Top PDF Apps for iPad in 2026 — Ranked by Use Case

Before spending anything, know what you can get for free. These free tools cover the majority of PDF needs for most iPad users.

1. 1Apple Files + Markup (built-in): View, annotate with Apple Pencil or finger, highlight text, add signatures, fill interactive forms — completely free, pre-installed on every iPad
2. 2Apple Books (built-in): Excellent PDF reader with bookmarking, highlighting, and annotation — free, best for reading long documents
3. 3Adobe Acrobat Reader (free tier): More feature-complete than Markup for annotation, comment management, and complex form filling — free from App Store
4. 4LazyPDF in Safari/Chrome (browser): Merge, split, compress, rotate, organize pages, add watermarks, page numbers, protect with password — all free, no account needed
5. 5Google Drive (free with Google account): Basic PDF viewing, annotation, and form filling — integrates seamlessly if you use Google Workspace

PDF Expert is widely considered the gold standard for iPad PDF work if you need more than the free options provide. It costs $79.99 per year (or $9.99/month) and offers the most complete set of features of any iPad PDF app. What PDF Expert does better than free alternatives: True text editing within existing PDFs — you can change words, resize fonts, and reformat paragraphs directly. This is the single most valuable feature for users who need it, and nothing free on iPad offers it. Link editing for PDFs with hyperlinks. Redaction (properly removing sensitive content, not just covering it). Custom PDF stamps. Batch processing of multiple files. Where PDF Expert falls short: It's expensive. If you only occasionally need to merge or compress PDFs, the free browser tools do that for free. PDF Expert's value is in the text editing and annotation quality — if you don't need those, the free tier of Acrobat Reader plus LazyPDF covers everything else at zero cost. Best for: Professionals who regularly need to edit text in existing PDFs, legal workers, designers reviewing client documents with precise markup needs.

Adobe Acrobat (the full version, not just Reader) costs $19.99/month when purchased alone, or comes with Creative Cloud subscriptions. On iPad, it offers comprehensive PDF capabilities including text editing, form creation, e-signatures with Adobe Sign, cloud storage integration, and cross-device sync. The case for Adobe Acrobat on iPad: If your organization already pays for Adobe Creative Cloud or Adobe Document Cloud, Acrobat is included — use it. The integration with Acrobat on other devices is excellent, and documents are available across desktop and mobile seamlessly. The case against: At $19.99/month for standalone, it's expensive for light users. PDF Expert offers comparable or better annotation on iPad for the same price annually that Acrobat charges monthly. For structural PDF editing (merge/split/organize), free browser tools do the same job. For most individual users, Acrobat's value proposition on iPad alone doesn't justify the cost. Best for: Users already in the Adobe ecosystem, organizations with Creative Cloud subscriptions, professionals who need Adobe Sign for legally certified e-signatures.

GoodNotes and Notability are primarily note-taking apps that happen to have excellent PDF import and annotation features. They're not general-purpose PDF tools — but for students and users who primarily annotate PDFs with handwriting, they're the best option on iPad. GoodNotes 6: Available as a subscription ($9.99/year) or one-time purchase. Excellent Apple Pencil support with custom paper templates. Import PDFs and annotate over them with handwriting that feels natural. Organization by notebooks and folders. Export annotated PDFs back to standard format. Best for: Students annotating textbooks, anyone who reads and writes on PDFs extensively. Notability: $14.99/year with a free tier. Real-time audio recording synced to handwriting — unique feature for annotating during lectures. Good PDF annotation. Slightly less polished than GoodNotes for pure PDF work but adds the audio feature. Best for: Students, journalists, meeting notes with PDF attachments. Neither GoodNotes nor Notability is the right choice for structural PDF editing (merge, split, compress). Use them for annotation; use browser tools for everything else. For a completely free alternative: Apple Markup covers about 70% of what GoodNotes does for annotation, at zero cost. Try Markup first — if you find yourself consistently wanting features it doesn't have, then consider GoodNotes.