fyllyoAcrobat alternatives for Mac. Honestly compared.
Acrobat Pro is $19.99 a month on an annual plan. Here are the other ways to work with PDFs on a Mac, what each costs, and what to watch out for. We make Fyllyo, so it’s first, and we say where the others are better.
Checked October 2026, from each app’s own pages
The alternatives
Fyllyo
Free, or $99 once
- Best for
- Free everyday tools with text recognition, redaction that checks for leftovers, XFA forms, and filling forms from documents with AI on your Mac. Nothing is uploaded.
- Watch out for
- Mac with Apple silicon only. No Word export, no iPhone or iPad app, no sending for e-signature.
Preview
Free, built in
- Best for
- Reading, highlighting, signing by hand and moving pages around, with nothing to install.
- Watch out for
- Doesn’t save searchable text in scans, open XFA forms or sign with a certificate.
PDF Expert
$79.99 a year or $139.99 once
- Best for
- A polished editor with iPhone and iPad apps, Word export and an AI assistant.
- Watch out for
- The free version is a viewer, and dynamic XFA forms aren’t supported on Mac.
UPDF
$49.99 a year or $79.99 once
- Best for
- One licence for up to four devices across Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android, with Office conversion.
- Watch out for
- The free version watermarks saved files; no XFA; AI is an add-on that uses UPDF’s servers.
PDFelement
From $41.99 a year or $61.99 once
- Best for
- Office conversion, e-signature workflows and mobile apps.
- Watch out for
- Prices differ across Wondershare’s pages; OCR is a separate install; AI uploads PDFs to its cloud.
Nitro PDF Pro
$139.99 to $180 a year
- Best for
- Teams that need managed licences, Office conversion and e-signature.
- Watch out for
- Subscription only on Mac, no free version, and dynamic XFA isn’t fully supported.
PdfCraft
Free, open source
- Best for
- Everything free and open source, on Mac, Windows and Linux.
- Watch out for
- Alpha software by its own account; text recognition covers Latin script without accents.
Smallpdf and iLovePDF
Free with limits; from $5 a month
- Best for
- Quick jobs in a browser on any computer.
- Watch out for
- The web tools upload your files and limit free use.
Sources: PDF Expert pricing · How to get PDF Expert (free vs Premium) · Supported forms and fields (XFA) · Sign PDF documents · PDF Expert features · Preview User Guide (Apple) · PdfCraft README · PdfCraft parity notes · PdfCraft releases · UPDF pricing and free version · UPDF annual plan · UPDF FAQs (OCR, offline) · UPDF and XFA · UPDF AI FAQs · UPDF Mac guide: protect and redact · PDFelement for Mac buy page · PDFelement for Mac · Trial limitations · OCR install on Mac · PDFelement AI agreement · Editing metadata on Mac · Nitro pricing · Nitro PDF Pro in the Mac App Store · Nitro PDF Pro for Mac · Redacting text (Mac guide) · About PDF and XFA (Mac guide) · Nitro and AI · Smallpdf pricing · Is Smallpdf safe? · Smallpdf desktop · Smallpdf price comparison · iLovePDF pricing · iLovePDF security · iLovePDF desktop
Questions
What is the best free alternative to Adobe Acrobat on a Mac?
For reading and simple edits, Preview, which is already on your Mac. For free text recognition and page tools without uploading anything, Fyllyo. For everything free and open source, PdfCraft, which is still alpha software.
Which Acrobat alternative can I buy once?
Fyllyo Paid ($99), UPDF ($79.99), PDF Expert ($139.99) and PDFelement (from $61.99) all sell one-time licences for Mac. Nitro PDF Pro is a subscription on Mac.
Which alternatives open XFA government forms?
XFA forms show “Please wait…” in Preview. Fyllyo Paid opens and fills them. PDF Expert for Mac supports static XFA but not dynamic, UPDF says it doesn’t support XFA, and Nitro doesn’t fully support dynamic XFA.
Which ones keep my files on my Mac?
Desktop apps, including Preview, Fyllyo and PdfCraft, work on files on your Mac. Online tools such as Smallpdf and iLovePDF’s website upload them, and some desktop apps upload files for AI features.