PDF Reader Pro - Edit & Sign markets itself as a full mobile office suite: fast viewing, annotation, e-signatures, a camera scanner, ZIP creation, and support for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files. Open the app and the reader half works well enough. The friction shows up the moment you try to save a signed PDF, export from a scan, or convert between formats, where the subscription paywall gates the action.
The seven PDF Reader Pro - Edit & Sign alternatives below split into three groups: two mainstream readers that keep the signing and annotation flow free, three business-grade PDF suites for anyone who edits daily, and two lightweight or open-source picks for readers who just want to open a file without a paywall. All seven are actively maintained, all support signatures in some form, and none demand a subscription to open a PDF.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Free plan | Signing on free tier | Made by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Acrobat Reader | The reference PDF reader | Yes, ad-free | Yes, basic signing | Adobe |
| Xodo PDF Editor & Reader | Free editor and annotator | Yes, no ads ever | Yes, unlimited | Apryse |
| Foxit PDF Editor | Business PDF workflows | Yes, ad-supported | Yes, basic signing | Foxit |
| WPS Office | Reading PDFs plus Word, Excel, PPT | Yes, ad-supported | Yes, basic signing | Kingsoft |
| iLovePDF | PDF conversion, merging, and compression | Yes, limited daily tasks | Yes, basic signing | iLovePDF |
| Librera Reader | Ad-free, tracker-free reading | Fully free | No, viewer only | foobnix |
| Google Play Books | Reading and library management | Fully free | No, viewer only |
Why people leave PDF Reader Pro - Edit & Sign
The complaints on r/androidapps and Google Play reviews cluster around four points. The first is the split between the free reader and the paid actions. Opening a PDF is free. Saving an edit, exporting a signed document, or converting between formats prompts a subscription upsell that the app displays each time until you commit.
The second is the scanner. The camera-to-PDF flow is genuinely useful and appears free on install, but the conversion step from scan to searchable PDF and the batch export both sit behind the paid tier. Users comparing it with dedicated scanning apps end up switching away rather than paying twice.
The third is the "office" claim. PDF Reader Pro lists DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, PPT, and TXT support, but the editing controls for those formats are limited to viewing and light annotation. Users expecting Word-style edits find the workflow disappointing.
The fourth is the audio player. Bundling media playback into a PDF app confuses more users than it helps. The reviews frequently ask why a PDF reader is scanning the phone for audio files, and the answer, "for convenience", does not land.
PDF Reader Pro - Edit & Sign alternatives worth switching to
Adobe Acrobat Reader, best for the reference PDF reader
Adobe wrote the PDF specification, and Acrobat Reader remains the closest thing to a reference implementation on Android. The free tier covers viewing, commenting, highlighting, filling forms, and adding a basic e-signature to a document. Cloud sync ties the app to Adobe's desktop and web tools so a document you signed on your phone shows up unchanged on your laptop.
Where it falls short: the free tier omits editing text inside the PDF and organising pages, both of which sit behind the Acrobat Standard or Pro subscription. The account requirement is another friction point for anyone who just wants to open a file.
Pricing: free with sign-in, around $10 per month for Acrobat Standard, and roughly $15 per month for Acrobat Pro with full editing and OCR.
Migrating from PDF Reader Pro: no data to move. Install Acrobat, sign in, and set it as the default PDF handler in Android's default apps menu. Documents you saved to local storage open directly.
Bottom line: pick Adobe Acrobat Reader if you want the highest-fidelity rendering and cloud sync across desktop and mobile. Skip it if you refuse to sign in or need free page editing.
Xodo PDF Editor & Reader, best for the free editor and annotator
Xodo is the quietest recommendation in this category and often the best. The app has no ads and no subscription prompts on the free tier. Annotation, form filling, signing, page reordering, and merging PDFs are all free. Apryse (the company behind Xodo) makes money on its enterprise SDK, so the consumer app is a shop window rather than a revenue product.
Where it falls short: OCR and PDF-to-Word conversion moved behind a paid Xodo Pro tier a few releases back. If those features are why you looked at PDF Reader Pro, budget for the upgrade.
Pricing: free with no ads and no time limit on core features. Xodo Pro adds OCR, format conversion, and larger file handling for around $6 per month.
Migrating from PDF Reader Pro: nothing to import. Open Xodo, pick your PDF from local storage or a cloud drive (Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive), and set it as the default PDF handler.
Bottom line: pick Xodo if a free, ad-free PDF editor with real signing is the goal. Skip it only if you need OCR conversion on the free tier.
Foxit PDF Editor, best for business PDF workflows
Foxit's mobile app renders faster than Adobe on older phones and matches it on most desktop-parity features: annotation, form filling, signatures, and text edits inside the PDF. It also integrates with document management systems and cloud services that business users already run, which sets it apart from consumer-focused readers.
Where it falls short: the free tier shows ads and gates certain edits behind the paid tier. The interface is denser than Xodo's, which is a plus for power users and a minus for anyone who wants a lightweight reader.
Pricing: free with ads for viewing and light editing, around $7 per month for the pro tier with full editing, OCR, and format conversion.
Migrating from PDF Reader Pro: install Foxit, sign in (optional for local files), and set it as the default. Foxit will import PDFs from local storage and connect to Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive if you grant access.
Bottom line: pick Foxit if you edit PDFs daily in a business setting and want desktop-parity mobile tools. Skip it if a lightweight, quiet reader is what you actually want.
WPS Office, best for reading PDFs plus Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
WPS Office is the honest version of PDF Reader Pro's "all-in-one" claim. It reads and edits Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files with a fidelity close to Microsoft Office, and PDF is one of the supported formats rather than a bolted-on feature. Signing, annotation, merge, and split all work in the free tier.
Where it falls short: the free tier is ad-supported and the app pushes cloud storage and premium templates. For anyone who wants PDFs alone, the office toolbar is more surface area than you need.
Pricing: free with ads, around $5 per month for premium (ad-free, extra templates, larger cloud storage).
Migrating from PDF Reader Pro: install WPS, set it as the default handler for PDF, DOC, XLS, and PPT files, and let it index your local storage. Files scanned from PDF Reader Pro's camera export open cleanly.
Bottom line: pick WPS Office if you need to read PDFs and edit Word or Excel files on the same phone. Skip it if you want a PDF-only tool with a clean interface.
iLovePDF, best for PDF conversion, merging, and compression
iLovePDF is a task-focused app rather than a general reader. Merge, split, compress, sign, convert to and from Office formats, add page numbers, and watermark are all top-level actions on the home screen. It is the closest match for the "tools" side of PDF Reader Pro, and the free tier allows a handful of daily operations without a sign-in.
Where it falls short: the reader itself is minimal. If your main task is opening and reading long documents, iLovePDF feels functional but joyless.
Pricing: free tier with daily task limits and file size caps, around $4 to $7 per month for the premium tier (unlimited tasks, larger files, batch processing).
Migrating from PDF Reader Pro: point iLovePDF at your local PDFs and run the operations you used PDF Reader Pro's paid tier for. Signing, filling, and page reordering work without an account.
Bottom line: pick iLovePDF if merging, converting, and compressing PDFs is your main use case. Pair it with a dedicated reader if long-form viewing matters.
Librera Reader, best for ad-free reading with zero trackers
Librera is open source and privacy-focused. It reads PDF, EPUB, MOBI, DjVu, and around 20 other formats, has no ads, and does not connect to the network for anything the user did not initiate. Highlighting, bookmarks, night mode, and text-to-speech all work in the free tier without paywalls.
Where it falls short: no signing, no editing, no page reordering, no camera scan. Librera is a reader, and it commits to that role rather than mimicking PDF Reader Pro's feature list.
Pricing: fully free, with an optional Pro version around $6 one-time that adds themes and library sync.
Migrating from PDF Reader Pro: install Librera, grant storage access, and let it index your local documents. Any PDFs you previously opened from Downloads or a cloud drive appear in the library automatically.
Bottom line: pick Librera if what you want is a private, quiet reader and you can handle signing elsewhere. Skip it if signing or editing is why you are here.
Google Play Books, best for reading and library management
Play Books is preinstalled on most Android devices and reads PDFs alongside its ebook and audiobook library. Upload a PDF once and it syncs across every Android and iOS device signed in to the same Google account. There is no signing, no editing, and no scanner, but the reader itself is smooth and the library management is the tidiest in this list.
Where it falls short: PDF-only; no annotation beyond highlights and bookmarks, no signing, no export.
Pricing: fully free for personal PDFs and free ebooks. You pay only for books you buy through the store.
Migrating from PDF Reader Pro: open Play Books, tap the "+ Upload PDF" option in the library, and select the files you want. They land in your Google account library and stay there.
Bottom line: pick Play Books if you want cross-device syncing of PDFs alongside your ebook library. Skip it if you need signing, editing, or a scanner.
How to choose a PDF Reader Pro alternative
Pick Adobe Acrobat Reader if you want the reference PDF renderer and cloud sync across desktop and mobile. Pick Xodo if free, ad-free signing and annotation are the point, and OCR is not a hard requirement. Pick Foxit if you edit PDFs daily for work and want a business-grade interface.
Pick WPS Office if you handle Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files alongside PDFs. Pick iLovePDF if merging, converting, and compressing PDFs is the primary job and reading is secondary. Pick Librera or Google Play Books if you want a viewer without any of the editing surface, and you can handle signing on desktop or through a different app.
Stay on PDF Reader Pro - Edit & Sign only if you rely on its specific combination of PDF, scanning, and audio playback in one place and cannot commit to two apps. In every other case, one of the alternatives above delivers the same job with a clearer free tier.
FAQ
Is Xodo better than PDF Reader Pro for signing PDFs?
Yes for most users. Xodo lets you draw, type, or upload a signature on the free tier and save the signed PDF without a subscription. PDF Reader Pro shows the signing tool for free but gates the save-and-export step behind a paid tier.
Can I edit PDFs for free on Android?
Yes, within limits. Xodo lets you annotate, sign, fill forms, and rearrange pages for free. WPS Office and Foxit both allow light editing on their free tiers. Full text-inside-PDF editing, OCR, and format conversion typically require a paid tier in every mainstream app.
What is the best free PDF scanner for Android?
Adobe Scan, Microsoft Lens, and Google Drive's built-in scanner are all fully free and produce searchable PDFs with no daily limits. If your primary reason for using PDF Reader Pro was the scanner, any of those three does the job better without a subscription prompt.
Is there a completely open-source PDF reader for Android?
Yes. Librera Reader is open source and available on F-Droid as well as Google Play. MuPDF viewer is another lightweight open-source option. Both prioritise reading over editing, so neither replaces Xodo or Foxit for annotation-heavy workflows.
Do any of these alternatives read Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files like PDF Reader Pro claims to?
WPS Office is the honest answer. It reads and edits DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, PPT, and PPTX files with reasonable fidelity, alongside PDFs. Google Play Books and Librera focus on reading; Adobe, Xodo, Foxit, and iLovePDF handle PDF only.
