Alternatives to Foxit PDF Editor
Foxit is the cheaper of the two best-known paid editors and, like Acrobat, genuinely removes redacted content rather than drawing over it. Everything below covers a comparable set of jobs, and not all of them are subscriptions - the price column shows which are bought once, which changes the arithmetic entirely if you would rather not renew.
Foxit PDF Editor, as the index records it
- Files:
- Mixed - depends on version and feature
- Redaction:
- Removes the content
- Price:
- From £8.15 a month
- Platforms:
- Windows · macOS · Web · iOS · Android · API
Worth knowing before you stay or go: Only US dollar prices were found. The perpetual licence excludes AI, Workspace, Smart Redact and cloud features, and the Smart Redact path sends documents to Foxit's Azure-hosted cloud for processing, so this is not uniformly an on-device tool. Smart Redact’s FAQ specifies an initial 50-document allowance with further purchases, and Editor+ inclusion does not mean unlimited use; suggested redactions can be reviewed before application, so flawless automatic detection and independently proven removal are not implied. The editor no longer carries an HTTP API entry, because the vendor sells separate developer APIs. Subscription and perpetual licence scope is recorded with the published 14-day trial, trial output stays unknown, multiple-region residency needs a service-specific source, and Compare is recognised in the taxonomy where supported.
The short answer
The closest Foxit PDF Editor alternatives in this index are Adobe Acrobat , Xodo and PDF Candy . They share enough of the job to be worth comparing, which is why they are on this page - a shared job tag is a candidate, not a finding that they work the same way. What separates them from Foxit PDF Editor is what they charge and whether your file leaves your machine. Foxit PDF Editor processes some versions on your device and runs others on a server, which the vendor documents, and 1 of the 6 listed have no vendor service in the path .
What else does the same jobs
7 or more of the same jobs, ordered by how many jobs they share - not by who pays us.
| Tool | Price | Licence | Your files | Redaction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Acrobat 8 jobs in common: Edit, Convert, Compress, Merge, OCR, Protect, Sign, Compare | Free · paid from £14.99 a month | Not verified | Mixed - depends on version and feature | Removes the content |
| Xodo 8 jobs in common: Edit, Convert, Merge, Protect, OCR, Compress, Sign, Compare | Free · paid from £6.05 a month | Proprietary | Mixed - depends on version and feature | Removes the content |
| PDF Candy 7 jobs in common: Convert, Edit, Compress, Merge, OCR, Protect, Sign | Free · paid from £4.00 a month | Proprietary | Mixed - depends on version and feature | Covers it - content is not removed |
| PDF Studio 7 jobs in common: Edit, Merge, Protect, Sign, Convert, OCR, Compress | Paid | Proprietary | No server involved | Removes the content |
| Power PDF 7 jobs in common: Edit, Protect, Convert, Sign, Merge, OCR, Compress | From £95.00 one-off | proprietary | Mixed - depends on version and feature | Not determined |
| Master PDF Editor 7 jobs in common: Edit, Merge, Protect, Convert, Sign, OCR, Compress | From £59.30 one-off | proprietary | Mixed - depends on version and feature | Removes the content |
A tool marked same owner is operated by the same company as Foxit PDF Editor. That does not make it bad, but it is not an independent alternative - switching to it does not change who holds your documents or sets your terms.
1 of the 6 is desktop or command-line software, so there is no server in the path at all - PDF Studio. That is a statement about how the software is built rather than something we measured, which is why the files column words it differently from a tool we tested.
Foxit PDF Editor compared head to head
- Foxit PDF Editor vs Adobe Acrobat The two best-known paid PDF editors.