PDFgear Online review

PDFgear Online takes a different approach to privacy: the editor runs inside your browser, and PDFgear says file data is processed locally and never uploaded or transferred over the internet. You can insert text boxes and set font, size, color and alignment, add images, comments, notes, shapes, lines, stamps, signatures and freehand drawings, and use the thumbnail view to rearrange, rotate, duplicate, delete or insert pages. PDFgear says the online editor is 100% free with no sign-up, ads or premium plan, has no limit on the number of files or usage time, loads PDFs up to 100 MB and exports without a watermark. It works in supported browsers on Windows, macOS, iPhone, iPad and Android. The vendor is open about the limits: direct text editing and adding bookmarks are not supported online, and it points users to the free PDFgear desktop software for changing existing text.

Who it is for

privacy-minded users making quick visual edits

Price

Free, no premium plan.

PDFgear is a 100% free online PDF editor with no sign-up, ads, premium plan, or purchase required.
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 11, 2026.

Key features

• Files are processed locally in the browser and not uploaded
• Add text boxes, images, comments, shapes, stamps, signatures and drawings
• Rearrange, rotate, duplicate, delete and insert pages
• Load PDFs up to 100 MB and export without a watermark
• Works in browsers on Windows, macOS, iPhone, iPad and Android

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: No sign-up, ads or premium plan
• Strength: No limit on file count or usage time
• Strength: Free desktop PDFgear app for text editing offline
• Weakness: Direct text editing and bookmarks are not supported online
• Weakness: 100 MB file size limit
• Weakness: Fewer editing tools than the desktop app

Key facts

• Processing: Local, in the browser
• File size limit: 100 MB
• Text editing: Not supported online

Where it ranks

PDFgear Online is No. 7 in our Best Online PDF Editors verdict.