Compare the Top Free PDF Encryption Software as of October 2025

What is Free PDF Encryption Software?

PDF encryption software is a type of program used to protect documents in the PDF format. With it, users can protect the contents of their documents by setting passwords and restricting certain editing permissions. It can also be configured to set expiration dates for documents, ensuring that they remain secure until a specified time. By encrypting PDFs, users are able to keep their sensitive information safe and secure from unauthorized viewing. Compare and read user reviews of the best Free PDF Encryption software currently available using the table below. This list is updated regularly.

  • 1
    MobiPDF (formerly PDF Extra)
    MobiPDF (formerly PDF Extra) is an intuitive and powerful PDF editor and reader designed for today’s modern user - the cost-efficient alternative to Adobe Acrobat Pro you’ve been looking for. FEATURES OVERVIEW: PDF Viewer and Reader: Switch between page views or use "Read Mode" for distraction-free reading. Create and Edit PDFs: Modify text and images or start with a blank PDF. Convert to Office Formats: Easily turn PDFs into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and image files. Leverage OCR: Transform scanned documents into searchable PDFs. Organize PDFs: Combine, split, reorder, and compress documents. Markup and Comment: Highlight, annotate, and add bookmarks or stamps. Fill PDFs: Seamlessly fill forms or create ones from scratch. Sign PDFs: Sign your documents anywhere—no ink required! Secure Your Work: Protect files with passwords, digital signatures, and 256-bit encryption. Offline Mode: Full functionality without internet access. Translate PDFs
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    Starting Price: $49.99
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  • 2
    PDFCreator

    PDFCreator

    pdfforge

    PDFCreator simplifies converting printable documents into high-quality PDFs and other formats like JPG, PNG, and TIF. Easily merge multiple files into one PDF and automate saving with the PDF printer feature. Customizable profiles allow quick access to frequently used settings. Whether for personal or business use, PDFCreator makes PDF conversion seamless and efficient. Trusted by businesses worldwide, including banks, financial institutions, insurance companies, and healthcare providers, PDFCreator offers a free edition and three advanced business editions. PDFCreator Professional is ideal for standalone workstations, while PDFCreator Terminal Server is designed for Windows Servers with Remote Desktop Services. New in PDFCreator 6.0.0: features include document previews, a Delete Token for page removal, SharePoint integration, and enhanced error feedback.
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    Starting Price: $0
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  • 3
    pdfRest

    pdfRest

    Datalogics Inc.

    pdfRest API Toolkit was made by developers, for developers. Rapidly integrate PDF workflows with any business application, simply and seamlessly. pdfRest API Toolkit includes all of the PDF processing tools you'll need, to make your job easy. PDF to Word, PDF to Excel, PDF to PowerPoint, Add to PDF, Query PDF, Extract Text, Convert to PDF, PDF to Images, Convert to PDF/A, Convert to PDF/X, Compress PDF, Linearize PDF, Flatten Forms, Flatten Transparencies, Flatten Annotations, Flatten Layers, Merge PDFs, Split PDF, Encrypt PDF, Decrypt PDF, Restrict PDF, Watermark PDF, Import Form Data, Export Form Data, Convert PDF Colors, OCR PDF, API Polling, Upload Files, Zip Files. Get up and running fast with the pdfRest Postman Collection or start from functional sample code in .NET, JavaScript, Python, PHP, and cURL from the pdfRest GitHub repository. Gold-standard processing powered by Adobe® PDF Library™ ensures the highest quality results. Free to get started with no commitment.
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    Starting Price: $0 per month
  • 4
    SODA PDF

    SODA PDF

    Avanquest

    Soda PDF is the software solution that helps your business quickly achieve any document goal with ease. Edit, create, convert, merge, split, sign, or secure PDFs to your needs. Modify documents using the best PDF editor and PDF converter. Our easy-to-use PDF tools are made to streamline any document workflow with efficient results. With the fastest Microsoft Office to PDF converter on the market, our Batch tool helps you create or convert multiple PDFs at once, along with the ability to add page numbers, watermarks, Bates numbering & secure permissions to multiple files or folders in seconds. Keep a safe distance between people and paper by signing, managing & tracking electronic signatures remotely using our efficient E-Sign feature. Save time & avoid retyping with OCR Edit to quickly search, recognize & modify text contained within any scanned document or image file. Access Soda PDF’s entire suite of tools & services directly from your desktop, or from any device with a web browser.
  • 5
    Smallpdf

    Smallpdf

    Smallpdf

    Made in Switzerland, the land of watches, banks, and clean design, Smallpdf is an award-winning company that offers a suite of clever document management tools for everyone—for work, for home, for life. Founded in 2013, Smallpdf provides a simple, secure, and reliable answer to heavy, awkward PDF software. By removing unnecessary features and adding a deep focus on user experience, Smallpdf has become the most-loved and most-trusted PDF software on the planet, serving over 500 million users, 100,000 different companies, in 24 different languages, and in every country in the world—even Antarctica! Smallpdf integrates seamlessly with professional and personal tasks, boosting productivity and simplifying the way people manage their documents, with tools to compress, convert, edit, sign, protect, and unlock PDF documents in just a few easy steps.
    Starting Price: $7/month/user
  • 6
    PDF24

    PDF24

    geek software

    Free and easy to use online PDF tools. PDF24 is a project of geek software GmbH, a German company that was founded in 2006. PDF24 offers free and easy to use PDF solutions for many PDF problems, online and as software for download. Solutions include the well-known PDF24 Creator and PDF24 Online Tools. PDF24 consists of a small agile team dedicated to the development and improvement of PDF solutions. The PDF24 team is small, but passionate about PDF, which likes to develop solutions that help many people around the world with their PDF problems. Within a few years, we have managed to establish the PDF24 Creator and PDF24 Online Tools, which are used by millions of people around the world. PDF24 also offers PDF24 Fax, which is an online fax service for people who want to send and receive faxes online, without a fax machine.
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    Folder Lock

    Folder Lock

    NewSoftwares.net

    Encrypt your files with AES 256-bit military-grade encryption or lock your files from view and access. Keep prying eyes at bay! Folder Lock can Lock and Hide files and folders within seconds. It enables you to Password Protect and restricts unwanted eyes from viewing files, folders, and drives. Once you’ve locked a folder, it will be hidden from its previous location and can only be accessed through the software interface. Folder Lock creates Lockers. Just as you would put your money in a safe, would you like to keep your files in a digital ‘Locker’ that’s safer than a bank’s vault? You can create ‘Locker(s)’ which are protected by AES 256-bit encryption. You need not encrypt or decrypt files when accessing; simply copy them to Locker and voila! They are encrypted on the fly. Folder Lock offers a 2-way encryption and backup method, letting you backup your encrypted ‘Lockers’ online.
    Starting Price: $39.95/one-time/user
  • 8
    PDFelement

    PDFelement

    Wondershare

    PDFelement is a one-stop PDF solution powered by AI. Fast, smart, affordable, and easy way to manage (.pdf) documents across desktop, mobile, and web. It provides a great user experience and is an excellent alternative to Adobe® Acrobat®, making it perfect for individuals and small businesses. The mission is to stay at the forefront of PDF technology, constantly innovating and improving our product to meet the evolving needs of our users. Support service: Knowledgeable representatives available through instant live chat and email response within 24 hours. Money-back guarantee: A 30-day money-back guarantee. Top Features: AI tools, esign, edit, convert, scan&OCR, create, organize, share&protect, build&fill forms, annotate.
    Starting Price: $79.99USD/year/user
  • 9
    PDFescape

    PDFescape

    Red Software

    Free online PDF editor & form filler. PDFescape is a free, online PDF reader, editor, form filler, & form designer. A new way to open and edit PDF files online, PDFescape frees users from the typical software requirements for using the de facto document file format. Completely online, PDFescape requires no more than a modern internet browser and an active internet connection. Add text, shapes, whiteout & more to PDF files. Crop, deskew, move, delete, & insert PDF pages. Create links to other PDF pages or web content. Change PDF information tags. Encrypt PDF contents using a password. Add images to PDF files. Sign PDF documents using your scanned signature. Fill out PDF forms using existing form fields or use text tool. PDF text, checkbox, radio, list, and drop down fields supported. Essential PDF field calculation and formatting supported. Basic PDF field styling properties supported. Quickly tab from field to field.
    Starting Price: $2.99 per month
  • 10
    PaperScan

    PaperScan

    ORPALIS

    Drag & drop files from windows explorer to PaperScan. Information about resolution, size and color mode of an image. PDF encryption. Paperscan can read encrypted PDFs and create PDFs with encryption. Bitonal filters to remove isolated dots or to dilate/erode characters. Apply contour, sepia or scanline effects. Freehand pen and rubber stamp, ruler and polygon ruler, highlighter and freehand highlighter, automatic color detection, blank pages detection and removal and adjustment color (brightness,contrast, saturation, gamma).
    Starting Price: $79 one-time payment
  • 11
    Xvast

    Xvast

    Haihaisoft

    Chrome's core speed. Your fast and secure browser. Support the latest HTML5 features, including playlist and PDF viewer, support encrypted PDF DRM. Xvast supports DRM-X 4.0 protection. It enables you easily enjoy the protected premium content. It supports DRM-X 4.0 web page encryption (HTM,HTML encryption), audio/video encryption, PDF encryption, image encryption, and Javascript encryption. Includes HTML5 Video DRM protection, it supports playback high definition video both online and offline. Security updates, memory optimization, PDF download button added, and error message display optimized. Support third-party apps import files to Xvast iOS. Solved messy code problems in a non-UTF8 webpage. The web page is now displayed in full size. Xvast core upgraded to Chrome 85, fix Android 10 spin crash bug. Online playback audio and high definition video smoothly, and save more battery.
    Starting Price: Free
  • 12
    WinZip SafeShare
    A modernized sharing experience. Share your files with confidence and security in an intuitive environment built with simplicity in mind. This powerful sharing tool allows you to share, compress, and encrypt, all within a simple interface. Easily share files to one or many locations, surrounded by extra layers of security, including military-grade encryption and time bomb capabilities. Enjoy expanded cloud services, including OpenStack and SwiftStack regions and credential files, Alibaba, Wasabi, HP, Oracle, Azure, WebDAV, CenturyLink, IONOS and OVH cloud providers. Combine multiple PDF files into a single PDF file to save, zip, or share. Streamline workflow when sharing via Slack IM. Manage files shared by WinZip or ZipShare. Open and view, share again or remove shared files. Keep track of which Zip files you have shared via WinZip or ZipShare. Email anyone directly from WinZip by adding contacts from all your supported sources into one combined address book.
    Starting Price: $34.95 one-time payment
  • 13
    PDFill

    PDFill

    PlotSoft

    Please try PDFill if you're looking for an inexpensive alternative to Adobe Acrobat. You can use the Free PDF Writer to create free PDF or Image from any printable application. You can use the Free PDF Tools to merge, split, reorder, delete, encrypt, decrypt, rotate, crop and reformat PDF pages, add information/header/footer/watermark, convert image to PDF or PDF to image, scan a Paper to PDF, and more. You can use the FREE PDF Editor to fill the form, type text, comment, create form, and more. Besides, with a fraction of the cost of Adobe Acrobat, PDFill PDF Editor can do more than the free Adobe Reader. Group texts, shapes or pictures into a complicated object. Lock the object from editing. Save the PDFill Object and use it later easily. Scan your paper form or photo directly into a new or existing PDF document, then you can fill it in using a computer!
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    Icecream PDF Editor

    Icecream PDF Editor

    Icecream Apps

    Meet Icecream PDF Editor, intuitive free PDF editor for Windows that enables you to create and edit PDF files. Make use of 4 major PDF editing modes: Edit, Annotate, Manage pages and Fill in forms. You can edit text and objects, add notes, manage pages, merge PDFs, protect files, and much more with the PDF editor. Use the best PDF Editor to immensely increase the productivity while managing your PDF files. Edit any text in a PDF document with ease. Visually combine and reorder PDF pages, split and merge PDF files. Easily create PDF documents from scratch. Set password or limit editing/copying rights for document protection purposes. Complete in-built forms in your PDF documents. Add notes, highlight areas, strike through or highlight text, add comments and more. Quickly search through document before editing it. Create custom stamps for better and quicker PDF proofreading.
    Starting Price: $49.95 one-time payment
  • 15
    FormatPDF

    FormatPDF

    FormatPDF

    FormatPDF is a website that provides a variety of online tools for working with PDF documents. These tools include PDF conversion, merging and splitting, compression, encryption and decryption, as well as editing and annotating PDF files. With FormatPDF, users can easily convert a wide range of document formats to PDF, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and image files. The website also allows users to merge multiple PDF files into a single document, or to split a large PDF into smaller ones. In addition to conversion and manipulation tools, FormatPDF.com offers features for improving the quality and security of PDF documents. The website includes tools for compressing PDF files, which can reduce the size of large documents for easier sharing and storage. Users can also encrypt PDF files with passwords to restrict access, or decrypt protected files if they have the necessary credentials.
    Starting Price: $4.90/month
  • 16
    PDFEncrypt

    PDFEncrypt

    PDFEncrypt

    PDFEncrypt is a free, open source utility to encrypt PDF files using standard PDF encryption algorithms. When a document is encrypted, its contents become unreadable. An authorized user can decrypt the document to obtain access to the contents. If a PDF document is encrypted with a password, the user must specify the password before the document can be viewed in Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat. PDFEncrypt provides a means to encrypt any standard PDF document for free, without the need to purchase the Adobe Acrobat software or upload your confidential PDF files to a third-party server for encryption. The app runs directly on your Windows PC and allows you to specify a password (required to open the document) as well as many options and permissions to apply to the PDF file.
    Starting Price: Free
  • 17
    CIB pdf brewer
    Create PDF for free, compress PDF, split and merge PDF, encrypt documents, design forms flexibly, and much more! Easily from all applications under Windows operating systems. Add form fields, text stamps, watermarks, letter heads and more to your PDF documents. Attractive and intuitive to use. No unnecessary long training periods. Just start additional applications such as CIB doXisafe or CIB fairBrief after PDF creation. Support of the document standard for persons with visual impairment. Many possibilities of customization like defining profiles for use cases or label menu text individually. A flexible interface for simple integration in your system. Create PDF, compress PDF, edit in many ways, re-sort, rotate and delete pages, merge PDF documents, PDF compression, fill out forms (with DEMO stamp) and many more! Create PDF, compress PDF, edit in many ways, re-sort, rotate and delete pages, merge PDF documents, PDF compression, fill out forms and more!
  • 18
    PDFTool

    PDFTool

    Mauracher Simon e.U.

    PDFTool is a privacy-first online PDF Tool. Merge PDFs, split PDF files and detect text in scanned PDF files with ease, without an account and without ad-clustered websites. As all processing happens directly in the browser, you can even go offline after opening the required tool page. This ensures that nobody can see your precious PDF documents.
  • 19
    PDF Master

    PDF Master

    PDFMaster.app

    PDF editor made for modern work. Simple to Convert, Easy to Edit. Manage all your PDF documents in one place. Open PDF Master and drop the PDF file you want to modify. Add elements (text, images, etc.) using the editor. Approve the modified document, download or share it. With advanced encryption our converter ensures that your sensitive data remains protected throughout the conversion process. Don't worry about your privacy, we protect you with industry-standard security. No need to download any apps or extensions. Convert files on desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and popular operating systems, including Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. Convert files anywhere, at any time, on any device using just your browser. No technical knowledge is required. Upload or drag&drop your file to the platform, choose the format, edit it as you want, and we will do the rest.
    Starting Price: Free
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