Alternatives to Master PDF Editor
A one-off licence that runs on Linux as well as Windows and macOS, which is genuinely rare in this category and usually the reason people arrive here. Like the other cheap desktop editors, the redaction question is unsettled: we could not establish whether it removes content or covers it, and that is the one thing worth resolving before you rely on it for anything that matters.
Master PDF Editor, as the index records it
- Files:
- Mixed - depends on version and feature
- Redaction:
- Removes the content
- Price:
- From £59.30 one-off
- Platforms:
- Windows · macOS · Linux
Worth knowing before you stay or go: The free download is a demo build whose only stated limitation is a watermark on output, so it is not a clean free tier, and refunds are only given for unresolvable technical faults. Redaction is vendor-documented as permanent removal after Apply Redactions, and the marking is distinct from applying and saving; the removal is documented rather than independently tested, so a canary test is still the thing to run before relying on it. Version scope matters when citing historical documentation, because the old 3.7 manual cannot establish unrestricted free use for the current release. Batch support is identified per operation rather than assumed across the feature set.
The short answer
The closest Master PDF Editor alternatives in this index are PDF Studio , Power PDF and Xodo . 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 Master PDF Editor is what they charge and whether your file leaves your machine. Master 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PDF Studio 8 jobs in common: Edit, Merge, Protect, Sign, View, Convert, OCR, Compress | Paid | Proprietary | No server involved | Removes the content |
| Power PDF 8 jobs in common: Edit, Protect, Convert, Sign, View, Merge, OCR, Compress | From £95.00 one-off | proprietary | Mixed - depends on version and feature | Not determined |
| Xodo 8 jobs in common: Edit, Convert, Merge, Protect, View, OCR, Compress, Sign | Free · paid from £6.05 a month | Proprietary | Mixed - depends on version and feature | Removes the content |
| Adobe Acrobat 7 jobs in common: Edit, Convert, Compress, Merge, OCR, Protect, Sign | Free · paid from £14.99 a month | Not verified | Mixed - depends on version and feature | Removes the content |
| Foxit PDF Editor 7 jobs in common: Edit, Protect, OCR, Convert, Merge, Sign, Compress | From £8.15 a month | Not verified | 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 |
A tool marked same owner is operated by the same company as Master 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.