The research shortlist
Page updated
LibreOffice Top pick
Open-source PDF editing through Draw
Metadata checked Aug 18, 2026
Best overall fit for changing PDF content on macOS: it combines genuine editing and signing with mature maintenance, an established community, and current stable Mac installers.
LibreOffice Draw can open PDF content as editable objects, modify text and graphics, sign existing PDFs, and export revised documents. It is a mature full office suite rather than a PDF-only app.
- 01 Edit PDF text, graphics, and page objects in Draw
- 02 Digitally sign existing PDFs
- 03 Export revised documents to PDF
- 04 Stable Apple Silicon and Intel macOS builds
- PDF work happens in the general-purpose Draw module, not a dedicated PDF-first interface.
- Complex or heavily designed PDFs may need layout cleanup after import.
Evidence sources (18)
- Official LibreOffice core repository Source available ·
- LibreOffice core licensing file License ·
- Official macOS Apple Silicon and Intel downloads Free at review time ·
- Official LibreOffice release notes Release ·
- LibreOffice official homepage and free-software statement Website ↗ ·
- Official guide documenting PDF editing with Draw Website ↗ ·
- Official LibreOffice logo asset Screenshots ·
- Official LibreOffice Draw screenshot Screenshots ·
- GitHub REST repository API Source available ·
- GitHub license metadata License ·
- GitHub master commit history Source available ·
- LibreOffice licensing and legal information License ·
- LibreOffice 26.2.5 macOS Apple Silicon installer Free at review time ·
- Official macOS Apple Silicon download metadata Documented macOS path ·
- Official macOS Intel download metadata Documented macOS path ·
- Official Writer product screenshot Screenshots ·
- Official Calc product screenshot Screenshots ·
- Official Impress product screenshot Screenshots ·
Okular
Feature-rich open-source PDF viewer and annotator
Metadata checked Aug 18, 2026
Best dedicated PDF viewer and annotator, backed by KDE's active release cadence and large community. It ranks below LibreOffice because macOS packaging is currently experimental and it does not directly edit arbitrary PDF text.
Full review — capabilities, 2 caveats, evidence
KDE's document viewer provides PDF reading, native annotations, highlights, text notes, form handling, and digital-signature verification and signing. It is the strongest dedicated viewer-style alternative in this group.
- 01 Read and navigate PDFs with thumbnails and content panels
- 02 Add notes, highlights, underlines, and text annotations
- 03 Handle PDF forms
- 04 Verify and create digital signatures
- The official Okular download page currently labels both ARM and Intel macOS builds as untested nightly builds.
- It is primarily a viewer, annotator, form, and signature tool rather than a full text-and-image PDF editor.
Evidence sources (9)
- Official KDE Okular repository Source available ·
- Okular GPL-2.0-or-later license text License ·
- Okular official homepage and feature overview Website ↗ ·
- Official Okular download page listing macOS ARM and Intel builds Documented macOS path ·
- KDE Gear 26.04 Okular release notes Release ·
- Official Okular product screenshot Screenshots ·
- Official Okular annotation screenshot Screenshots ·
- GitHub REST repository API Source available ·
- Project homepage Website ↗ ·
PDFsam Basic
Free offline PDF page operations
Metadata checked Aug 18, 2026
Best free complement for Nitro's document-assembly workflows, with a long maintenance history and current ARM64 and Intel macOS packages. Its narrower scope keeps it below the editor and viewer alternatives.
Full review — capabilities, 2 caveats, evidence
PDFsam Basic is a focused desktop tool for merging, splitting, mixing, rotating, extracting, and inserting PDF pages. Its core app is free, offline, AGPL-licensed, and distributed with current macOS installers.
- 01 Merge PDFs and selected page ranges
- 02 Split by pages, bookmarks, or size
- 03 Mix, rotate, extract, and insert pages
- 04 Process files locally without uploads
- PDFsam Basic does not provide general text/image editing, OCR, annotations, or digital signing.
- Some advanced PDFsam capabilities are separate Visual or Enhanced products and may require payment; the Basic core remains free and open source.
Evidence sources (14)
- Official PDFsam repository Source available ·
- PDFsam AGPL license file License ·
- Official PDFsam Basic download page with macOS ARM and Intel packages Free at review time ·
- Latest PDFsam release and macOS assets Release ·
- PDFsam Basic official feature and free-software page Website ↗ ·
- PDFsam product comparison identifying Basic as free and open source Free at review time ·
- Official PDFsam Basic product screenshot Screenshots ·
- GitHub REST repository API Source available ·
- GitHub license metadata License ·
- Latest GitHub release Release ·
- Latest macOS release asset Free at review time ·
- PDFsam Basic split screenshot Screenshots ·
- PDFsam Basic rotate screenshot Screenshots ·
- PDFsam Basic extract-pages screenshot Screenshots ·
Specifications, side by side
| Attribute | 1 · LibreOffice | 2 · Okular | 3 · PDFsam Basic |
|---|---|---|---|
| License | GPL-3.0-only | GPL-2.0-or-later | AGPL-3.0-only |
| Platforms | macOS, Windows, Linux | macOS, Windows, Linux | macOS, Windows, Linux |
| Status | Checked | Checked | Checked |
| Version | v26.2.5 | — | v6.0.5 |
| Stars | 4.2k | 1.5k | 4.5k |
| Last push | |||
| Caveats | 2 | 2 | 2 |
About Nitro PDF Pro
Nitro PDF Pro — PDF editor for Mac. Convert, annotate, merge, and collaborate on documents.
Setapp listing: Work with your PDFs
