Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

PDF-XChange Editor VS PDF Chain

Compare PDF-XChange Editor VS PDF Chain and see what are their differences

PDF-XChange Editor logo PDF-XChange Editor

The smallest, fastest, most feature-rich PDF editor/viewer available

PDF Chain logo PDF Chain

PDF Chain is a GUI for pdftk written with gtkmm.
  • PDF-XChange Editor Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-03
  • PDF Chain Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-09-30

PDF-XChange Editor features and specs

  • Feature-Rich
    PDF-XChange Editor offers a wide range of features including annotation tools, OCR, content editing, and more. This makes it a comprehensive solution for managing PDF documents.
  • Lightweight
    The application is relatively lightweight and performs efficiently even on less powerful systems, providing a smooth user experience.
  • User Interface
    The interface is intuitive and user-friendly, making it easy to navigate through various functions and features.
  • OCR Support
    PDF-XChange Editor includes robust Optical Character Recognition (OCR) capabilities, allowing users to convert scanned documents into editable and searchable text.
  • Customization
    It offers a high level of customization, allowing users to tailor the toolbars, menus, and other interface elements to meet their specific needs.
  • Cost-Effective
    The software provides a good balance of features and cost, making it an affordable option for both individual users and businesses.

Possible disadvantages of PDF-XChange Editor

  • Learning Curve
    Due to its extensive feature set, new users may find it challenging to learn and master all of the functions and tools available in the software.
  • Limited Free Version
    The free version of PDF-XChange Editor is limited in functionality, with many advanced features requiring a paid license to access.
  • Watermarks
    Free version annotations and some features will include watermarks on the documents, which could be inconvenient for professional use.
  • Occasional Bugs
    Some users have reported occasional bugs and software instability, which could interrupt workflow and reduce productivity.
  • Complexity of Features
    Some of the advanced features may be overly complex for users who only need basic PDF editing capabilities, making the user experience overwhelming.

PDF Chain features and specs

  • Free and Open Source
    PDF Chain is available for free and is open-source, meaning users can download, use, and modify it without any cost.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    The interface of PDF Chain is designed to be intuitive and straightforward, allowing users to easily navigate and perform tasks without requiring extensive technical knowledge.
  • Lightweight Application
    PDF Chain is a lightweight application that does not require much system resources, making it suitable for older or less powerful computers.
  • Basic PDF Manipulation
    It provides essential features for PDF manipulation such as merging, splitting, watermarking, and rotating pages.

Possible disadvantages of PDF Chain

  • Limited Advanced Features
    Compared to other PDF manipulation tools, PDF Chain lacks advanced features such as OCR, advanced text editing, and form filling.
  • Linux-Only Compatibility
    PDF Chain is designed for Linux systems and does not support Windows or macOS, limiting its user base to those using Linux.
  • Occasional Stability Issues
    Some users have reported occasional crashes or stability issues, which can affect the overall experience.
  • No Frequent Updates
    The software does not receive frequent updates, which means new features and bug fixes might take a longer time to be implemented.

Analysis of PDF-XChange Editor

Overall verdict

  • PDF-XChange Editor is considered a good choice for those requiring a robust PDF editing solution. It combines functionality and ease of use, making it appealing to a broad spectrum of users from casual users to professionals.

Why this product is good

  • PDF-XChange Editor is widely regarded as a powerful and versatile PDF editing software. It offers a wide range of features, including text editing, annotation tools, OCR (Optical Character Recognition), and the ability to create and fill forms. Its user-friendly interface and efficient performance are often praised, making it suitable for both basic and advanced PDF editing tasks. Additionally, it supports a wide array of file formats and provides integration with popular cloud storage services.

Recommended for

  • Individuals who frequently need to edit or annotate PDF documents.
  • Professionals requiring advanced PDF functionality such as OCR and form creation.
  • Users looking for a cost-effective alternative to other leading PDF editors.
  • People who value integration with cloud storage and multiple file format support.

PDF-XChange Editor videos

PDF-XChange Viewer Tutorial

PDF Chain videos

No PDF Chain videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to PDF-XChange Editor and PDF Chain)
PDF Tools
96 96%
4% 4
Office & Productivity
0 0%
100% 100
PDF Creator
100 100%
0% 0
PDF Editor
96 96%
4% 4

User comments

Share your experience with using PDF-XChange Editor and PDF Chain. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare PDF-XChange Editor and PDF Chain

PDF-XChange Editor Reviews

The 13 Best Free PDF Editors (February 2024)
PDF-XChange Editor offers some great tools, but not all of them are free to use. If you use a non-free feature, the PDF will save with a watermark on every page.
8 Best Adobe Acrobat Alternatives In 2022 [Updated List]
PDF-Xchange Editor is one of the most inexpensive alternatives to Acrobat Pro. It has all the tools necessary for creating, editing, and annotating PDF files and also has OCR and tools for digitally signing the documents. It also allows you to export PDF files to MS Office formats.
10 Best PDF Expert Alternatives for Various Tasks in 2022
Thereby, PDF Xchange Editor comes before PDF Expert in the OCR technology. This PDF expert alternative provides you with the advanced OCR plug-in of ABBYY, which counts to be more precise, adaptive, and faster than the standard OCR engine (at work by PDF Expert), and be completed with features such as dynamic stamps, say, a stamp that adopts the system date in an automatic...
Source: fixthephoto.com
13 of the Best Free PDF Readers
For those users looking to add audio to their PDFs, PDF-XChange Editor could be the solution. Besides the having ability to add recordings and other audio, users can view and edit the PDF files, along with adding in a signature. The best feature of PDF-XChange, though, might be its Optical Character Recognition Tool. With this tool, users can scan in a printed document and...
Source: www.indeed.com
Top 5 Best Free Alternatives to Adobe Acrobat DC
PDF-XChange Editor offers amazing amount of features for free (about 80%). Some of them are free only in Editor (but not free in others competitors). And all free features in Editor are very precise and detailed. With the stable work and good support, PDF-XChange Editor is very user-friendly for high level professional documents
Source: whatvwant.com

PDF Chain Reviews

We have no reviews of PDF Chain yet.
Be the first one to post

What are some alternatives?

When comparing PDF-XChange Editor and PDF Chain, you can also consider the following products

PDF24 PDF Creator - Create PDF and convert documents to PDF for free with the free PDF24 PDF Creator.

Debenu PDF Tools - Simple to use solution to merge PDF files, edit document properties, add and edit custom metadata, convert images to PDF, convert PDF to text and much more.

Sumatra PDF - Sumatra PDF is a slim PDF/DjVu/EPUB/XPS/CHM/CBR/CBZ/MOBI viewer for Windows.

PDF Arranger - Small python-gtk application, which helps the user to merge or split pdf documents and rotate, crop...

Adobe Acrobat DC - Make your job easier with Adobe Acrobat DC, the trusted PDF creator. Use Acrobat to convert, edit and sign PDF files at your desk or on the go.

PDFill - Open, View, Edit, Save and Print PDF Documents without Adobe Acrobat