Why people leave PDF Reader by Deepthought
Deepthought’s PDF Reader markets itself as the AI-powered all-in-one viewer: read, edit, sign, convert, summarise, and translate. The core reader is solid, which is why it has 382M installs. The friction shows up around the edges:
- AI features are paywalled per feature. Summarise, translate, and read-aloud each have their own caps. Heavy users end up paying for the top tier just to remove the limits.
- PDF editing on the free tier is restricted. Free covers viewing and annotation. Real edits (changing text, removing pages, adding signatures) require the subscription.
- The ‘all-in-one’ framing means feature creep. Image-to-PDF, Word-to-PDF, scan-to-PDF, and document recovery each open separate menus. Users tell us they wanted a fast PDF viewer and ended up navigating a productivity suite.
The PDF Reader alternatives below cover focused readers, full office suites, and open-source picks.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Free plan | Starting price | Standout |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Acrobat Reader | Industry-standard PDF features | Read, annotate, sign | About $10/mo (Pro) | AI Assistant built in (Pro) |
| Xodo PDF Reader | A clean, ad-free free reader | Full read, annotate, fill | Optional Pro | No ads even on free |
| Foxit PDF Reader | Heavy annotators and form fillers | Full read, annotate | About $7/mo (Pro) | Best form filling on mobile |
| WPS Office | Users who also need Word/Excel/PPT | PDF read + light edit + Office | About $4/mo (Premium) | Full office suite included |
| iLovePDF | Quick PDF conversions and merging | Limited online tools | About $5/mo (Premium) | 25+ conversion tools |
| Librera Reader | Reading books and long PDFs | Free, optional Pro | About $5 one-off | Reflow mode, plays well with EPUB |
| Microsoft 365 (Office) | Microsoft account holders | View, light edit | Bundled with M365 sub | Native edit in Word/Excel format |
The 7 PDF Reader alternatives
Adobe Acrobat Reader, best for industry-standard PDF feature parity
Acrobat Reader is the canonical PDF app. Reading, annotating, signing, filling forms, and exporting all work cleanly. Premium subscribers get AI Assistant inside the reader: ask it to summarise a contract, find clauses, or pull out the dates. The mobile app syncs with the desktop and web versions through an Adobe account.
Where it falls short: The free tier is restrictive once you move past viewing. Editing text, merging PDFs, and OCR all live behind the Pro tier.
Pricing:
- Free: Read, annotate, sign, fill forms.
- Paid: Acrobat Standard from about $10 per month adds editing, OCR, conversion, and AI Assistant.
- vs PDF Reader: comparable monthly price; Acrobat’s PDF feature set goes deeper
Migrating from PDF Reader: Sign in to an Adobe account and your annotations sync across devices. No bulk import needed.
Bottom line: The pick when you need real PDF features and Adobe compatibility matters.
Xodo PDF Reader, best for a clean PDF reader without ads on the free tier
Xodo is built on the same PDF engine that runs in many corporate PDF tools (PSPDFKit). The mobile app is fast, opens large PDFs without lag, and includes annotation, form filling, and signature tools without showing ads. Cloud sync works through Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, and Xodo Connect.
Where it falls short: Some advanced features (OCR, batch processing) sit behind Xodo Pro. The annotation feature set is narrower than Foxit’s.
Pricing:
- Free: Full reader, annotation, form filling, signatures. No ads.
- Paid: Xodo Pro runs about $5 per month for advanced editing, OCR, and conversion.
- vs PDF Reader: free is genuinely useful here; Pro is cheaper than Deepthought’s top tier
Migrating from PDF Reader: No automated import from Deepthought. Your existing PDFs open in Xodo as soon as you grant file access.
Bottom line: The pick for users who want a clean free reader without ads or signup walls.
Foxit PDF Reader, best for heavy annotators and form-fillers
Foxit’s annotation toolkit is the most complete on Android. Stamps, callouts, freehand drawing, typewriter text, and standard PDF comments all sit in a single floating toolbar. Form filling handles the awkward government and tax PDFs that other readers stumble on. ConnectedPDF lets you track who’s read a shared document.
Where it falls short: The interface is dense. New users will spend time learning where every tool lives.
Pricing:
- Free: Reading, annotation, basic form filling.
- Paid: Foxit PDF Editor Pro runs about $7 per month and unlocks editing, OCR, and document conversion.
- vs PDF Reader: cheaper for the editor tier and the form-filling is genuinely better
Migrating from PDF Reader: Sign in with a Foxit account if you want sync. Local PDFs open without any import step.
Bottom line: The pick if you spend serious time annotating contracts or filling forms.
WPS Office, best for users who also need Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
WPS bundles a competent PDF reader with a full Microsoft-compatible office suite. Free covers reading, annotating, and light editing in both PDF and Office formats. Conversion between PDF and Word works without an internet round-trip on the desktop tier; on mobile it’s mostly local.
Where it falls short: Free tier shows ads at conversion time. The app footprint is bigger than a focused PDF reader.
Pricing:
- Free: PDF reader, annotation, light PDF edit, full Office viewer/editor with ads.
- Paid: WPS Premium runs about $4 per month and removes ads, unlocks PDF editing and unlimited conversions.
- vs PDF Reader: cheaper monthly, and you get a full office suite in the bundle
Migrating from PDF Reader: Sign in with the same account you use elsewhere; recent files appear automatically.
Bottom line: The pick if PDF is one of several formats you handle daily.
iLovePDF, best for quick PDF conversions and merges
iLovePDF is the mobile version of the popular web tool. The strength is the conversion catalogue: 25+ tools including merge, split, compress, PDF-to-Word, Word-to-PDF, PDF-to-JPG, OCR, sign, and watermark. The reader and annotator are functional but not the main attraction.
Where it falls short: Most conversions still round-trip through the cloud. Sensitive documents shouldn’t go through it.
Pricing:
- Free: Reader plus limited daily conversions.
- Paid: Premium runs about $5 per month and lifts conversion caps.
- vs PDF Reader: cheaper monthly, with a wider conversion toolkit
Migrating from PDF Reader: Account sign-in carries your tool history from web. Local PDFs open directly.
Bottom line: The pick when conversion is the main use case, not reading.
Librera Reader, best for long-form reading of books and reports
Librera (formerly Lirbi Reader) treats PDFs the way a book reader treats EPUB: reflow mode adjusts text to your screen, page-turn gestures feel like a paperback, and night mode is genuinely comfortable. EPUB, FB2, MOBI, DJVU, TXT, RTF, and DOC are also supported, so it’s a one-app reader for everything.
Where it falls short: Not built for annotation-heavy work. Form filling is basic.
Pricing:
- Free: Full reader with a small ad strip.
- Paid: Premium runs about $5 one-off and removes ads.
- vs PDF Reader: cheaper one-off, much better for long reading sessions
Migrating from PDF Reader: Drop your PDFs into the Librera library folder. Bookmarks transfer manually.
Bottom line: The pick for reading long PDFs and ebooks comfortably.
Microsoft 365 (Office), best for users with a Microsoft 365 subscription already
The unified Microsoft 365 app reads PDFs, opens Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and runs the same Copilot-style AI tools that exist on desktop. Forms fill cleanly and signatures save into a OneDrive folder by default. If you already pay for Microsoft 365 Personal or Family, the PDF reader is bundled.
Where it falls short: The standalone PDF experience is slower to navigate than Acrobat Reader. Annotation toolset is limited.
Pricing:
- Free: Read PDFs, basic edit, light Office editing.
- Paid: Microsoft 365 Personal runs about $7 per month and unlocks the full Office suite and OneDrive 1TB.
- vs PDF Reader: cheaper per month if you’d use Word and Excel anyway
Migrating from PDF Reader: Sign in with your Microsoft account and recent documents pull from OneDrive.
Bottom line: The pick when you already pay for Microsoft 365 and want one fewer subscription.
How to choose
Pick Adobe Acrobat Reader if you handle PDFs daily and need every standard feature plus AI assistance for contracts; it’s the canonical pick. Pick Xodo if you want a clean free reader with no ads and you don’t need OCR. Pick Foxit if your job involves heavy annotation or form filling. Pick WPS Office if PDFs are only one of the formats you live in. Pick iLovePDF when conversion (PDF to Word, merge, compress) is the primary use case. Pick Librera for long-form reading sessions. Pick Microsoft 365 if you already pay for it.
Stay on PDF Reader by Deepthought if the AI summarisation and read-aloud are what you actually use; few alternatives bundle both in a free-leaning tier. If you mainly read and annotate, every option above is more focused.
FAQ
What’s the best free PDF reader? Xodo has no ads on the free tier and covers reading, annotation, and form filling. Librera is a good free pick for long reading sessions. Adobe Acrobat Reader’s free tier is the most familiar.
Can I edit PDFs on Android for free? Limited edits, yes. Annotation, signing, and form filling work free on Xodo, Foxit, and Acrobat Reader. Real text edits and page operations usually require a paid tier.
What’s the best PDF reader for Microsoft 365 users? The Microsoft 365 app itself, since the subscription is already paid. For richer PDF features, Acrobat Reader integrates with the same Microsoft account.
Is iLovePDF safe for sensitive PDFs? Some conversions still round-trip through iLovePDF’s servers. For NDA-covered or personal-data documents, use a tool that processes locally (Foxit Pro, Acrobat Pro, WPS Premium).
Why does PDF Reader by Deepthought show ads even after the upgrade? Some users report the standard ad-removal IAP only covers the in-app banner and that AI features remain capped. Check the description of the specific tier before paying.
