PDF tool privacy ratings
Apps for reading, editing, merging and signing PDF files.
9 PDF readers and editors are rated against 4 public criteria, and 9 have enough evidence for a letter grade. Of the 5 with a known jurisdiction, 4 are based in a Five Eyes country, and 5 in the wider Fourteen Eyes.
Open-source PDF readers and editors only · Criteria for this category · Suggest an addition · Markdown
| Name | Grade | Score | Data | Jurisdiction | Open source | No trackers or telemetry | No ads or data sales | Independent audit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
KDE document viewer for PDF, EPUB, DjVu, comic books and other formats, with annotations, form filling and digital signatures. |
Grade B | 80 | 100% | Germany Fourteen Eyes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
GNOME's document viewer for PDF, DjVu, TIFF and comic book files. It is the successor to Evince. |
Grade B | 80 | 100% | United States Five Eyes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Desktop app for merging, splitting, rotating, cropping and reordering the pages of PDF documents through a drag-and-drop interface. |
Grade B | 80 | 100% | – | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Handwriting note-taking app that also annotates PDF files with pen, highlighter, text and shapes, with support for pressure-sensitive tablets. |
Grade B | 80 | 100% | – | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Minimal, keyboard-driven document viewer with Vim-like key bindings. PDF, PostScript, DjVu and comic book support comes from plugins. |
Grade B | 80 | 100% | – | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Lightweight reader for PDF, EPUB, MOBI, XPS, DjVu and comic book files on Windows, available as an installer or a portable app. |
Grade C | 65 | 100% | – | Yes | Partial | Yes | No |
PDF, XPS and e-book rendering library from Artifex, with a lightweight viewer, command-line tools and bindings for Python, JavaScript and .NET. |
Grade D | 50 | 100% | United States Five Eyes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
Open-core PDF toolkit that runs as a desktop app, in the browser or on a self-hosted server, with tools to merge, split, convert, OCR, sign and redact PDFs. |
Grade D | 50 | 100% | United States Five Eyes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
Adobe's free app for viewing, printing, signing and commenting on PDF files. Paid Acrobat features and Adobe cloud storage are offered in the same app. |
Grade F | 0 | 100% | United States Five Eyes | No | No | No | No |
Questions
What is the most private option among PDF readers and editors?
No pick has been made yet. The table above is sorted by score, based on public evidence.
How are PDF readers and editors rated?
Each entry answers 4 questions: open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales and independent audit. Answers need links to evidence. See the full criteria.
Does jurisdiction matter?
Jurisdiction decides which laws can compel a provider to hand over data. Each entry shows its country and whether it is in the Five, Nine or Fourteen Eyes. The data a provider can hand over depends mostly on what it stores and who holds the keys. Read about jurisdictions and the CLOUD Act.