Endpaper compared with Acrobat, Foxit, Nitro, PDFelement and PDF-XChange
Two comparisons worth making: what each one costs to keep, and how each one is licensed. We do not publish a tick-grid of other people's features, because the seller writes those and they go stale within a release.
What it costs to keep for five years
| Product | First year | Five years |
|---|---|---|
| Endpaper Pro, lifetime updates | $69 | $69 |
| Endpaper Pro | $39 | $58 if you extend updates once |
| PDF-XChange Editor | $62 | $62 plus maintenance if renewed |
| Wondershare PDFelement, perpetual | $129.99 | $129.99 on that version |
| Foxit PDF Editor, perpetual | $209.99 | $209.99 on that version |
| Nitro PDF, perpetual | about $250 | about $250 on that version |
| Foxit PDF Editor, subscription | $129.99 a year | $649.95 |
| Adobe Acrobat Standard, annual | $179.88 a year | $899.40 |
| Nitro PDF, subscription | about $180 a year | about $900 |
| Adobe Acrobat Pro, annual prepaid | $239.88 a year | $1,199.40 |
Adobe's annual plan also charges a fee of up to half the remaining term if you cancel after the first fourteen days. Prices move. Check the vendor's page before you buy, ours included.
How the licences differ
| Endpaper | Acrobat | Foxit | Nitro | PDFelement | PDF-XChange | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Can you buy it once? | Yes | No | Yes, $209.99 | Yes, about $250 | Yes, $129.99 | Yes, $62 |
| Is there a subscription? | None offered | Only this | $129.99 a year | About $180 a year | $79.99 a year | Maintenance only |
| Cheapest way to own it outright | $39 | Not possible | $209.99 | About $250 | $129.99 | $62 |
| Does the free version mark what you save? | No, nothing is marked | Not checked | Not checked | Not checked | Not checked | Yes, on its paid features |
| Platforms | Windows only | Windows, Mac, mobile, web | Windows, Mac, web | Windows and Mac | Windows, Mac, mobile | Windows only |
PDF-XChange publishes its evaluation limits: tools marked PRO keep working but put a watermark on the output. We have not tested the free tiers of the others, so those cells stay empty rather than carrying a claim we cannot stand behind. Endpaper's free tier marks nothing, in any tier. If a line here is wrong, tell us and we will correct it.
Where Endpaper is the better buy
Machines that may not phone home
No account, no activation call at run time, and no cloud feature for your IT policy to disable.
Disclosure work
Bates across a folder, bundles with a linked contents page, redaction with a verification pass, hidden information removal.
Repeat work
Recipes, watched folders and a command line that runs the same code the menus run.
Total cost
$69 once, with every future version included, against $1,199.40 over five years for Acrobat Pro.
Where Endpaper loses, plainly
- You need PDF to Word or Excel. Buy Acrobat or Foxit.
- You need text that reflows as you edit. Buy Acrobat.
- You need accessibility tagging or a PDF/UA verdict. Buy Acrobat.
- You are on a Mac, a phone or a browser. Endpaper is Windows only, and that is not changing.
- You want shared cloud review. There is no server, which is the whole point, and it cuts both ways.
See the plans See what Endpaper does
Product names belong to their owners and are used here for comparison only.