Why people leave Document Reader & PDF Editor
Deepthought’s Document Reader handles PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and text files in a single light app. That breadth, plus 113M installs, makes it a default for users who don’t want a full office suite. But three friction points keep coming up:
- Editing is paywalled while viewing is free. Reading Word and Excel files is free; making real edits routes you to the subscription. New users discover this mid-task.
- Conversion caps. Free users get a small number of PDF-to-Word and image-to-PDF conversions per day. After that, the option greys out.
- The interface pushes upgrades. Tooltips, banners, and post-action prompts repeatedly surface the Premium upsell. Reviews describe it as fatiguing.
The Document Reader & PDF Editor alternatives below cover full office suites, focused readers, and privacy-first picks.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Free plan | Starting price | Standout |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 | Native Word, Excel, PowerPoint | View + light edit | About $7/mo (Personal) | First-party Office with OneDrive 1TB |
| WPS Office | A free Office-compatible suite | Full read + edit with ads | About $4/mo | Broadest format support, free tier real |
| Google Docs (Workspace) | Cloud-first collaboration | Free with Google account | Free for personal | Real-time collaboration |
| OfficeSuite | Android-native polish | Free with ads | About $5/mo | Strong PDF integration |
| Polaris Office | Cross-platform familiarity | Free with ads | About $5/mo | Sync across devices for free |
| OnlyOffice Documents | Privacy-conscious office editing | Free | Free | Self-host option, ODF and OOXML |
| Adobe Acrobat Reader | PDF-first users | Read, annotate | About $10/mo (Pro) | The canonical PDF tool |
The 7 Document Reader & PDF Editor alternatives
Microsoft 365 (Office), best for native Microsoft Office formats
The Microsoft 365 unified app opens, edits, and saves .docx, .xlsx, and .pptx with full fidelity because they’re the same formats Microsoft owns. PDF is handled inline. Copilot, on the paid tier, helps draft, summarise, and reformat documents inside the app. OneDrive sync ties everything together.
Where it falls short: Free tier limits real editing on devices with screens over 10.1 inches. Tablet users pay for editing.
Pricing:
- Free: View and light edit on phone-sized screens. PDF read.
- Paid: Microsoft 365 Personal at about $7 per month adds full editing, 1TB OneDrive, and Copilot.
- vs Document Reader & PDF Editor: cheaper monthly and you get genuine Microsoft Office compatibility
Migrating from Document Reader & PDF Editor: Open existing files from OneDrive, Google Drive, or local storage. No conversion step.
Bottom line: The pick if you live in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint and want first-party fidelity.
WPS Office, best for a genuine free Office-compatible suite
WPS is the most-installed free office suite on Android because the free tier is real, not a trial. Read and edit Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF without paying. The interface mirrors Microsoft Office closely. PDF-to-Word conversion works on the free tier with daily limits. Cloud sync covers WPS Cloud, Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive.
Where it falls short: Free tier shows ads, especially during conversion. Some templates and AI tools are paywalled.
Pricing:
- Free: Full edit in Word, Excel, PPT, and PDF. Conversion with daily limits.
- Paid: WPS Premium runs about $4 per month and removes ads, unlocks unlimited conversions and templates.
- vs Document Reader & PDF Editor: cheaper monthly, broader format support, real free tier
Migrating from Document Reader & PDF Editor: Sign in to WPS and your recent files surface. Local files open without an import.
Bottom line: The pick for a free office suite with no asterisks on the free tier.
Google Docs (Workspace), best for cloud-first collaboration
Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides handle Office-compatible formats, save everything to Drive automatically, and run real-time collaboration with anyone you share with. The mobile editors are simpler than Microsoft’s but cover 90% of office tasks. Offline editing works once you flag a file as available.
Where it falls short: Three separate apps instead of one. Some advanced Word features (track changes, complex formatting) don’t translate perfectly.
Pricing:
- Free: Free with a Google account. 15GB shared with Gmail and Photos.
- Paid: Google One AI Premium at about $20 per month bumps to 2TB and adds Gemini Advanced.
- vs Document Reader & PDF Editor: free, with real-time collaboration that no Office viewer matches
Migrating from Document Reader & PDF Editor: Upload existing Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files to Drive. Choose ‘edit in Docs’ to convert.
Bottom line: The pick for cloud-first work and shared documents.
OfficeSuite, best for Android-native polish and PDF integration
OfficeSuite by MobiSystems was built around Android first, which shows in the touch-friendly toolbar and the way the PDF tools sit inside the same app as the word processor. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint compatibility is strong. The PDF tool includes annotation, signing, conversion, and form filling.
Where it falls short: The free tier shows ads and watermarks PDF exports. The Premium tier is reasonably priced but required for serious use.
Pricing:
- Free: Read and light edit Word, Excel, PPT, and PDF with ads.
- Paid: OfficeSuite Personal runs about $5 per month and removes ads, unlocks PDF editing and conversion.
- vs Document Reader & PDF Editor: comparable pricing, smoother Android experience
Migrating from Document Reader & PDF Editor: Pick the source folder during onboarding and OfficeSuite indexes existing documents.
Bottom line: The pick for Android-first users who want PDF and Office in one polished app.
Polaris Office, best for cross-platform sync without paying
Polaris Office syncs your documents across phone, tablet, and desktop on the free tier, which is unusual. Word, Excel, PPT, and PDF all open natively. The interface looks closer to a Microsoft Office app than to Document Reader, which makes the muscle memory transfer.
Where it falls short: The free tier is heavily ad-supported. The Pro tier feels essential for daily use.
Pricing:
- Free: Read and basic edit across formats with sync and ads.
- Paid: Polaris Office Pro runs about $5 per month and removes ads, adds advanced editing and PDF tools.
- vs Document Reader & PDF Editor: comparable pricing, cross-device sync included in the free tier
Migrating from Document Reader & PDF Editor: Sign in to Polaris account and existing documents sync from whatever folder you choose.
Bottom line: The pick for users who want familiar Office UI plus free cross-device sync.
OnlyOffice Documents, best for privacy-conscious office editing
OnlyOffice handles .docx, .xlsx, .pptx, and ODF formats with strong fidelity, and the project is open-source. The mobile app pairs with a self-hosted OnlyOffice server if you run one, which keeps documents under your control. For solo users, the free cloud (OnlyOffice DocSpace) offers a small free tier.
Where it falls short: No PDF editing, only viewing. AI features are not built into the mobile app.
Pricing:
- Free: Read and edit Office formats. Pair with a self-hosted server for cloud features.
- Paid: Cloud plans on OnlyOffice DocSpace are usage-based; self-hosting is free.
- vs Document Reader & PDF Editor: free, with the self-host option that no other app on this list offers
Migrating from Document Reader & PDF Editor: Upload existing Office files to OnlyOffice DocSpace or open them directly from local storage.
Bottom line: The pick for privacy-conscious users who can run their own server or want open-source code.
Adobe Acrobat Reader, best for PDF-first users who don’t need Office editing
If 80% of what you do is read and annotate PDFs, Acrobat Reader is the most focused tool on this list. It doesn’t try to be Word or Excel; it’s a PDF app. Premium adds OCR, editing, and AI Assistant. Free is genuinely useful for reading and annotation.
Where it falls short: Doesn’t handle Word or Excel files. If you opened the Document Reader app for Excel sheets, Acrobat isn’t the swap.
Pricing:
- Free: Read, annotate, sign, fill PDF forms.
- Paid: Acrobat Standard runs about $10 per month for editing, OCR, and AI Assistant.
- vs Document Reader & PDF Editor: more expensive but the PDF feature depth is unmatched
Migrating from Document Reader & PDF Editor: Sign in to an Adobe account; PDFs sync. No bulk import.
Bottom line: The pick if PDF is 80% of your document work.
How to choose
Pick Microsoft 365 if Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files dominate your day and you want first-party fidelity. Pick WPS Office for a free office suite where the free tier actually carries weight. Pick Google Docs if cloud-first collaboration matters. Pick OfficeSuite for an Android-native experience with strong PDF integration. Pick Polaris Office if you want free cross-device sync. Pick OnlyOffice Documents if privacy and open-source matter. Pick Adobe Acrobat Reader if you mostly work with PDFs.
Stay on Document Reader & PDF Editor if you’ve already paid for the Premium tier and the all-in-one menu is what you want. For most users, one of the alternatives above does a single job better.
FAQ
What’s the best free Word and Excel app on Android? WPS Office has the most usable free tier across Word, Excel, and PowerPoint formats. Google Docs is free with a Google account and adds real-time collaboration. Microsoft 365 is free for view and light edit on phones.
Can I edit PDFs and Word docs in one app? Yes. WPS Office, OfficeSuite, and Microsoft 365 all combine PDF and Office editing in a single app. OnlyOffice covers Office but not PDF editing.
What’s the most private office app for Android? OnlyOffice can be self-hosted, which keeps documents on your server. WPS and OfficeSuite are commercial but allow you to keep everything local. Avoid apps that route conversion through cloud servers for sensitive files.
Can Microsoft 365 open Document Reader & PDF Editor files? Yes, since both apps work with the same .docx, .xlsx, .pptx, and PDF formats. No conversion step is needed.
Why does Document Reader & PDF Editor need so many permissions? Reading and editing files across your device requires the all-files-access permission on Android 11 and newer. Conversion and sharing add network permissions. None of that is unusual for office apps.
