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PDF tools / Sign PDF13 tools

Best tools to sign a PDF

Draw, type or upload a signature and place it on a page. Facts come from each tool's own pages, and every score says where it comes from. How we rank

Tools
13
Researched
13
Free option
9
Only listed
0

Made by agathox · free, no sign-up, runs in your browser

Need Sign PDF right now? Try ours.

We build this tool, so it is labelled. It is scored with the same tests as the rest, and this box never changes the ranking below.

Sign PDF on agathox

Ranked by signals we can measure or quote: website health, the facts each tool's own pages state, and community discussion. Nothing here has been hands-on tested yet, so this is not a quality test. How the signals rank works

Quick answer

  • No signup needed: agathox PDF tools, PDF24 Tools, Sejda PDF, PDFgear
  • Files stay on your device: agathox PDF tools

Based on what each tool's own pages say. A tool is left out when its pages say it varies or do not say. Details are listed under each tool.

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Want two of these head to head? Compare tools side by side.

  • 1

    agathox PDF toolsMade by agathox

    Free optionNo signupFiles stay on your deviceHealth 4.6
    Details and sources
    Free tier
    Free to use. No paid plan and no limits on how many files you process.
    Paid plan
    There is no paid plan.
    Signup
    No account or sign-up is needed.
    Watermark
    Nothing is added to your files.
    Where files go
    Runs in your browser, so files are not uploaded. HTML to PDF asks our server only to fetch the web page you enter.

    From the tool's own pages, checked 2026-11-10. Sources: Privacy page. Prices and limits change; check the tool before you rely on them.

    Full page for agathox PDF tools

  • 2
    No free planSignup unclearFile handling unclearHealth 5
    Details and sources
    Free tier
    No free plan for the editor is described. Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial, and every subscription includes 300 free AI credits per month. Foxit PDF Reader is listed as free but not described.
    Paid plan
    PDF Editor $129.99/user/year; PDF Editor+ $159.99/user/year; perpetual Foxit PDF Editor 14 $209.99 one-time per user; AI Assistant add-on $49.99/year for 2,000 credits per month; volume licensing is custom. Billing can be annual, annual billed monthly, or monthly (from $10.99). Prices are subject to local taxes.
    Signup
    Not stated clearly. The trial needs no credit card. A Foxit account is needed for the education discount.
    Watermark
    Not stated.
    Where files go
    Per the privacy policy, files uploaded to Foxit cloud services are deleted after processing unless you choose to store them, and output files are typically deleted within one day. Azure OCR data is deleted within 24 hours. Servers are in the US, Germany, Canada, Australia and Japan. Processing by the desktop editor is not described.

    From the tool's own pages, checked 2026-11-01. Sources: Pricing, Privacy policy. Prices and limits change; check the tool before you rely on them.

    Full page for Foxit PDF Editor

  • 3
    Free optionSignup unclearFiles uploadedHealth 4.4
    Details and sources
    Free tier
    Limited access to basic features of 21 tools, with up to 2 conversions a day. The same limit applies with or without a free account. File-size and page limits are not stated.
    Paid plan
    Pro adds unlimited use of all tools, OCR, batch conversion, no ads and the desktop and mobile apps. The price is not shown on the official pages we could read.
    Signup
    Not required for most tools. Sign needs a free account.
    Watermark
    Says it adds no watermark, even on the free plan.
    Where files go
    Cloud-based: files are uploaded and deleted automatically after one hour for most tools. Its servers are in Ireland.

    From the tool's own pages, checked 2026-10-31. Sources: Support, Pricing, Merge PDF. Prices and limits change; check the tool before you rely on them.

    Full page for Smallpdf

  • 4
    Free optionNo signupFiles uploadedHealth 4.4
    Details and sources
    Free tier
    Says all tools are free without restrictions and that there are no artificial limits. File-size limits are not stated.
    Paid plan
    No paid plan found. It says the service is funded by advertising.
    Signup
    No registration required.
    Watermark
    Not stated.
    Where files go
    Files are uploaded to PDF24's servers in EU data centres and usually deleted within one hour. The free PDF24 Creator desktop app works offline.

    From the tool's own pages, checked 2026-10-31. Sources: Home, FAQ, Privacy policy. Prices and limits change; check the tool before you rely on them.

    Full page for PDF24 Tools

  • 5
    UnclearSignup unclearFiles uploadedHealth 4.6
    Details and sources
    Free tier
    Not stated.
    Paid plan
    Not stated.
    Signup
    Not stated.
    Watermark
    Not stated.
    Where files go
    Users upload their PDF files online to use the PDFescape Online editor. The page says: “Go to PDFescape Online PDF Editor. . Upload your PDF files online. . Now you can add text, shapes or photos, your signature, or even edit and download PDFs to your needs with the tools.”

    From the tool's own pages, checked 2026-11-04. Sources: Home. Prices and limits change; check the tool before you rely on them.

    Read automatically by a program, not by a person. Each fact quotes the sentence it came from, and a fact is shown only if that sentence is on the page. Where a page did not say, it reads “Not stated.”

    Full page for PDFescape

  • 6
    Free optionSignup unclearFiles uploadedHealth 3.7
    Details and sources

    Fill & Sign is free and needs sign-in. Requesting signatures from others may need a paid plan.

    Free tier
    Free tools with limits per tool, for example merge up to 100 files and 1,500 pages, split up to 1 GB and 1,500 pages, Word to PDF up to 100 MB, compress up to 2 GB with limited use. PDF to Word has a daily limit whose number is not stated.
    Paid plan
    Acrobat Standard from US$14.99 a month on an annual plan billed monthly, US$179.88 a year prepaid, or US$24.99 month to month.
    Signup
    Depends on the tool. Merge and compress say no signup; split, OCR and edit ask you to sign in to download; Fill & Sign requires it.
    Watermark
    Merge and PDF to JPG say no watermark. Not stated for the other tools.
    Where files go
    Files are uploaded to Adobe's cloud servers and deleted unless you sign in and save them. No retention time is stated.

    From the tool's own pages, checked 2026-10-31. Sources: Online tools, Merge PDF, Pricing, PDF to Word. Prices and limits change; check the tool before you rely on them.

    Full page for Adobe Acrobat online

  • 7

    Lumin

    Free optionSignup unclearFile handling unclearHealth 4
    Open Lumin
    Details and sources
    Free tier
    Free plan at $0: basic PDF editing, basic eSignatures, annotation of up to 3 docs, plus mobile and desktop apps. The limit is 3 docs per month; a doc counts once you share, download, print or sync it.
    Paid plan
    In USD: Starter from $9/month (10 docs per month); Pro $19/month per team (200 docs per month team-wide); Business $99/month per team; Enterprise is custom. All plans have a 7-day free trial. The page does not explain annual versus monthly billing and does not mention country-based pricing.
    Signup
    Not stated directly. The Free plan and trials link to a sign-up page.
    Watermark
    Not stated.
    Where files go
    Per the privacy policy, all Lumin servers are in the United States. Files are processed for tasks like OCR and compression, including with OpenAI and Google Gemini integrations. File copies are kept only if you upload, convert or share them. Account deletion removes files within 30 days of request, though another section says immediately.

    From the tool's own pages, checked 2026-11-01. Sources: Pricing, Privacy policy. Prices and limits change; check the tool before you rely on them.

    Full page for Lumin

  • 8
    UnclearSignup unclearFile handling unclearHealth 4.1
    Details and sources
    Free tier
    Not stated. The pricing page links to a free download but describes no free features or limits. The terms say that on installation you get a free license with limits on some features.
    Paid plan
    Yearly plan 7,200 rupees billed annually (iPhone, iPad, Mac). Lifetime plan 14,900 rupees one-time, Mac only. 30-day money-back guarantee. Prices are in Indian rupees; the page does not name a country. The education discount is shown as 30% off in the form and 50% off in the confirmation message.
    Signup
    Partly. The terms say you may need to register a personal cross-platform account, by email or Google or Apple sign-in. Not stated for the listed tasks.
    Watermark
    Not stated.
    Where files go
    Not stated. The terms say user content is processed securely and give no location or retention period. Users are told to keep their own backups.

    From the tool's own pages, checked 2026-11-01. Sources: Pricing, Terms. Prices and limits change; check the tool before you rely on them.

    Full page for PDF Expert

  • 9
    Free optionNo signupFiles uploadedHealth 4.1
    Details and sources
    Free tier
    Free for documents up to 50 pages or 50 MB, and 3 tasks an hour. Some tools are tighter: one file per task, 20 pages per conversion, 10 pages per OCR task.
    Paid plan
    A 7-day pass for $5 (one-time) and a yearly plan for $63 that includes Sejda Desktop. Paid removes the page and hourly limits and allows files up to 500 MB. We could not verify the monthly price.
    Signup
    No signup required.
    Watermark
    Not stated.
    Where files go
    Web tools upload files to Sejda's servers and delete them automatically after 2 hours, with encryption in transit and at rest. Sejda Desktop processes files on your computer.

    From the tool's own pages, checked 2026-10-31. Sources: Merge PDF, Pricing, Privacy, Security. Prices and limits change; check the tool before you rely on them.

    Full page for Sejda PDF

  • 10
    Free optionSignup unclearFiles uploadedHealth 4.2
    Details and sources
    Free tier
    A free plan with limited document processing. The exact free limits are not stated on the pricing page; the terms say it may apply reasonable technical limits on file size and processing.
    Paid plan
    Premium: unlimited document processing, no ads, priority support. Prices vary by country; the page we read showed 242 INR a month billed yearly or 500 INR billed monthly. Check the current price where you live.
    Signup
    Not stated.
    Watermark
    Not stated.
    Where files go
    Files are uploaded to iLovePDF's servers and deleted automatically within 2 hours of processing.

    From the tool's own pages, checked 2026-10-31. Sources: Pricing, FAQ, Terms. Prices and limits change; check the tool before you rely on them.

    Full page for iLovePDF

  • 11
    Free optionNo signupFile handling unclearHealth 3.2
    Details and sources
    Free tier
    Says it is free to use. The online editor is limited to 50 MB; the desktop app has no file-size limit. No daily caps are stated.
    Paid plan
    No paid plan is listed. It says some advanced features may become paid in future, with no date set.
    Signup
    Not required.
    Watermark
    Says it adds no watermark to merged PDFs or exported files.
    Where files go
    Merge runs on your device in the browser. Some advanced conversions may be processed on Amazon cloud servers and deleted immediately afterwards. AI features send content to Microsoft Azure OpenAI only after you consent. The desktop app works offline.

    From the tool's own pages, checked 2026-10-31. Sources: Online tools, Merge PDF, Is PDFgear free?, Privacy. Prices and limits change; check the tool before you rely on them.

    Full page for PDFgear

  • 12
    No free planSignup unclearFile handling unclearHealth 3.9
    Details and sources
    Free tier
    pdfFiller offers a free 30-day trial. The page says: “Free 30-day trial.”
    Paid plan
    Not stated.
    Signup
    Users must register an account to work on PDFs. The page says: “Register your account and start working on PDFs in minutes on any device.”
    Watermark
    Not stated.
    Where files go
    Not stated.

    From the tool's own pages, checked 2026-11-04. Sources: Home. Prices and limits change; check the tool before you rely on them.

    Read automatically by a program, not by a person. Each fact quotes the sentence it came from, and a fact is shown only if that sentence is on the page. Where a page did not say, it reads “Not stated.”

    Full page for pdfFiller

  • 13

    DocHub

    Free optionSignup unclearFiles uploadedHealth 3.7
    Details and sources
    Free tier
    DocHub offers free access to premium tools without any time limits or hidden costs. The page says: “DocHub offers free access to premium tools without any time limits or hidden costs.”
    Paid plan
    Not stated.
    Signup
    Users must sign up to use DocHub. The page says: “BE READY TO GET MORE DocHub makes it easy to edit, sign, and share documents. Try, it`s free Sign up.”
    Watermark
    Not stated.
    Where files go
    DocHub ensures the security of your data with 256-bit SSL encryption, OAuth 2.0 authentication, and encrypted storage. The page says: “DocHub ensures the security of your data with 256-bit SSL encryption, OAuth 2.0 authentication, and encrypted storage.”

    From the tool's own pages, checked 2026-11-08. Sources: Home. Prices and limits change; check the tool before you rely on them.

    Read automatically by a program, not by a person. Each fact quotes the sentence it came from, and a fact is shown only if that sentence is on the page. Where a page did not say, it reads “Not stated.”

    Full page for DocHub

Answers come from each tool's own pages (“Unclear” means they do not say). Tick “Compare” on two to four tools to read them side by side.

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