Overview

The editor goes beyond annotation: users can change PDF text and embedded elements, create forms, extract text from scans, and convert PDFs to DOCX online. Teams can collaborate on documents, while organizations can deploy on their own infrastructure. That combination makes it a stronger fit for document-heavy teams than for readers who only need to mark up or convert an occasional file.

Key features

Editing, annotation, and forms

Editing covers text, tables, shapes, images, SmartArt, charts, hyperlinks, and pages. This gives users a way to revise the document itself rather than adding comments alone. Highlighting, underlining, strikethrough, freehand drawing, comments, and stamps support review, and forms can include text areas, images, combo boxes, drop-down lists, and check boxes. The range is useful for preparing and reviewing structured paperwork, though casual users may not need so many document tools.

Collaboration, security, and redaction

Teams can co-edit in real time or use paragraph-locking mode, with comments, built-in chat, Telegram, and Jitsi calls as communication options. This is valuable for shared document work, but less relevant to someone editing alone. Security controls include AES-256 encryption, end-to-end encryption in Private Rooms, JWT access protection, granular permissions, and restrictions on downloading, printing, and copying. The Redact feature permanently removes selected text, words, phrases, pages, or page ranges. ONLYOFFICE states that its products comply with GDPR and supports on-premises deployment to keep data within an organization’s infrastructure. It also states that ONLYOFFICE is not ISO-certified as a standalone product, although its Docs are included in ISO-certified products and infrastructures; organizations requiring standalone product certification should look elsewhere.

Integrations and AI

ONLYOFFICE advertises more than 40 ready integrations, including Box, Moodle, Nextcloud, Odoo, and WordPress. It can connect AI assistants and extract text from scanned PDFs, extending its usefulness in document workflows without making those capabilities necessary for basic editing.

Pricing

ONLYOFFICE has a freemium model, a free plan, and a free trial. Free desktop apps support offline PDF editing and conversion on Windows, Linux, and macOS, while the free Documents apps on iOS and Android support PDF viewing. The pricing note says paid access starts at $20/mo, but the listed DocSpace plans show different workspace limits and billing terms.

Plan	Price	What it includes
Startup	Custom pricing	3 admins, unlimited users and guests, 12 rooms, and 2 GB file storage.
Business	3020.00 USD per month, billed per admin per month	Unlimited users, guests, and rooms; 250 GB per admin; professional support.
Enterprise	Custom pricing	Unlimited admins, users, guests, and rooms.

Startup suits smaller teams that can work within 12 rooms and 2 GB of storage. Business raises storage to 250 GB per admin and adds professional support, but its per-admin monthly billing makes the cost scale with the number of admins. Enterprise is for organizations that need unlimited admins as well as unlimited users, guests, and rooms; it has custom pricing. The free desktop apps are a more direct fit for individuals who need offline editing than these team-oriented workspace plans.

Platforms

ONLYOFFICE supports web, Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, Android, and self-hosted deployment. Desktop apps provide offline editing and conversion on Windows, Linux, and macOS, while iOS and Android Documents apps are for PDF viewing. This broad coverage suits teams with mixed devices, but mobile users should not expect the same editing scope as the desktop apps.

Who it's for

Choose ONLYOFFICE when a team needs PDF editing, forms, collaboration, document controls, or deployment within its own infrastructure. It is also a reasonable option for individuals who want free offline desktop editing or mobile PDF viewing. A user who only needs basic markup or occasional conversion may be better served by a narrower tool, and organizations that require standalone ISO certification should not treat ONLYOFFICE as meeting that requirement.

Pros and cons

Broad editing and form tools: users can revise document content, create forms, annotate, convert, and extract text from scanned PDFs in one product.
Team and deployment options: real-time co-editing, paragraph locking, self-hosting, and granular permissions suit organizational document workflows.
Free offline desktop editing: individuals can edit and convert PDFs on Windows, Linux, and macOS without relying on an online workflow.
Standalone ISO limitation: the product is not currently ISO-certified as a standalone product, which can rule it out for organizations with that requirement.
Workspace-plan trade-offs: Startup has 2 GB of storage and 12 rooms; Business bills per admin per month, making admin count relevant to cost.

Alternatives

PDF editors is a broader directory for comparing options.
WPS PDF Editor is another freemium choice with a free plan and a listed Standard plan that includes 1 GB cloud storage, 47 file formats, and 46 languages.
Smallpdf may suit users who want a browser and mobile option with a free tier; its free trial lasts 7 days.
PDFgear is worth considering for a free cross-platform option; its online editor caps PDFs at 100 MB.
PDF Candy offers a free web and desktop tier, with page and hourly restrictions, no batch processing, and limited file size.
DocHub may fit light use, though its Free plan allows 3 uses per month shared across core features.
Sejda PDF Editor is another freemium PDF editor with web and desktop options.
UPDF has a free plan with caps including 2 conversions per day, 5 OCR uses, and a 10 MB maximum file size.
Stirling PDF may suit users who want a free tier with 500 monthly credits or a paid team plan.

Verdict

ONLYOFFICE PDF Editor is a strong choice for organizations that need collaborative PDF work, broad editing and form tools, and the option to keep deployment on their own infrastructure. Its free offline desktop apps also make it useful for individual editing. Look elsewhere if standalone ISO certification is mandatory, or if your needs are limited to occasional PDF markup and conversion.

	ONLYOFFICE PDF Editor	PDF Chain
Free plan	Yes
Free trial	Yes
Platforms	Android, api, iOS, Linux, macOS, self-hosted, Web, Windows	Linux
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Text editing	Yes	No
Annotation tools	Yes
OCR	Yes
PDF conversion	Yes
Form creation	Yes
Supported platforms	web, Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, Android, self-hosted	Linux

ONLYOFFICE PDF Editor vs PDF Chain

ONLYOFFICE PDF Editor

PDF Chain