ONLYOFFICE PDF Editor

ONLYOFFICE PDF Editor combines PDF editing, form creation, annotation, and team collaboration. It is best suited to organizations that need shared document workflows or self-hosted deployment. Its free desktop apps make it useful for individual editing too, but mobile apps are for viewing, and team-plan costs deserve close scrutiny.

Overview

This is more than a markup tool: users can revise PDF text and embedded content, create forms, convert PDFs to DOCX online, and collaborate with colleagues. The range of deployment options is a strength for organizations with varied infrastructure needs. For someone who only needs to view files or make occasional conversions, that broader toolkit may be unnecessary.

Key features

Editing, review, and forms

Editing covers text, tables, shapes, images, SmartArt, charts, hyperlinks, and pages. That breadth is useful when a PDF needs substantive revision rather than comments alone. Highlighting, underlining, strikethrough, comments, freehand drawings, and stamps support review work. Users can create and fill forms with text areas, images, combo boxes, drop-down lists, and check boxes, making the editor a better fit for recurring paperwork than a basic reader.

Collaboration and document controls

Teams can co-edit in real time or use paragraph locking, with comments, built-in chat, Telegram, and Jitsi calls as communication options. The mix suits teams that need to discuss and revise documents together; it is less compelling for a solo user who does not need shared editing. Redaction permanently removes selected text, words, phrases, pages, or page ranges, a meaningful distinction from simply covering sensitive text visually.

Scans, integrations, and security

OCR extracts text from scanned PDFs, and the product can connect AI assistants. ONLYOFFICE advertises more than 40 ready integrations, including Box, Moodle, Nextcloud, Odoo, and WordPress, which may help fit it into an existing document environment. Security controls include AES-256 encryption, end-to-end encryption in Private Rooms, JWT access protection, granular permissions, and restrictions on downloading, printing, and copying. ONLYOFFICE says its products comply with GDPR and supports on-premises deployment; it also says the product is not currently ISO-certified as a standalone product.

Pricing

ONLYOFFICE uses a freemium model, with a free plan and paid plans from $20/mo. Free desktop apps support offline PDF conversion and editing on Windows, Linux, and macOS. Free Documents apps on iOS and Android support PDF viewing, not the same editing offer. That makes the desktop option a strong starting point for individuals, while mobile users who need editing should not assume the free apps cover it.

The listed workspace plans have different limits and terms:

Startup: custom pricing. It includes 3 admins, unlimited users and guests, 12 rooms, and 2 GB of file storage. The limited room count and storage suit a small workspace more than a team with substantial shared files.

Business: $3,020 a month, billed per admin per month. It includes unlimited users, guests, and rooms, 250 GB per admin, and professional support. The per-admin billing and storage allocation matter when estimating costs as the administrative team grows.

Enterprise: custom pricing, with unlimited admins, users, guests, and rooms. It removes the listed admin and room caps, but pricing must be obtained to judge its fit.

A free trial is available. DocSpace Enterprise offers email support, training courses, a free demo, and enterprise support with SLA response times, useful for organizations that need a defined support arrangement.

Platforms

ONLYOFFICE supports web, Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, Android, and self-hosted deployment, and its platform range also includes an API. Desktop apps support offline editing and conversion; mobile Documents apps are for PDF viewing. The combination of web, desktop, and self-hosted use is a clear advantage for mixed or infrastructure-conscious organizations, while mobile users should account for the viewing-only distinction.

Who it's for

Choose ONLYOFFICE PDF Editor if your team regularly revises PDFs, prepares forms, collaborates on documents, or needs on-premises deployment and document controls. It is also a credible free desktop option for individual editing and offline conversion. Look elsewhere if your priority is a simple mobile editing workflow or a low-cost team plan with a clear, predictable total: the workspace Business plan charges per admin, while Startup and Enterprise use custom pricing.

Pros and cons

Pro: Editing reaches beyond text to tables, charts, images, links, and pages, so users can revise document content rather than only annotate it.

Pro: Forms, scanned-text extraction, and permanent redaction cover practical document jobs that a basic PDF viewer cannot.

Pro: Self-hosting, offline desktop editing, and multiple security controls give organizations options for deployment and document handling.

Con: Free mobile apps support viewing, not the desktop editing and conversion workflow.

Con: Business costs $3,020 a month per admin, while Startup and Enterprise require custom pricing, making budget comparison less straightforward.

Con: The standalone product is not currently ISO-certified, which may matter to organizations with that specific procurement requirement.

Alternatives

For a wider set of options, browse PDF editors.

WPS PDF Editor is another freemium choice with a free plan and apps across desktop, web, mobile, and browser extension; its listed WPS Standard plan includes 1 GB of cloud storage, 47 file formats, and 46 languages.

Foxit PDF Editor is a paid alternative with no free plan. Its PDF Editor plan costs $129.99 a year and includes DMS and 300 AI credits/month, so it may suit someone willing to pay an annual subscription rather than use a free tier.

Smallpdf offers a free tier with 30+ tools and 2 Sign.com documents per month, and a 7-day free trial; consider it if a free toolset is the priority.

PDF Candy has a free web-and-desktop plan, but it comes with page and hourly restrictions, no batch processing, and limited file size. It is a possible fit for modest workloads that can stay within those constraints.

LightPDF has a free web-only plan limited to 10 MB per file, five cloud files for one year, and three AI Agent questions per day; choose it if those limits and web-only use fit your needs.

iLovePDF offers a free Basic plan with limited tools and document processing; it may suit users whose needs fit those restrictions.

PDFgear is free and allows PDFs up to 100 MB in its online editor, a useful option when avoiding a paid plan matters.

Zoho PDF Editor offers a free online editor that requires a Zoho account, plus a free desktop app; it is an alternative for readers considering a free online or desktop tool.

Verdict

ONLYOFFICE PDF Editor is a strong choice for teams that need substantial PDF editing, forms, collaboration, security controls, and the option to self-host, with free offline desktop editing also valuable to individuals. Its main drawback is the gap between free mobile viewing and desktop editing, alongside team pricing that can be hard to budget when it is per admin or custom. Choose it for a broad document workflow; look elsewhere for straightforward mobile editing or a clearly priced team plan.