8 Best PDF Apps for Android in 2026 (Free & Paid)

Whether you need to read a school handout, sign a contract, fill a form or turn photos into one document, a good PDF app for Android saves you from running to a computer. There are hundreds of PDF apps on the Play Store, but many are full of ads or lock basic features behind a paywall. We compared the most popular options and picked the best PDF apps for Android in 2026, including free PDF readers, editors, scanners and converters.

Quick comparison

What to look for in a PDF app

• Reading: smooth scrolling, search, night mode and a reflow mode for small screens.
• Annotating: highlighting, notes, drawing and text boxes.
• Forms and signatures: fill in forms and add your signature without printing.
• Editing and converting: edit text, merge files, compress big PDFs and convert to or from Word.
• Scanning: turn paper documents into clean PDFs with your camera.

Most apps give you reading and basic tools for free and charge for advanced editing, so choose based on what you actually need.

1. Adobe Acrobat Reader

Adobe Acrobat Reader is the most popular PDF app on Android, with over 500 million downloads. It's free to open, read, fill in, sign and comment on PDFs, and you don't need a subscription for those. Its Liquid Mode reflows text to fit your phone screen, which makes long documents much easier to read.

With Acrobat Premium, you can also edit text, create PDFs from photos and files, convert PDFs to Word, Excel or PowerPoint, combine PDFs and reorder pages.

Download Adobe Acrobat Reader

2. Xodo PDF Reader & Editor

Xodo is one of the best all-round PDF apps if you want lots of tools in one place. It can read, annotate, scan, sign, fill forms and convert PDFs, and it handles big files smoothly. Annotating with highlights, notes and drawings is especially easy. Some advanced tools, like certain conversions and page editing features, need Xodo Pro.

Download Xodo

3. WPS Office

WPS Office is a full office suite that also works as a capable PDF app. You can read PDFs, sign them, and convert between PDF and Word, while also opening Word documents, Excel sheets and PowerPoint slides in the same app. It's great if you work with lots of different file types. The free version shows ads, and some PDF tools need WPS Premium.

Download WPS Office

4. Foxit PDF Editor

Foxit PDF Editor is a strong choice for people who need to work on PDFs, not just read them. You can view, edit and annotate PDFs on the go, and it's fully compatible with PDF files from other apps. A subscription unlocks advanced features such as OCR (turning scanned text into editable text), handwritten note conversion and an AI assistant.

Download Foxit PDF Editor

5. iLovePDF

You may know iLovePDF from its website. The Android app brings the same tools to your phone: convert JPG to PDF, convert PDFs to and from Office files, merge, split and compress PDFs, and read, annotate and sign documents. It also has a built-in scanner with text recognition. It's perfect for students and anyone who often needs to send files in a specific format or size.

Download iLovePDF

6. ReadEra

If you mainly read PDFs and eBooks, ReadEra is one of the best free options. It has no ads, doesn't require an account, and works offline. Besides PDF, it opens EPUB, Word (DOC, DOCX), Kindle (MOBI, AZW3), DJVU, TXT and more, and it organises your documents into a neat library.

Download ReadEra

7. Librera Reader

Librera Reader is a free, lightweight reader (under 14MB) that supports almost every document format, including PDF, EPUB, MOBI, DJVU, CBZ and more. A standout feature is read aloud: it can read your PDFs and books to you using your phone's text-to-speech voice, which is great for studying on the go.

Download Librera Reader

8. Google Drive

You may already have the best basic option on your phone. Google Drive opens PDFs with a clean built-in viewer, lets you search inside documents, and can scan paper documents into PDFs with your camera. Your files are backed up to the cloud, so you can open them on any device. On supported accounts, Gemini can also summarise PDFs for you.

Download Google Drive

Which PDF app should you choose?

• Just reading: ReadEra or Librera (free, no fuss).
• Filling forms and signing: Adobe Acrobat Reader.
• Annotating and studying: Xodo.
• Converting, merging and compressing: iLovePDF.
• Serious editing: Foxit PDF Editor or Acrobat Premium.
• Office files and PDFs together: WPS Office.

Tips for managing PDFs on Android

• Use one main PDF app and set it as the default, so files always open the same way.
• Compress large PDFs before sending them on WhatsApp or email.
• Back up important documents to Google Drive in case you lose your phone. If you delete a file by mistake, see our guide on recovering deleted files on Android.
• For notes and to-do lists, a notes app works better than PDFs. Check our list of the best free Evernote alternatives.

You'll find more useful apps in our top lists, including the best call recorder apps for Android.

FAQs

What is the best free PDF app for Android?

Adobe Acrobat Reader is the best free all-rounder for reading, filling and signing. For reading only with no ads, try ReadEra.

Can I edit a PDF on Android for free?

You can annotate, highlight, fill forms and sign for free in apps like Xodo and Acrobat Reader. Editing the original text usually needs a paid plan.

How do I convert photos to PDF on Android?

Use iLovePDF's JPG to PDF tool, or scan the document with Google Drive or Adobe Scan to save it as a PDF.

Which PDF app has no ads?

ReadEra has no ads and no in-app purchases. Librera Reader and Google Drive are also free to use.

Which PDF app do you use on your Android phone? Tell us in the comments.