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PDF Gear: is it free, what PDFgear costs and a free alternative

PDF GEAR TECH PTE. LTD. · Business · ★ 4.7, 9K ratings in the US App Store · Free to download

AppHunt has no promo code for PDF Gear; the alternative below is free without one.

Best free alternative to PDF Gear: Folbrio

PDFgear is free on iPhone and iPad, but its developer says some advanced options may become paid later, with no date set. Folbrio, from the AppHunt team, edits PDF text and images, signs and reorders pages, with OCR on the device, and its listing states no ads and no in-app purchases.

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Yes: PDFgear for iPhone and iPad is free, and the developer says every function is free, without a watermark or a page limit. The US App Store lists no in-app purchases, so there is no PDF Gear price to pay today. The developer's FAQ adds that charging for some advanced options, such as AI tools that need cloud computing, is still under consideration with no date set. This is the US App Store on November 2, 2026, and it may change.

Is PDF Gear free?

PDFgear's App Store listing says every function is free, with no trial watermark and no page-count limit, and the developer's site says the iOS app comes without ads, product promotions or forced upgrades. The listing covers viewing and printing, annotating with highlights, underline and strike-through, shapes and ink, adding text in the color and size you want, filling forms with checkmarks and stamps, signing with a drawn, typed or image signature, adding, deleting, rotating and extracting pages, and managing files in the device and iCloud. The developer's site adds compressing PDFs and chatting with them using AI. Recent US reviews mostly like the price, but some report that editing broke after an update, that the app locks up in edit mode, and that black-and-white printing comes out as color.

How much does PDF Gear cost?

Nothing is paid today: the US App Store lists no in-app purchases for PDFgear, and the developer calls it completely free. The developer's FAQ says most features will stay free in the future but a fee may come for some advanced options, such as AI-driven tools that need cloud computing and special conversion features, and that it hasn't set a timeline. It says it pays for the service with investment, doesn't show ads and doesn't sell user data. If a fee is introduced, it says it will explain the pricing first. This is the US App Store on November 2, 2026, and it may change.

Folbrio or PDF Gear: how they compare

PDFgear is already free and does more than Folbrio, so Folbrio is a second free option, not a cheaper one. Folbrio, made by the AppHunt team, centers on changing a PDF's own words: tap a paragraph and retype it, format selected text, swap or move an image, sign once with a drawn signature and drop it onto any page, reorder, rotate or delete pages and add pages from another PDF. It also scans paper with the camera and runs OCR on the device, so a scan becomes text you can edit. It works on iPhone, iPad and Mac, and needs no account, no ads and no purchases. What it lacks is plain: Folbrio's listing mentions no fillable form fields, no shapes, ink or comments, no conversion to Word or Excel, no compression, no AI chat and no Windows, Android or web version. It accepts only unencrypted PDFs, refusing files over 40 MB or 200 pages, libraries are kept per device, and it has 1 rating against PDFgear's 8,989. Choose Folbrio if you want a free editor with a plain business model and on-device OCR.

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About PDF Gear

PDFgear, from PDF GEAR TECH PTE. LTD., is a PDF editor and reader with 8,989 ratings averaging 4.7 in the US App Store. The same maker offers it on Windows, Mac, Android and in a web browser, with converters, OCR and an AI assistant on some of them. The iPhone and iPad version requires iOS 15.0 or later, in 11 languages, and its latest update, version 2.29, came out on September 24, 2026. It suits people who want one free tool across phone, tablet and computer, and who don't mind that its business model hasn't been set.

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PDF Gear: questions and answers

Is PDF Gear free?

Yes. PDFgear for iPhone and iPad is free, and the developer says all functions are free, with no watermark, page limit or ads. The US App Store lists no in-app purchases for it.

How much does PDF Gear cost?

Nothing today: the US App Store price is $0, and no in-app purchases are listed. The developer says most features will stay free but a fee may come for some advanced options, with no timeline. US App Store on November 2, 2026; it may change.

Is there a PDF Gear promo code?

AppHunt has no promo code for PDF Gear, and none is needed while the app is free. If you want a second free PDF editor, Folbrio is free too, with no code.

Does PDF Gear have a free trial?

No trial is needed, because the iPhone and iPad app is free and the listing mentions no paid plan. If the developer adds paid options later, check what they cover before you pay.

Will PDF Gear stay free?

The developer says it plans to keep most features free and may charge for some advanced options, such as AI tools that need cloud computing, but has set no timeline and says it will explain the pricing first. It says it is funded by investment, with no ads.

What do reviews of PDF Gear say?

PDFgear has 8,989 ratings averaging 4.7 in the US App Store. Recent reviews praise a free app that lets you do things other apps charge for, and its handling of large files, but some say editing broke after an update, the app locks up in edit mode, and black-and-white printing doesn't work.

What is the best free alternative to PDF Gear?

Folbrio, made by the AppHunt team, is a free alternative for editing PDF text on iPhone, iPad and Mac, with on-device OCR and no account, ads or purchases. It does less than PDFgear, with no form fields, conversion, compression or AI, so compare the other apps in our list of free PDF editors.

AppHunt is not affiliated with PDF GEAR TECH PTE. LTD.. Prices are US App Store prices checked on November 2, 2026 and can change; your country’s store may show different prices.