PDFpen
Save ~20% with annual billing
What's included:
- PDF editing
- Digital signatures
- OCR
- Form filling
- Basic exports
Complete pricing breakdown for PDFpen. Compare plans, features, and find the best value.
PDFpen starts at $79/month for the PDFpen plan. 4 plans available.
| Plan | Price | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| PDFpen ★ | $79/mo | PDF editing, Digital signatures |
| PDFpenPro | $129/mo | All PDFpen features, PowerPoint export |
| PDF Pro Essentials for Mac | $99/mo | Nitro migration option, Enhanced editing |
| PDF Pro for iOS | $59/mo | iPhone/iPad editing, Touch signatures |
Save ~20% with annual billing
Save ~20% with annual billing
Save ~20% with annual billing
Save ~20% with annual billing
| Tool | Starting Price | Free Tier | Best For | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pn PDFpen Current | $79/mo | Individual Mac users editing personal PDFs with typos, signatures, and forms | ||
| S Smallpdf | Free | Small businesses needing occasional PDF editing | Compare | |
| PE PDF Expert | Free | Apple device users | Compare | |
| Fx Foxit PDF Editor | $10.99/mo | Businesses needing Adobe Acrobat alternative | Compare | |
| N Nitro PDF | Free | Small to medium businesses seeking Adobe alternatives | Compare | |
| Ac Adobe Acrobat | Free | Legal professionals | Compare |
At $79/mo, PDFpen is a premium-priced solution. The higher price point reflects a comprehensive feature set, but teams should carefully evaluate whether the advanced capabilities justify the investment over more affordable alternatives.
PDFpen plan ($79/mo) — the only paid tier, includes all premium features
PDFpen was originally exclusive to Mac/iOS, with Windows users needing workarounds before Nitro's acquisition. This remains a major dealbreaker for the large Windows user segment.
Compare Adobe Acrobat pricingStarting at $79, it requires a purchase or trial—there's no free option for budget-conscious users who need basic PDF editing capabilities.
Users report frequent crashes and the program being 'terribly slow,' with pages not rendering clearly and the app freezing to the point of being unable to quit. Multiple users note it's inferior to Adobe for serious professional work.
Compare Adobe Acrobat pricingThe OCR functionality has significant problems, particularly with non-Latin text, with users reporting 'messed-up conversion of images & Arabic text via OCR & export to different formats.' Text doesn't always export with the correct font.
Compare Adobe Acrobat pricing| Feature | PDFpen | PDFpenPro | PDF Pro Essentials for Mac | PDF Pro for iOS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Add signatures Secure digital, scanned, or scribbled via mouse/trackpad | ||||
| Insert text and images Direct PDF content insertion | ||||
| Correct typos Edit text in searchable PDFs | ||||
| OCR for scanned docs Optical Character Recognition with proofreading | ||||
| Fill out forms Acroforms support | ||||
| Export to .docx Microsoft Word compatibility | ||||
| Page management Insert, delete, reorder via drag-and-drop | ||||
| Redact sensitive information Permanent removal with tested methods | ||||
| Sign PDFs No fax needed, with collaboration | ||||
| iCloud/Dropbox sync Cross-device editing | ||||
| Export to PowerPoint Pro-only feature | ||||
| PDF/A export Pro-only feature | ||||
| Table of Contents editing Pro-only feature | ||||
| MRC compression Pro-only customization |
PDFpen offers solid value for its feature set. It's best suited for Individual Mac users editing personal PDFs with typos, signatures, and forms and Apple ecosystem professionals needing OCR and exports for scanned documents. At $79/mo, it's a premium option but justifies the cost with powerful native pdf editing optimized for mac, ipad, iphone with apple silicon/m1 support.
PDFpen costs $79/month for the PDFpen plan. 4 plans available ranging up to $129/month.
No, PDFpen doesn't offer a permanent free plan. Pricing starts at $79/month for the PDFpen plan. However, they may offer a free trial period.
The PDFpen plan ($79/mo) includes: PDF editing; Digital signatures; OCR; Form filling. Higher tiers add more advanced features.
PDFpen is positioned as a premium option at $79/mo. Best for: Individual Mac users editing personal PDFs with typos, signatures, and forms and Apple ecosystem professionals needing OCR and exports for scanned documents. Rated 4.2/5.
PDFpen starts at $79/mo vs Smallpdf at Free. Smallpdf is cheaper. Compare features side-by-side to decide.
Yes, most pdf tools tools including PDFpen offer 10-20% discounts when you pay annually instead of monthly. This can save you $50-200 per year depending on your plan.