2024’s Top 10 PDF Editors for Mac

Introduction

Are you looking for a good and powerful PDF editor for your Mac?

After all, PDFs are a big part of today’s digital world. Almost every document is shared in PDF format, so having a good tool beside you will improve your workflow. This is especially true for Macs, which are widely used for productivity.

Basic features like annotation, editing, and an intuitive interface are essential for a PDF editor. However, in 2024, you’ll need to have more than this. AI tools are almost necessary in everything you do, so you’ll have to watch for that, too. Thankfully, this article will provide you with the top 10 PDF editors for Mac with everything you need to conquer 2024 with ease.

Top 10 PDF Editors for Your Mac

Without further ado, here’s a comprehensive top 10 list of 2024’s best PDF editors for Mac (in no particular order). Try each app to find the perfect fit for your needs.

Wondershare PDFelement – All-in-One AI-Powered PDF Editor

At first glance, Wondershare PDFelement may seem like any other PDF editing tool, but it transcends expectations by seamlessly integrating various features into one intuitive platform. From standard text editing to advanced AI tools such as translation and a dedicated chatbot, PDFelement is a robust solution that transforms mundane PDF tasks into a streamlined and intelligent experience.

Explore many features, including powerful editing capabilities, AI tools, seamless PDF signing, batch processing, versatile PDF conversion, efficient scanning, OCR functionality, compression, annotation, and comprehensive document organization. PDFelement offers a universal toolkit that caters to diverse user needs, enhancing efficiency and document accessibility.

Scribus for Mac – Open-Source Desktop Publishing Tool

Scribus for Mac is a free and open-source desktop publishing software that lets you create professional-looking documents in PDF and other formats. You can use Scribus to design books, magazines, flyers, posters, and more, with advanced features such as color management, CMYK and spot colors, and PDF export. Scribus also supports importing and exporting PDFs with annotations, forms, and layers.

LibreOffice – Free & Efficient Office Suite for All Your Needs

LibreOffice is a free, open-source office suite compatible with Microsoft Office and other popular formats. It offers a range of applications for creating, editing, and collaborating on documents, such as Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, Base, and Math. LibreOffice also supports many features and extensions that enhance its functionality and usability, such as document themes, navigation panels, AI assistants, and digital signatures.

PDF Expert – Fast, Robust & Beautiful PDF Editor for Pros

PDF Expert is a powerful and easy-to-use PDF editor and reader for Mac, iPhone, and iPad. It allows you to edit text, images, and links and annotate, sign, fill, and convert PDFs. PDF Expert also integrates with cloud services and enterprise CMS and offers AI-driven features such as ChatGPT, which can summarize, generate keywords, and answer questions about PDFs.

Skim – Lightweight & Easy-To-Use PDF Reader for Mac

Skim is a PDF reader and note-taker for Mac OS X, designed for scientific papers and academic documents. You can use Skim to view, highlight, and mark up PDFs and add notes, bookmarks, and links. Skim also supports full-screen mode, presentation mode, split view, and AppleScript.

Foxit PDF Reader – Secure & Feature-Rich PDF Reader

Foxit PDF Reader is a fast and reliable PDF reader and editor that works across desktop, mobile, and web. You can view, annotate, fill, sign, and share PDFs and convert, merge, split, and protect them. Foxit PDF Reader also features an AI assistant that can help you with various tasks, such as compressing, summarizing, and translating PDFs.

macOS Preview – Built-In Mac App for PDFs and Images

Preview is a built-in app for Mac OS X that lets you view and edit PDFs and images. You can use Preview to open, crop, rotate, resize, and print PDFs and images and add annotations, signatures, and bookmarks. Preview also supports essential editing functions, such as adding text, shapes, and colors and exporting PDFs to other formats.

The best thing about Preview is that it’s integrated with all other macOS features. So translation, Look Up, and all other features are accessible from it.

pdfFiller – Cloud-Based PDF Editor for Quick Editing

pdfFiller is a cloud-based PDF editor and creator that lets you do everything with PDFs online. You can create, edit, fill, sign, and share PDFs, collaborate with others, and collect feedback. pdfFiller also supports converting PDFs to and from other formats, managing pages, organizing files with tags, and applying digital signatures.

PDFpen – Powerful Mac PDF Editor for Your Annotation Needs

DFpen is a PDF editor for Mac OS X that lets you polish your PDFs easily. You can use PDFpen to edit text, images, and links and add annotations, comments, stamps, and watermarks. PDFpen also allows you to scan, OCR, redact, and compress PDFs, create and fill forms, sign documents, and validate digital signatures.

Adobe Acrobat – Industry Standard for PDF Creation, Editing, and Management

Adobe Acrobat is the world’s most trusted PDF and e-signature solution that lets you do it all with one app wherever you work. You can use Adobe Acrobat to create, edit, convert, sign, and protect PDFs and collaborate and share them with anyone. Adobe Acrobat also integrates with cloud storage and famous enterprise CMS, offering advanced tools and admin features.

Comparing the PDF Editors

To further help you in your quest to find the top PDF editor for Mac, here’s a comparison table. This will help you assess at first glance if you find the features of a specific app sufficient. Take a look and see the differences between Basic Annotation Features and AI Capabilities, and if the app has a free version, you can try them out before committing.

PDF Editor	Pros	Cons	Free Version	AI Capabilities
Wondershare PDFelement	Comprehensive AI features (Translation, Chatbot, Analysis, OCR, etc) Online collaboration features All tools are accessible with the free trial Intuitive, easy-to-learn interface	Free trial only lasts for 14 days Windows and Mac interfaces are different, which might be confusing for others	Free trial (14 days)	OCR, form recognition, data extraction, redaction, optimization, AI Assistant (Lumi), AI Translation, PDF comparison
Scribus for Mac	Lightweight application  Completely free to use Professional desktop publishing tools	It’s not a dedicated PDF tool (it’s a publishing software) Not compatible with Apple Silicone Macs	Free & open-source	None
LibreOffice	Can import/convert legacy document formats Open-source and lightweight	Interface might be too overwhelming for new users No online collaboration features	Free & open-source	None
PDF Expert	Edits and files can sync across Apple devices Has Google Drive/third-party cloud storage support	Requires annual subscription (might be expensive for many) Some users report that it’s hard to identify shortcuts	Free trial (7 days)	OCR and redaction
Skim	Completely free PDF reader Great readability of PDFs (app is lightweight and not stuffed with features)	Annotations made with Skim sometimes do not reflect on other PDF readers Lack of other annotation/PDF manipulation tools	Free & open-source	None
Foxit PDF Reader	Supports several platforms (Windows, Web, macOS, Android, iOS)  It has collaboration features High focus on PDF security	No native AI assistant OCR technology may lag on older Macs	Free version available (limited features)	OCR, form recognition, data extraction, redaction, and optimization
macOS Preview	Installed natively on macOS Integrated with macOS features (translate, look up, etc.)	Few annotation options Cannot edit texts	Free & pre-installed in macOS	None
pdfFiller	The free trial lasts for a month Lots of business-friendly features	Requires annual commitment Support is limited to live chat only	Free trial (30 days)	OCR, form recognition, data extraction, and e-signature verification
PDFpen	Rich feature-set Active customer support Easy-to-learn interface	Users report frequent crashing Only available on MAc	Free trial (30 days)	OCR, form recognition, data extraction, redaction, and optimization
Adobe Acrobat	Generative AI support Seamless integration with other Adobe apps Industry standard (many businesses use this)	Many features are locked behind a paywall Subscription can be costly	Free trial (7 days)	OCR, form recognition, data extraction, redaction, and optimization, as well as Adobe Sensei (Generative Adobe AI)

 

As you can see, Wondershare PDFelement emerge as a standout choice for two compelling reasons:

• Robust annotation features. PDFelement offers a comprehensive suite of annotation tools, including highlighting, underlining, strikethrough, text insertion, shapes, stamps, comments, and digital signatures. Whether you’re reviewing contracts, collaborating on research papers, or simply marking up lecture notes, PDFelement’s annotation capabilities streamline the process.
• AI-powered efficiency. Beyond basic annotations, PDFelement harnesses artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance productivity. Its Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology allows seamless text extraction from scanned documents, making it ideal for digitizing paper-based content. 

Additionally, PDFelement excels in form recognition, data extraction, redaction, and document optimization—features that save time and improve accuracy. Its AI Assistant, Lumi, is always ready to help you with whatever you need – whether it be translation, questions about the PDF, or more.

Conclusion

In conclusion, finding the right PDF editor for Mac all boils down to personal preference. You might want extra AI or advanced features, but using a light PDF editor also works. The user experience, UI, or UX also plays a big part in choosing which PDF editor to use.

However, Wondershare PDFelement is recommended for those looking for an all-in-one PDF editor for their Macbooks. After all, it has everything you need in a PDF editor and more. Enjoy the infusion of AI in your daily PDF needs with PDFelement and unlock PDF mastery like never before.