Pricing and billing
Pricing and billing
Nitro lists PDF Standard at $15 per user a month and Sign Standard at $10 per user a month, both billed annually; its FAQ says all subscriptions are billed annually. PDF Classic is a $270 one-time Windows license covering three years. Plus and Enterprise tiers are quoted. A 14-day trial needs no card, and Nitro's online converters need no registration.
PDFBetter's browser tools (merge, split, rotate, images to PDF and similar) run on your device and download free without an account. Downloading a document you edited in the editor needs a free account; the Free plan includes 3 such downloads a month with no watermark, plus 3 signature requests, 1 live form with 50 responses, 20 OCR pages and 20 AI credits. Pro costs $15 a month, or $10 a month billed yearly, and a $6 Day Pass gives 24 hours of Pro without a subscription.
Editing and output
Editing and output
Nitro's desktop editor edits text with reflow, converts to and from Office formats, runs batch OCR, redacts, compresses and creates fillable forms automatically, and it converts and validates PDF/A and supports accessibility work. AI summaries and questions are included in PDF Standard.
PDFBetter covers editing, conversion, OCR, redaction and compression in the browser and cites page numbers in AI answers. It also has free desktop apps for Mac and Windows. It does not produce PDF/A or check accessibility.
Signing
Signing
Nitro Sign is its own subscription. Sign Standard includes self-signing, multi-document envelopes, an audit trail, manual reminders and 5 templates, and Nitro counts only completed envelopes against the allowance. Sign Plus adds bulk send, SMS verification, branding and SSO; Enterprise adds the API and eIDAS advanced and qualified signatures.
PDFBetter includes signature requests in the same plan as editing: 3 a month on Free and unlimited on Pro, with signing order, automatic reminders and a completion certificate. Bulk send is on Business. Every signer signs with their own cryptographic key. Every completed PDF is digitally sealed and independently time-stamped, with the evidence built into the file. Every plan can require signers to enter a code sent to their email.
PDFBetter's signature requests are designed to the technical requirements of an advanced electronic signature (eIDAS art. 26): a unique key per signer, under their sole control, linked to the document so any change is detectable. Signers are identified by email (and an optional emailed code), not by ID documents or SMS. PDFBetter signatures are not qualified electronic signatures (QES), and PDFBetter does not run SMS, phone, knowledge-based or government-ID checks. If you need QES or SMS verification, Nitro Sign covers them on its higher plans.