Top 8 Best Free PDF Writer for Free Download in 2024

Jane Zhou updated on Mar 20, 2024 to PDF Editor Tutorials

If you are looking for a free PDF writer, there are many options available on the market. This post will show you the top 8 best free PDF writer software to help you write on your PDF documents.

PDF has been a popular format for sharing many types of documents. If you work in an office environment, you have likely used numerous PDF files in your life.

However, you may find it difficult when you want to change the content by adding some information or notes to your current PDF files. At that time, all you need is a free PDF writer. But how to find the best PDF writer?

Don't fret, you will know some excellent PDF reader and writer programs on this page. Here, we collected the top 8 PDF writers for free download, and will introduce each of them in detail.  

Top 1. EaseUS PDF Editor

Compatibility: Windows 10/8.1/8/7

This is an all-in-one PDF writer, creator, reader, editor, and converter for Windows users. It allows you to create a PDF from more than 10 file formats effortlessly and provides many basic and advanced editing tools to modify your PDF files, including writing on your PDF documents.

Being a great PDF writer for Windows 10, this program lets you add/delete text, images, or hyperlinks in your PDF flexibly. Or, you are able to mark up the PDFs by highlighting, commenting, drawing shapes, etc. If needed, you even can add a password to PDF to protect it from authorized viewing. 

Pros:

  • Support more than 10 common file formats
  • Allow splitting, extracting, merging, and rotating your PDF documents
  • OCR feature can make your scanned PDF editable
  • Sign your PDF digitally

Cons:

  • Only available for Windows

How to Write on PDF Free?

Not able to find a reliable method on how to write on PDF? No worries!! This guide is exclusive to you. Whether it's about typing on PDF on Windows 10/Chrome, we've got you covered with hassle-free solutions for this purpose.

Top 2. PDF-XChange Editor

Compatibility: Windows 

PDF-XChange Editor allows you to write on your PDF documents as you like. This free PDF writer for Windows offers a great many tools to edit the PDFs, including highlighting, inserting text, extracting images and text, etc.

Beyond that, it is worth mentioning that this freeware supports importing PDFs from your local computer, SharePoint, Google Drive, and Dropbox, then saving back to any of those cloud storage services once done. 

Pros:

  • Import PDFs from both local computer and online service
  • Offer a portable version
  • Identify the text in a PDF document with OCR

Cons:

  • Only compatible with Windows
  • Limited features in the free version

Top 3. Adobe Acrobat PDF Writer

Compatibility: Windows and Mac

You must be familiar with Adobe Acrobat, which is one of the best PDF writers for Windows and Mac. With its help, you can easily write on the PDF files, draw lines, add shapes, add comments or highlight important information with simple clicks.

In addition, this PDF writer app also performs well in PDF converting, and you can flexibly convert the PDF files to or from other file formats in a snap. So, if you want to find a PDF program that merges writing, editing, and converting, Adobe Acrobat is an excellent option.

Pros:

  • Simple and clear UI
  • Offer lots of editing tools for managing PDFs
  • Different versions for different users

Cons:

  • A little expensive to upgrade to the full version

Read also: Best Full Version PDF Editor Free Download

Top 4. XODO

Compatibility: Windows and Mac

XODO is an online PDF writer to help you write in PDF documents for free. It makes it super simple to mark up PDF documents and add annotations or comments to PDF files.

Besides, you can also use this online tool to add signatures to PDF like you would in Adobe Acrobat. If you sometimes want to convert PDF to other MS Office formats, you also can get it done in XODO, as it supports some common format conversion tasks.

Pros:

  • Enable you to upload PDFs in various ways
  • Manage PDF pages with ease
  • Allow compressing PDF files for sharing via email

Cons:

  • Need a good network connection

Top 5. Foxit PDF Editor

Compatibility: Windows and Mac

Foxit PDF Editor has been a popular PDF program for many users, and it is highly likely that you have seen these in the search results while looking for a full-version PDF writer.

With this Windows PDF writer, you cannot only view and edit your existing PDF files but also generate your own PDFs. All you need to do is send your files to this virtual PDF printer, which will turn them into nice PDF files.

Pros:

  • View any of your PDF files
  • Convert your files into PDF files
  • Work efficiently

Cons:

  • The latest version does not include the print-to-PDF option
  • It has too many options, especially if you are only looking for a PDF writer
  • The installer is quite large

    Top 6. Smallpdf

    Compatibility: macOS and Windows (Online)

    Smallpdf is one of the most popular online PDF writer tools on the market. This web-based app can add text, images, markup, or other items into your PDF documents.

    Plus, you can turn any of your supported files into a PDF file. Basically, all that you need to do is find the file you want to convert to PDF, upload it to the Smallpdf site, and get an optimized PDF version of your file. All you need is a modern web browser to visit the site and get your files converted to PDF. It actually works in various browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, and Opera.

    Pros:

    • No need to install a printer to make PDF
    • A completely cloud-based PDF writer
    • Export converted PDF to cloud storage

    Cons:

    • Privacy concerns as you need to upload your files to the site
    • It is not ideal for large files
    • It takes longer than other tools to generate PDFs

      Top 7. SodaPDF

      Compatibility: macOS and Windows (Online)

      SodaPDF is an online PDF writer with a host of features to let you edit your PDFs, including writing on them. With its aids, you can insert images, extract text, add forms, or do other editings to your PDF files. Well, this online PDF writing tool allows you to upload your target files from various sources,  including your computer, Dropbox, and Google Drive.

      Pros:

      • Upload files from multiple sources
      • Convert to and from PDF files
      • Get the results by email

      Cons:

      • Privacy issues as you are not sure who your files will be shared with
      • Uploading files takes too long
      • There are restrictions as to how many files you can convert in a day

        Top 8. EasePDF

        Compatibility: macOS and Windows (Online)

        EasePDF, as the name implies, is an online tool that lets you upload your non-PDF files and turn them into PDFs. It supports various file types as source files, including Word, Excel, and TXT files. You have various ways to add your files to the tool. You can either use a file from your computer or you can upload one from your cloud storage services.

        Pros:

        • Several source file options
        • Drag and drop interface
        • Support for many file types

        Cons:

        • Most users might be hesitant to upload their confidential files online
        • Does not work for all file types
        • Sometimes it generates blank PDFs

        FAQs about PDF Writers

        Here are some frequently asked queations related to PDF writers. Have a look at them to find an answer.

        1. What is the best free PDF writer?

        There are many PDF writers you can use. But if you don't want to download anything, you may try an online one. Here we give you Sejda PDF Editor, which allows you to add text, images, shapes and drawings, etc. Explore more by using it yourself.

        2. Can I create a PDF for free?

        The answer is yes. All you need to do is to download EaseUS PDF Editor and launch it on your computer. After that, you may click on "Create" to make a new PDF from scratch or from a file on your computer, even the file is not a PDF.

        3. Which is the best PDF editor for Windows 10?

        If you are using a computer on the Windows 10 system, you may try EaseUS PDF Editor as it is comprehensive and user-friendly at the same time.

        Conclusion

        If you want to turn your documents into PDFs, you can use one of the many PDF writers mentioned above. They all work pretty much the same, and you can generate as many PDFs as you want using those tools.