Ali PDF EditorOffline PDF editor vs online PDF editors
Online PDF editors are convenient: open a website, upload, edit, download. The catch is in the second step. To fill in your tax form, sign your lease or black out an account number, the website first needs the whole document, unredacted, on its servers. Then there are file size limits, a few free tasks a day, and a monthly plan for the rest.
Ali PDF Editor does the same jobs on your own Mac or PC, so the document never leaves it.
Online editor or desktop app
| Ali PDF Editor | Typical online PDF editor | |
|---|---|---|
| Where your document goes | Stays on your computer | Uploaded to the service's servers |
| Internet | Not needed to work | Needed for every step |
| Price | $8.99 once | Free with limits, or a monthly plan |
| Limits | None on size, pages or number of files | Often a daily task limit or a file size cap |
| Account | None | Usually required for more than a try |
| Scanned forms | Blanks found and named in one click | Varies |
What stays private, and how
- Your documents are never uploaded. Ali PDF Editor reads, fills, edits, signs, redacts and saves on your computer.
- The only connection is to our server, to start the free trial and to confirm your license about once a week. It never carries your documents or anything about them. Without internet, the app keeps working for 60 days.
- No tracking in the app. It collects nothing about you or your files; see the privacy policy.
Who this matters to
Anyone who handles other people’s details: bookkeepers, landlords, HR, clinics, schools, lawyers’ offices. And anyone filling in their own tax, immigration, insurance or medical forms. These are exactly the documents that should not sit on someone else’s server.
What you can do with it
- Fill out scanned and flat forms, with your details filled in one click
- Sign with a drawn, typed or photographed signature
- Edit the text of a PDF in its own font
- Redact so the content is really gone
- Reorder, delete and insert pages
Questions
Are online PDF editors safe?
Many are run carefully, but they all need your document on their servers to work on it. An offline editor such as Ali PDF Editor never sends the document anywhere.
Does Ali PDF Editor work without internet?
Yes. Once the trial is started or the license entered, it works offline; it checks the license about once a week and keeps working for 60 days without a connection.
How much does it cost?
$8.99 once, for life, on up to three computers, with every update included. Try it free for seven days first.
Try it on your own forms. The download is the full app, free for seven days, no card. Then $8.99 once, for life, on up to three computers.
Download for Mac or Windows