ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors review

ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors is a free office suite for Linux, Windows and macOS, and its PDF editor is one of the few free tools on Linux that edits existing PDF text rather than only drawing over it. ONLYOFFICE lists editing of text, images and objects, page reordering and rotation, headers, footers and watermarks. Review tools cover comments, highlights, freehand drawing, shapes and stamps, and you can fill in forms or build fillable PDF forms from scratch. Security tools include permanent redaction and password protection. Because the same app opens DOCX, XLSX and PPTX files, Ubuntu users who receive both Office documents and PDFs can handle them in one place. Optional AI tools can connect to any provider, including local models, and the app links to cloud platforms such as Nextcloud and ownCloud for real-time co-editing. The trade-off is size: it installs a whole office suite.

Who it is for

Ubuntu users who want free PDF text editing, forms and redaction in one office app.

Price

Free desktop apps; paid ONLYOFFICE Docs server editions sold separately.

Free. Flexible. Fully in your control.
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 10, 2026.

Key features

• Edit text, images and objects in PDFs, and reorder and rotate pages
• Add comments, highlights, freehand drawings, shapes and stamps
• Fill in forms or create fillable PDF forms from scratch
• Permanent redaction and password protection
• Optional AI tools that can connect to any provider, including local models

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: Free on Linux, Windows and macOS
• Strength: PDF editing sits next to a full word processor, spreadsheet and slides app
• Strength: Connects to Nextcloud, ownCloud, Seafile and other clouds for co-editing
• Weakness: No certificate-based PDF signing listed on the PDF editor page
• Weakness: Heavier to install than a single-purpose PDF tool
• Weakness: Advanced support and SLAs need the paid Enterprise version

Key facts

• Price: Free desktop apps
• Platforms: Linux, Windows, macOS, plus Android and iOS apps
• Formats: PDF, DOCX, ODT, XLSX, ODS, CSV, PPTX, ODP and more

Where it ranks

ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors is No. 3 in our Best PDF Editors for Linux verdict.