pdfFiller evaluation: An overpriced, half-baked PDF editor for macOS

Value When Reviewed

Trial: 30 days; Primary: $8 per 30 days; Plus: $12 per 30 days; Premium: $15 per 30 days. These costs require an annual dedication. Costs begin at $20 a month with no dedication.

Greatest Costs Immediately: pdfFiller

In an more and more digital world, the necessity for PDF editors continues to develop. One of many Mac apps chances are you’ll come throughout when looking for a PDF editor is pdfFiller. The software program gives an honest set of doc manipulation instruments, however is it really any good for on a regular basis use? The quick reply isn’t any.

pdfFiller gives apps on macOS, iOS, iPadOS, Home windows, Android, and the online. So, it doesn’t matter what gadget you’re engaged on, you doubtless will have the ability to entry your paperwork simply high-quality. Notably, a single subscription works throughout all platforms.

The corporate gives a 30-day free trial when you’re signing up from the online or a 7-day one when you go for Apple’s App Retailer billing. Past the longer trial and having to arrange a cost methodology, pdfFiller’s internet billing is just like that of Apple—together with the pricing.

Learn the way pdfFiller compares to different PDF editors in our spherical up of the Greatest PDF editors for Mac and the Greatest free PDF editors for Mac.

Plans and options

pdfFiller’s Primary plan prices $8 a month ($96 a yr) when you conform to an annual plan. Alternatively, it’s $20 a month when you decide out of the annual dedication. Solely U.S. pricing is obtainable. It gives fundamental PDF enhancing options, akin to textual content manipulation, annotation, digital signatures, and extra.

In the meantime, the Plus plan goes for $12 a month on the annual dedication ($144 a yr) or $30 when selecting to decide out of the contract. Aside from the Primary plan’s options, Plus provides help for web page reorganization, template creation, publishing fillable varieties on-line, and so forth.

Lastly, the Premium plan raises the annual and month-to-month charges to $15 a month ($180 a yr) and $40 if you need to have the ability to cancel. Past the earlier plans’ perks, it integrates a library of over 85,000 US authorized varieties, helps information assortment and exports, gives sooner buyer help, and permits customers to password-protect their paperwork.

The (subpar) expertise utilizing pdfFiller

Beginning with its person interface, the pdfFiller app on macOS doesn’t observe the working system’s design language or help darkish mode. Cosmetics apart, the app additionally didn’t operate reliably on my MacBook Air M2.

For instance, once I tried to save lots of a PDF to my gadget, a processing popup appeared for a few seconds, after which it kicked me out of the doc with out really saving it to the native storage.

Equally, when enhancing textual content, the cursor took a number of seconds to acknowledge the characters I used to be making an attempt to tweak, and it changed unsupported fonts with empty squares—which isn’t nice. These annoyances considerably lengthen workflows that revolve round textual content enhancing, which is a core PDF editor performance.

One other draw back to utilizing pdfFiller on macOS is the restricted function set. Whereas its App Retailer itemizing explicitly states that the software program helps picture exports, password safety, and clean doc creation, the applying seemingly can’t do any of that. Whereas I used to be in a position to spot these options on the net app, these choosing the native Mac utility will probably be misled by its inaccurate App Retailer description.

Do you have to purchase pdfFiller?

pdfFiller can get some fundamental duties achieved, akin to manipulating PDF textual content and pictures, inserting signatures and shapes, annotating, rearranging pages, and filling varieties. Nevertheless, the Mac app misses out on a few of the promised options and it doesn’t all the time carry out reliably.

Extra importantly, although, you will discover higher optimized PDF editors with extra superior functionalities that price considerably much less. Paying $40/month to unlock password safety solely to comprehend it’s not provided by the native Mac app is absurd. And, frankly, past the built-in doc library that some customers might respect, I can’t discover a single purpose why anybody would choose pdfFiller over various options.

I’d solely advocate this macOS PDF editor if the corporate reconsiders its unjustified worth tags. Alternatively, it might overhaul the app to spice up its efficiency and implement worthy options that put it on par with similarly-priced, premium editors. Till then, look elsewhere.