In 2018, people opened about 250 billion PDFs in Adobe products. PDFs have been around since the 1990s, and their popularity keeps increasing every passing year.
But why do PDFs seem to be everywhere?
Well, first of all, one can open a PDF using any operating system using various Adobe reader alternatives. Secondly, PDFs are quite easy to attach to a website or email. Also, it’s not easy for anyone to alter a PDF beyond what the original creator intended for it.
A person looking to simply read PDFs can usually do it using their preferred web browser. However, if you’d like to do something more than just read the PDF, you’ll most likely require a dedicated PDF reader. Such a reader is useful if you’re looking to:
- Edit or sign documents
- Merge PDFs
- Convert between different document formats
The good news is that you can always find a free PDF reader to suit your needs, whether you’re using Windows or Mac. In this guide, we discuss six of the top free Adobe readers in the market today.
Read on to learn more.
Top Free Adobe Reader Alternatives In 2020
With the current proliferation of free adobe readers today, it’s not easy to decide which one is worth your time. To make the job easier for you, we’ve compiled some of the best PDF readers for you.
Adobe Acrobat Reader DC
One of the first things you’ll notice about this free PDF reader from Adobe is that it isn’t as lightweight as other readers you may already be familiar with. However, this software does lots of things remarkably well.
The PDF reader can easily open multiple large files simultaneously. You can thus read through thick files and annotate them without the program crashing on you. The reader layout neatly arranges PDF documents in a tab view, enhancing your reading experience.
The Adobe Acrobat Reader DC has all the annotation tools you’d want in a PDF software. You can highlight text in the document, add comments, and even fill or sign forms. If you’d like the software to read PDF documents out aloud, you can switch to text-to-speech mode.
For those who already make use of other Adobe products, it’s easy to connect this free reader to Adobe’s storage cloud.
Foxit Reader
For many people, Foxit Reader is the best alternative to Adobe Reader. Any thorough Foxit reader review will tell you that this software is a lot more than just a PDF reader. Why?
Well, Foxit Reader allows you to create PDFs from scratch. You can also turn a document in Microsoft Word into a PDF. Using the software, you can also scan a document and convert it into a PDF.
This software is reasonably easy to navigate, though it may seem a bit intimidating at first. It’s easy to access the tools for signing, editing, commenting, and highlighting. If you’d like to split or merge PDFs, you can always download free add-ons.
Another impressive benefit of Foxit Reader is that it’s highly secure.
Slim PDF
Perhaps the most notable feature about this Adobe reader alternative is how incredibly lightweight it is. The software is less than 1.5 MB in size. It’s the perfect choice for those with limited hard drive space.
Slim PDF is impressively fast when it comes to opening and loading documents. Since it leaves out toolbars that can distract you when reading a document, this software is extremely good at its job as a true PDF reader. Slim PDF is also the best PDF reader for people who frequently print PDFs.
Of course, there’s a downside to the small size of Slim PDF. The software is quite basic, lacking the tools you need for filling, signing, highlighting, or commenting. Besides searching and rotating documents, you can do little.
Nitro Reader
This free PDF reader is one of the most powerful in the market today. The software comes with a touchscreen mode, which sets it apart from many PDF readers. The touchscreen mode is particularly helpful for people who love to read e-books on their tablets, as it makes it easy to flick pages.
Nitro Reader doesn’t let you fill or sign PDFs. However, the software is magnificent when it comes to collaboration. You can annotate documents using strikethroughs, highlighting, or underlining.
The PDF reader also lets you convert TXT to a PDF file. The software’s menu is straightforward to navigate.
Expert PDF Reader
Like Slim PDF, Expert PDF Reader is relatively lightweight. What sets this software apart, however, is that it packs a load of tools.
With Expert PDF reader, you can fill, sign, and add comments to documents. The software has many predesigned markup annotations as well. With the software, you can attach extra documents to PDFs and create note-style comments.
Expert PDF supports email documents. This enhances collaboration. The program has a straightforward user interface, making it remarkably easy to navigate.
What’s missing in this software, however, is that it doesn’t allow conversion between different file types.
Google Drive
Google Drive allows you to open PDF files without using external tools. It works just like your web browser, offering you an online PDF reader.
This PDF reader also provides you with a place to store your information, view your documents, and share them with the relevant people. In case you’d like to add functionality to Google Drive, you can opt to connect it with external Chrome apps. You could also open a PDF through Google Docs, then convert it into an editable format.
Choose the Ideal PDF Reader for You Today
As you can see, there’s a variety of remarkable free Adobe reader alternatives you can choose from. Your decision, of course, will depend on your need and how you intend to use the software.
If you’d like software that has as many features as possible, then you can opt for full-fledged readers such as Acrobat DC, Nitro, Foxit, or Expert. But if a simple, lightweight reader works for you, then you can go for Slim PDF. An online PDF reader like Google Drive is best for those who’d like to avoid the hassle of installing a dedicated PDF reader on their device.
Are you looking for the best PDF reader for you? Check out the solutions we provide.