A free Adobe Acrobat alternative

If Acrobat's $19.99 a month is buying you page management, annotation, form filling, signing, and redaction, Nanodoc does those for free, in your browser, without an Adobe account, and without your files leaving your device. If it is buying you OCR, editing of existing text, or certificate-based signatures, keep Acrobat: Nanodoc does not do those, and we would rather you know before you switch.

No sign-up required • No watermark • Files never leave your device

Use Nanodoc for

  • Combining PDFs and managing pages without a subscription
  • Adding text, highlights, stamps, and drawn signatures
  • True redaction that removes content and verifies it is gone
  • Creating fillable form fields others can complete
  • Working on documents that should not be uploaded anywhere

Keep Adobe Acrobat for

  • Rewriting text that is already in the document (vector editing)
  • OCR on scanned documents
  • Certificate-based digital signatures with audit trails
  • Enterprise document workflows and Creative Cloud integration

Both columns are honest. If the right column is your daily work, Adobe Acrobat is worth its price and we would rather say so than have you find out after switching.

Common questions

Is Nanodoc really free, or is there a catch?

Really free. There is no premium tier, no trial clock, no daily task limit, no watermark, and no account. The project is supported by optional donations.

Can Nanodoc edit existing text like Acrobat does?

No. Nanodoc is pixel-based: it adds new content on top of pages but cannot rewrite text that is already part of the document. If existing-text editing is your main use, Acrobat or PDF-XChange is the better tool.

Are my files uploaded to a server?

Not with Nanodoc. All processing happens locally in your browser or in the free desktop app, so your documents never leave your device. Most online PDF tools upload your file to their servers to process it.