Foxit Pricing: Full Breakdown of Plans, Costs, and What You Get
Looking for a PDF editor that won't cost you Adobe money? Foxit is one of the most popular alternatives to Adobe Acrobat, and its pricing is a big reason why. But their pricing page can be confusing—they've restructured their plans, hidden the perpetual license option, and bundled features in ways that aren't immediately obvious.
Here's the actual breakdown of what Foxit costs and which plan makes sense for your situation.
Foxit PDF Editor Pricing Overview
Foxit has two main subscription tiers for their PDF Editor, plus a perpetual (one-time purchase) option they don't advertise prominently.
Foxit PDF Editor (Standard)
- $10.99/month (billed annually) or $129.99/year paid upfront
- Covers all core PDF editing features
- Create, edit, convert PDFs
- Fill and sign forms
- OCR for scanned documents
- Desktop only (Windows/Mac)
Foxit PDF Editor+
- $13.99/month (billed annually) or $159.99/year paid upfront
- Everything in PDF Editor, plus:
- Mobile app access (iOS and Android)
- 150 eSign envelopes included
- Smart Redact (AI-powered sensitive info detection)
- 150GB cloud storage
- Automatic updates
Perpetual License (One-Time Purchase)
Here's what Foxit doesn't advertise on their main pricing page: they still offer perpetual licenses. You have to scroll to the bottom of their shopping page and click "Looking for perpetual licenses? Click Here."
- $159-$210 one-time payment (pricing varies)
- Desktop only
- No automatic updates to new major versions
- Limited to one device
The perpetual license works out cheaper if you plan to use Foxit for more than 1.5 years without needing the latest features or mobile access. But you won't get the eSign envelopes, mobile app, or cloud storage that come with PDF Editor+.
Foxit vs Adobe Acrobat Pricing
The main reason people look at Foxit is the price difference vs Adobe. Here's how they compare:
| Product | Monthly Cost | Annual Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Foxit PDF Editor | $10.99/mo | $129.99/yr |
| Foxit PDF Editor+ | $13.99/mo | $159.99/yr |
| Adobe Acrobat Standard | $12.99/mo | ~$156/yr |
| Adobe Acrobat Pro | $19.99/mo | $239.88/yr |
Foxit claims you can save up to 44% compared to Adobe, which is accurate when comparing Foxit PDF Editor+ to Adobe Acrobat Pro. For basic editing needs, Foxit's standard plan comes in about $26 cheaper per year than Adobe Acrobat Standard.
Foxit eSign Pricing (Standalone)
If you need electronic signatures without the full PDF editor, Foxit offers standalone eSign plans:
- Foxit eSign Essentials: Starting at $8/user/month ($96/year) - Basic signing with 250 envelopes/year
- Foxit eSign Business: Starting at $25/user/month ($300/year) - Unlimited envelopes, advanced compliance, API access
The Business plan requires a minimum of 5 licenses. If you're already on PDF Editor+, you get 150 eSign envelopes included, which might be enough for light usage.
What's Included in Each Plan
Here's what actually matters when picking a plan:
PDF Editor (Standard) - Best for Individual Use
- Edit text, images, and pages
- Create PDFs from scratch or convert files
- OCR scanned documents into searchable/editable PDFs
- Fill and sign forms
- Add passwords and security restrictions
- Merge, split, rotate, and organize pages
- Convert to Word, Excel, PowerPoint formats
PDF Editor+ - Best for Teams and Mobile Workers
- Everything above, plus:
- Cross-platform mobile editing (not just viewing)
- 150 eSign envelopes for collecting signatures
- Smart Redact to automatically find and remove sensitive info (SSNs, credit cards, etc.)
- 150GB cloud storage for document access anywhere
- Admin console for team license management
Volume Discounts and Enterprise Pricing
Foxit offers up to 30% off for volume purchases. If you're buying 10-30 licenses, they often run promotions for 20% off your first year.
For enterprise needs with centralized license management, you'll want the Admin Console add-on. Both PDF Editor and PDF Editor+ can be purchased with Admin Console access for managing team licenses, monitoring usage, and handling deployments.
Students and educators get automatic discounts when signing up with a .edu email address.
Foxit AI Assistant Add-On
Foxit now offers an AI Assistant that can summarize documents, translate content, and answer questions about your PDFs. It's sold separately:
- Free users get 20 AI credits per month
- Paid add-on: 2,000 credits per month
The AI features are useful for quickly understanding long documents, but it's an extra cost on top of your base subscription.
Is Foxit Worth It?
Based on actual usage and user feedback, here's who Foxit makes sense for:
Foxit is Great For:
- Cost-conscious businesses - Significantly cheaper than Adobe, especially at volume
- Microsoft Office users - The ribbon interface is nearly identical, minimal learning curve
- Teams needing mobile editing - The PDF Editor+ mobile app has actual editing capabilities, not just viewing
- Anyone frustrated with Adobe's bloat - Foxit runs lighter and faster, especially with large files
Foxit Falls Short For:
- Heavy OCR users - Adobe's OCR is more accurate on complex, image-heavy documents
- Legal/compliance teams - Some users report Adobe handles document review and redlining better
- ePub creators - Foxit can't convert to ePub format
Free Trial and Free Options
Foxit offers full-featured free trials so you can test everything before committing. Their PDF Reader is completely free and includes basic annotation and form-filling—if you just need to view and mark up PDFs occasionally, you might not need to pay anything.
For comparison, check out our guide to free PDF editor software if budget is your primary concern.
The Bottom Line
If you're choosing between Foxit plans:
- Go with PDF Editor ($129.99/year) if you work primarily from desktop and don't need electronic signatures
- Go with PDF Editor+ ($159.99/year) if you need mobile editing, eSign, or work with sensitive documents that need redaction
- Get the perpetual license ($159-$210 once) if you don't need mobile/cloud features and prefer owning your software
For most B2B users, PDF Editor+ hits the sweet spot—the eSign envelopes and Smart Redact alone justify the $30/year premium over the standard plan.
Want to see how it compares to other options? Read our full Foxit review or check out the best PDF editor software roundup.