Drawboard PDF vs PDF Candy
Drawboard PDF
drawboard.com
PDF Candy
pdfcandy.comSide by side
| Figure | Drawboard PDF | PDF Candy |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $0.33/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 5 |
| Spec score · PDF editors | 8.8 (#14) | 9.1 (#9) |
| AI features | Drawboard AI can summarize or rephrase text, define words, translate and fix grammar; its privacy policy says only selected text is sent to OpenAI when invoked. | Its AI tools can summarize, chat with, and translate PDF documents. |
| Annotation tools | Yes | Yes |
| Company | Drawboard describes itself as a PDF and collaboration company from Melbourne, Australia, helping people since 2011. | PDF Candy says it was developed by the Icecream Apps team and has been offered since 2016. |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| OCR | OCR converts scanned documents and non-selectable PDFs into searchable, selectable text and can straighten the page. | Yes |
| PDF conversion | Yes | Yes |
| Support | The pricing page says organizations can contact sales for volume licensing and invoicing, while the site links to a Support Center. | The pricing page says technical support will respond within two business days if the Help Center cannot resolve an order issue. |
| Supported platforms | web,Windows,macOS,iOS,Android,Chrome extension | web,windows,macos,linux,ios,android |
| Text editing | Yes | Yes |
Plans
Drawboard PDF
- BasicPrice not published
- FreeFree
- Pro Plus (education)$10, paid once
- Pro Unlimited (education)$20, paid once
PDF Candy
- Web + Desktop FreeFree
- Desktop + Web Yearly$4 a year
- Web Monthly$6 a month
- Web + Desktop FREEFree
- Desktop + Web Lifetime$99, paid once
In their own words
Drawboard PDF
Drawboard PDF is a cross-device tool for marking up, reviewing, signing and sharing PDFs. It runs on the web, Windows, macOS, iOS and Android, with a Chrome extension, and lists text editing, annotation, OCR and PDF conversion. Markup options include a pen, highlighter, shapes, text review, signatures, images and audio notes. Smart ink recognition can convert freehand lines and shapes into geometric forms. On iOS and macOS, users also get calibrated length and area measurement, polylength, a protractor and a ruler. Document tools include merging and splitting PDFs, adding hyperlinks, applying tags and viewing separate documents in different windows. Shared files support live or asynchronous collaboration, with unlimited contributors on the free tier. Drawboard AI can summarize or rephrase selected text, define words, translate and correct grammar; its privacy policy says only selected text goes to OpenAI when invoked. The Free plan is free and includes 10 cloud documents, 40 MB per document and real-time sync. A 7-day trial is also listed.
PDF Candy
PDF Candy is a PDF toolkit for editing, converting, merging, splitting, compressing, signing, protecting and managing documents. Its tools include text editing, annotations and OCR, while AI features can summarize, chat with and translate PDF documents. Users can import files from Google Drive or Dropbox and save updated versions back to cloud storage. PDF Candy Desktop is a Windows download with 35 tools that can operate offline; the company lists 98 PDF tools and 19 languages. Access is listed for web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android. The free plan has page and hourly restrictions, limited file size, no batch processing and a desktop operations limit. Students and teachers can get one year of PDF Candy PRO online at no cost, with no hourly limits and uploads up to 500 MB. PDF Candy says files are deleted from its servers within two hours after processing. The free plan is available, with paid access from $6/mo.