editor with many valuable features to help you manage your PDF files. It has advanced tools for image editing, OCR, and data redaction.

What are the best alternatives to Adobe Acrobat and Nitro?

The best alternatives to Adobe Acrobat and Nitro are UPDF, Foxit, PDF Expert, PDF Element, PDF Gear, and Easeus PDF.

Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are our own. This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission. Read the full privacy policy here.

Aron Kantor

Hey there! I am Aron, the founder of Thebusinessdive. I have been testing productivity apps for almost three years now. I reach 25.000 -50.000 people monthly with the mission to help you find the perfect productivity apps. Subscribe to my YouTube channel, newsletter, and social media to hear more about the best productivity tools. Let’s dive in!

thebusinessdive.com

The post Adobe Acrobat Vs Nitro: A Honest Comparison (2026) appeared first on .

In the past three years, I have tested more than 30 PDF editors with one goal: save you time and money by helping you find the top ones that are worth the price.

Using this experience, I will reveal how Nitro PDF performed during testing and how it compares to other popular options.

Let’s jump in!

Verdict

Here’s the quick verdict if you don’t want to read the full review:

Tested with our review & scoring methodology Real-world testing Unbiased evaluation

How We Test PDF Editors

To keep our reviews and final scores fair and consistent, we evaluate every PDF editor using a standardized testing framework built on over 3 years of hands-on experience testing these tools in real-world scenarios.

Our scoring breakdown after testing 30+ PDF editors:

Want a detailed breakdown of how we test each category?

Learn exactly how we test tools → Review methodology

Short on time? Here’s a quick overview of Nitro

Key points I found during my Nitro PDF review

These are the key points that I explored during my Nitro PDF review:

• Nitro PDF is a feature-rich PDF editor with advanced tools
• It is a versatile PDF editor and can work on Windows, Mac, and iOS devices as well.
• Nitro PDF offers excellent security and redaction tools.
• Nitro PDF isn’t the cheapest PDF editor, but its broad feature set makes it a strong value for professionals and businesses.
• Switching between multiple opened PDFs could be easier.

What I learned using Nitro PDF over time

Nitro has a robust feature set when it comes to working with PDF forms and documents. You can find everything you need to read, edit, and review PDF documents.

The PDF editing experience was smoother than I expected. One thing I immediately noticed was how precisely Nitro handled text selection, while offering the flexibility to select lines or sections.

The image editor was also outstanding compared to other PDF editors I tried. Adjusting size, position, brightness, colors, and resolution worked well, and I did not run into formatting issues while moving elements around.

Besides standard password protection and redaction tools, the Smart Redaction feature was one of the most useful features I found after testing 30+ alternatives.

The e-signature and form tools were another highlight. Nitro Sign works as a dedicated e-signature app, with custom fields, audit trails, and document workflows that make sense for business users.

The interface was clean and easy to navigate overall. However, I missed the function to switch between multiple open documents, and organizing pages could be faster with a more visual drag-and-drop layout.

Overall, Nitro PDF delivered one of the strongest all-around PDF editing experiences I tried. It combines advanced features with a user-friendly interface, making it a capable choice for professionals and businesses working with PDFs regularly.

Why Nitro PDF earned a 4.5 / 5

Nitro offered a complete experience, feature-wise. It has one of the most advanced PDF editor features (5/5), robust forms & e-signature features (5/5), and outstanding conversion and compression features (5/5).

In addition to these, it almost reached the maximum point for annotation (4.5/5) and OCR (4.5/5). Where it dropped some points is in its PDF reading features, since it does not offer practical features like themes or night mode.

For UI, it received 4 out of 5, as it has a polished interface, but the inability to switch between open documents decreased its rating.

Also, it lost some points in pricing. While Nitro is more affordable than Adobe Acrobat and offers a broad range of business features, there are lower-cost alternatives for individuals who only need basic PDF editing.

Who will benefit most from Nitro PDF?

Who should look for alternatives?

Where Nitro PDF Excels

Where Nitro PDF Falls Short

What is Nitro PDF?

Nitro PDF is a robust PDF editor for document workflows. You can use it on Windows, Mac, iOS, and online.

It has a variety of features that allow users to manipulate PDFs, such as merging documents, converting files to and from different formats, adding annotations, filling out forms, and using digital signatures.

Key Functions

Here I guide you through the key features I used for testing and my related experience.

PDF editing features

If you click on the edit button on the left side of the top toolbar, you can edit PDF documents with Nitro. You can create new text or edit the existing content.

What I noticed first, compared to other PDF editors, is how flexible it is when selecting which text you want to edit. It can either select the whole block or just a line, which is a nice touch for more precise PDF editing.

In contrast, I tried numerous PDF editors where it selected the whole page when I wanted to edit only a section.

When making changes in the text, you can adjust font type, size, color, alignment, spacing, and position. Similar to other PDF editors, you can edit both text and images, and insert new ones.

When it comes to the pictures, you can adjust resolution, brightness, color, size, and position. The picture editor worked smoothly during testing and did not encounter any issues.

After you finish editing, you can move the text blocks and pictures around by dragging and dropping them.

PDF reader

Nitro offers practical PDF reading features. You can choose from numerous view options to review your PDF documents.

The default view shows only one page at a time. However, you can easily change this view to facing pages, continuous facing pages, or full-screen mode.

Moreover, you can zoom in and out when viewing your PDF documents.

What I missed when viewing PDFs is the option to switch between dark and light modes, but aside from that, Nitro has the essential tools for PDF reading.

Annotate PDF documents

During my Nitro PDF review, I discovered that Nitro is a solid PDF annotator. With its markup tools, you can highlight text, insert notes, callouts, stamps, shapes, and more.

In addition to the essential annotation features, Nitro PDF lets you attach files and draw.

Overall, these features are useful for small businesses and for users who frequently collaborate on PDF documents.

Sign PDFs

Nitro PDF has a built-in quick signature option that you can use to create your signature and sign documents fast. You can get your signature by drawing, webcam, file insertion, and typing.

Nevertheless, if you need more advanced PDF signing, you can use Nitro Sign, which works as a full-featured e-signature platform. That said, you can insert numerous field types, such as name, date, title, company, signature, and more.

Afterward, just add the recipients and share the document for signing. Nitro Sign also provides an audit trail and a secure record of all actions taken during the signing, making it an ideal choice for businesses.

PDF forms

Nitro offers several tools to help you fill out forms. You can add items such as checkboxes, lists, barcodes, buttons, and more.

When you insert an item, you can easily drag and drop them, duplicate fields, and use more detailed formatting.

I found the Smart Automatic Form Creation a valuable feature here to instantly detect and convert static form elements into interactive fields. Based on my experience, only a few PDF editors offer similar features for faster form creation.

All in all, Nitro PDF has capable form creation tools that are excellent for users who regularly work with PDF forms.

Organize PDFs

If you go to the page layout option on the top toolbar, you can organize your PDF files. You can reorder, delete, rotate them, and more.

The only thing I missed here is an interface that lets me quickly drag and drop pages to rearrange them. In my opinion, it is faster to organize your pages compared to the solution Nitro PDF offers.

PDF Protection and redaction

Security is key when it comes to PDFs, as they can include a lot of sensitive data. With Nitro PDF, you can add an open password and a permission password.

In the case of open passwords, you have to add a password that must be entered each time you access the PDF file. You can set a permission password to allow others to edit and print the PDFs. They are both useful for protecting your PDFs and restricting their accessibility.

In addition, you can mark parts of the documents for redaction, and once you are ready, just click on the Apply Redaction for removal. Nitro PDF not only hides the information but permanently removes it from the document.

One thing that stood out to me is the Smart Reduction feature, which automatically redacts sensitive data from PDFs using AI, such as bank info, email addresses, and more.

After testing some of the most advanced PDF editors, such as Adobe Acrobat, PDF-Xchange, and Tungsten Power PDF, I did not find a more efficient redaction removal method.

PDF conversion and compression

Nitro PDF allows you to convert PDFs into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and image formats. The conversion is almost instant, and you get the file in the desired formats.

Nitro also offers PDF compression features to strip unnecessary objects and compress images to the minimum size. Based on my testing, it worked well and reduced the files’ size by more than 50%.

Optical character recognition

I was curious how Nitro PDF handles scanned documents, so I tried its OCR capabilities. And honestly, the result was better than I expected.

It transformed the scanned document into an easily editable PDF file that I can edit and annotate. The process took about 20-40 seconds, and you can choose whether to make it searchable or editable.

Overall, I was satisfied with the entire process and the OCR output accuracy.

Smart Tools

The Smart Tools are only available from the Web version.

Nitro Assistant helps you summarize and ask questions about your PDF document. The first time I used Nitro’s AI features around 2023 and 2024, I experienced slow response times. However, it’s not the case in 2026.

I got the answers in 10-15 seconds, and the output was reliable.

Besides the AI assistant, you can access Nitro’s table and form extract features to automatically get the key data points from tables and forms. If you deal with many forms and tables daily, this can be a practical solution.

Admin Portal and Analytics

Using the Admin Portal, you can control access, allocate seats, and turn AI tools on/off. This is a unique feature, as neither Adobe Acrobat nor Foxit offers similar features for admins.

With the Analytics feature, you can track the time saved by signing, including an ROI calculator and a productivity score for your users. Such features give you insight into your team’s PDF workflows, making Nitro an appealing option for businesses with serious PDF needs.

Nitro user interface

The user interface is simple and polished. It was easy to find the functions I was looking for, and the whole user experience felt smooth. One function I missed, though.

It would be great if users could switch between different open documents without closing the one you are working on.

Nitro PDF’s pricing plans

Nitro’s pricing structure looks like this for individuals:

The Nitro Pro Standard costs $180 annually per user and includes all advanced features, from PDF editing to AI tools.

The Nitro PDF Classic is $270 per license. This is a one-time purchase, and the Nitro PDF includes PDF editing features.

If you are looking for a PDF editor for your business, you should check out the Nitro PDF Plus plan. However, you need to contact sales to get volume discounts.

If you need the e-signature features, you can purchase the Nitro Sign Standard for $180 to send documents for signatures, create forms with fields, and track the signing activity.

While Nitro isn’t positioned as a budget PDF editor, I think its pricing makes more sense when you consider everything included.

Compared to Adobe Acrobat, Nitro is more affordable while bundling AI tools, Admin Portal, Analytics, and live support into its subscription instead of charging separately for many business capabilities.

Related articles:

• The 8 Best Adobe Acrobat Alternatives: 30+ PDF Editors Tested
• The 10 Best PDF Editors In 2026 | 30+ Personally Tested PDF Tools
• The 6 Best PDF Readers For 2025 (Only FREE Options)
• 6 Best OCR Software For 2026 | 30+ Personally Tested Tools
• 6 Best PDF Converter For 2026 | 30+ Personally Tested Tools

Nitro PDF alternatives

If you feel like Nitro is not the perfect PDF editor for you, here are the best alternatives:

Nitro PDF vs alternatives

Adobe VS Nitro

Adobe vs Nitro

Foxit VS Nitro

Foxit vs Nitro

Nitro VS UPDF

Nitro vs UPDF

Wrap-up: Nitro PDF review

Overall, I found that during my Nitro PDF review, it is a massive PDF software that is one of the most advanced PDF editors. After reviewing more than 30 PDF editors, I think Nitro is definitely among the top three PDF editors with the most advanced tools.

Nitro PDF lets you read, edit, review, and convert PDFs efficiently. While it may not be the lowest-cost option for casual users, it delivers excellent value for professionals and businesses thanks to its comprehensive feature set, AI capabilities, e-signature workflows, and business management tools.

Why you can trust our reviews

At thebusinessdive.com, our team tests, reviews, and compares hundreds of productivity apps every year — from project management tools to note-taking apps. We dive deep into real-world use cases to help you find the right tools that actually improve your workflow, not just add noise.

Our mission? No fluff, no shortcuts—just honest, hands-on insights from productivity pros.

Discover how we stay transparent, read our review methodology, and let us know about any tools we missed.

Frequently asked questions

Is Nitro as good as Adobe Acrobat?

Nitro has advanced tools in terms of PDF editing, similar to Adobe Acrobat. After my Nitro PDF review, I discovered that its Pro version is as good as Adobe Acrobat Pro, or even better.

Which is better, Foxit or Nitro?

Both Foxit and Nitro are capable alternatives to Adobe Acrobat. After testing both PDF editors, my pick would be Nitro, as it has a more advanced feature set for businesses.

Can Nitro edit a PDF?

Nitro is one of the most advanced PDF editors. So, if you need to edit PDF documents a lot or create forms, Nitro PDF could be an ideal choice.

Is Nitro PDF good?

After reviewing and testing many tools, I can easily put Nitro among the five best PDF editors currently available thanks to its advanced tools for PDF editing.

Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself, and all opinions expressed here are our own. This post may contain affiliate links that, at no additional cost to you, may earn a small commission. Read the full privacy policy here.

Aron Kantor

Hey there! I am Aron, the founder of Thebusinessdive. I have been testing productivity apps for almost three years now. I reach 25.000 -50.000 people monthly with the mission to help you find the perfect productivity apps. Subscribe to my YouTube channel, newsletter, and social media to hear more about the best productivity tools. Let’s dive in!

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