The best free PDF editor for iPhone: what each app gives you for free

Your landlord emails a lease addendum at 9 p.m.: type your name and the date, sign on page 3, send it back tonight. You search the App Store for the best free PDF editor for iPhone and get a dozen apps that all say "free" on the button. Here is what each of the five common picks gives you for free, so you choose a free PDF editor app once and use it for every form after this one.

What "free" means in a PDF editor

A free PDF editor app on iPhone is usually free to download, with some tools behind a paid plan. The line moves from app to app. One app gives you typing and signing for free and charges for text editing; another charges for sharing; Apple's built-in tool charges for nothing because it does less.

So the useful question is whether the part you need is free. For most people that part is small: put text on a form, put a signature on a line, send the file.

The two jobs: fill-and-sign vs real editing

PDF editing on a phone splits into two jobs. Fill-and-sign means adding things on top of a finished page: your name, a date, a tick, a signature. Real editing means changing what is already there: rewording a paragraph, swapping a photo, merging two files.

A PDF is a fixed-layout format, which is why the first job is easy on a phone and the second is the one apps charge for. If your papers are leases, invoices and school forms, you need the first job, and our guide to PDF editing basics on mobile walks through it step by step.

How to pick a free PDF editor, step by step

Picking a free PDF editor takes about 15 minutes if you test it on your own papers. Work through these steps in order.

1. List the jobs. Write down what you did with PDFs last month: forms typed, contracts signed, receipts attached, pages added. Most lists stop at type, sign and draw.
2. Try Markup first. Markup in the Files app is already on your iPhone. If it covers your list, you may not need another app at all.
3. Test on your real form. Open the lease or the school form you have to send, type in it, sign it and save it. A demo page tells you little.
4. Check what is behind a paywall. Read the App Store listing for the line between free and paid features, then check that your jobs sit on the free side. Do it before you build a habit.
5. Check privacy and account. See where the app keeps your files, whether it links to cloud storage and whether it asks you to sign in. A lease or a medical form deserves this minute.
6. Keep one app. Pick one editor and keep your saved signature, your forms and your finished PDFs in it. Two half-used apps mean two places to search later.

The part people get wrong

People often pick the editor with the longest feature list and then use three of its tools. Text editing, Office conversion and PDF merging look good in a listing, but you pay for them every month while you mostly type a date and sign. Match the app to the jobs from step 1, and pay only when a job you do every week needs a paid tool.

The best free PDF editor for iPhone: 5 options compared

The five editors below all open a PDF on iPhone, put text on it and add a signature. They differ in how far the free tier goes and where your files live. Rival facts come from Apple's guide and each app's App Store listing at the time of writing.

Markup in Files is free and needs no download. Apple's guide to filling out forms and signing documents shows how to tap a blank field and type, use AutoFill from your My Card in Contacts, add a text box with its own font and color, and add a signature you can reuse and resize.

Adobe Acrobat Reader lists Fill & Sign as free, along with viewing, annotating, comments and highlights. Its App Store listing marks text and image editing, OCR, merging, conversion to Word and compression as paid features and offers a 7-day free trial.

PDF Expert lists reading, mark-up, form filling with text fields, checkboxes and radio buttons, and saved signatures before its Premium section. Its App Store listing puts direct text editing, conversion, merging, compression and redaction in Premium, and one Premium plan covers iPhone, iPad and Mac.

Xodo offers annotation, fill and sign with a saved e-signature, a scanner and page tools. Its App Store listing lists Office conversion, merging, redaction, OCR and fillable form creation under the Xodo Mobile Subscription, with monthly and annual options.

MRS gives you a full fill-and-sign kit on your iPhone. Type anywhere on a page in Helvetica, Times New Roman, Courier, Georgia or Avenir Next, draw with your finger in 6 colors or a custom one, insert a logo, add a blank or photo page, and place a saved signature that you can move, resize and rotate. The scanner, searchable text made on the device, folders and a 30-day Trash sit in the same app, in 33 languages, on iOS 16 or later.

Which one to pick

Pick by your jobs from step 1. One form a year with blank fields: Markup is enough.

You already pay for Acrobat on your computer: Acrobat Reader keeps everything in one account. You need to reword text or merge files and work on a Mac too: PDF Expert Premium covers that.

You fill, sign and keep papers every week and want them private: MRS fits best. It turns a paper form into a PDF with its built-in scanner, puts your typed answers and your saved signature on it, and keeps the result in a folder on your iPhone with no account. Our comparison of PDF scanner apps for iPhone covers the scanning side.

Tips so typed text looks right

Typed text looks printed when it copies the form around it. Most forms are set in 10–12 pt type, so start at 12 pt in black and go larger only for a big empty box.

Use one font for the whole document: a plain sans font such as Helvetica for modern forms, Times New Roman for older letters and contracts. Zoom in before you drop text on a line, and start each answer in a column at the same left edge.

Signatures: blue ink and one saved copy

A drawn signature reads best in black or blue ink, sized to the line it sits on. Many offices ask for blue, so keep one saved signature in each color if your editor allows it; MRS saves your newest 5 in black or blue.

Draw your signature once with the iPhone turned sideways for more room, save it, and reuse it. Our guide on how to sign a PDF on iPhone covers placement and the difference between a drawn and a certificate-based signature.

How to test an editor in 10 minutes

A 10-minute test on one real form tells you more than any listing. Open the form, fill it, sign it, save it, and then check these signals:

• Free path: did you finish type, sign and save without a paywall screen?
• Text on the lines: at full zoom, does each answer sit on its line without touching the label?
• Signature placed: can you move and resize the signature after you place it?
• Reopens the same: does the saved PDF look the same when you open it from Mail or Files?
• Account prompt: did the app ask you to sign in before you could save?

A workable test: three papers, one evening

The three-paper test covers most real use. Fill and sign a one-page form, add a date and initials to a two-page letter, and add a photo of a receipt as an extra page to an invoice. The editor that does all three on its free path, in one app, is the one to keep.

Common mistakes when you choose a free PDF editor

• Mistake: paying for text editing you do not need. Rewording text is a paid tool in most apps. If you only fill and sign, start with a free tier.
• Mistake: judging on a sample PDF. Every app looks fine on its demo page. Test on the lease or form you have to send.
• Mistake: skipping the storage question. Some apps link to cloud services by design. Check where a passport copy or medical form goes before you open it.
• Mistake: typing your name as a signature. A typed name reads as unsigned. Use the signature tool and save the signature once.
• Mistake: spreading papers across three apps. Your signed forms end up in three libraries. Keep one editor and one folder per topic.

Edge case: a PDF you need to reword

A PDF with a wrong date in a contract is a rewording job, not a fill job. Free tiers rarely do it, and a white box over the old words can leave the old text in the file underneath.

Ask the sender for a corrected PDF, or edit the source document and export a new one. If a scanned paper is your only copy, scan it again after the correction; our list of CamScanner alternatives helps when you also need a new scanner.

Your free PDF editor checklist and next steps

• Jobs listed: you know whether you fill and sign, or truly edit.
• Free path tested: your real form went from open to signed and saved without a paywall.
• Storage known: you know where the app keeps your files and whether it needs an account.
• Signature saved: one signature, saved in the ink color your offices expect.
• One app kept: forms, signatures and finished PDFs live in one place.

If your list says scan, type, sign and keep it private, download MRS, see all features on the home page and open tonight's form in it. Questions about a tool go to the support page.