10 Best Fillable PDF Creator Software in 2024 [Free & Paid]

Check our list of best software to create fillable forms

Reading time icon 13 min. read


Readers help support Windows Report. We may get a commission if you buy through our links. Tooltip Icon

Read our disclosure page to find out how can you help Windows Report sustain the editorial team Read more

Key notes

  • What is the best way to create a fillable form? Using a fillable PDF creator certainly allows you to fill any documents.
  • Take a closer look at our picks below to find the best free software to create fillable forms.
  • We’ve also included some cross-platform programs working with different OS.

PDF documents are still the preferred way to share documents for many. PDFs are more reliable, and their compatibility with almost every handheld device makes them an ideal choice for professionals.

Apart from sharing documents, PDFs are also used to conduct surveys and collect academic details. They are also useful for work purposes where a fillable PDF form is downloaded and sent back after filling in the details.

However, the problem is not every PDF reader can create editable PDF forms or even let you fill the form.

To make this happen, you need to use a PDF form builder with features to create editable PDF forms. This includes editing, signing, and commenting on Portable Document Files.

This article lists the best software to create fillable forms against each other to find the best fillable form creator in the market.

SoftwareTop featuresConversion & export possibilities
Soda PDF Compatible with Windows, MacOS, and iOS
Merge or split PDFs
E-sign and password-protect
Convert PDFs into other formats
Adobe Acrobat Pro DCCreate editable PDF forms
Free mobile app for multiple platforms
Merge multiple files or split a PDF file
Convert Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files to PDFs
Convert web pages
pdfFillerCloud-based usage
Enterprise-level eSignature option
Collaborate securely on documents
Powerful document management
Convert to Word, Excel, PPT, Text, JPG
Icecream PDF Editor
Easy combining and reordering PDF pages
Splitting and merging PDF files are both intuitive
Quick search features
Extracting PDF pages is done in seconds
PDFpenPro for MacCross-platform fillable PDF forms creation
Support for OCR technology
iCloud or Dropbox integration to save and store your PDFs directly in the cloud
Convert any format (including web) into PDF and vice-versa
Export to Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and more
Wondershare PDFelementCross-platform and cross-device compatibility for unhindered mobility (Windows, Mac, Android, iOS)
Design and publish forms
Protect PDF documents to secure confidential information from unauthorized access
Export in spreadsheet function
SwifDoo PDF Faster transfer speed when compressing PDFs into smaller files
Annotate and markup PDFs
Password protect and guard PDF files
Convert PDFs to editable MS Office documents
ABBYY FineReader PDF High-quality OCR
Capture digital signatures
Split PDFs
Exports to multiple formats
iSkysoft PDF EditorEdit PDFs like a Word document
Use advanced OCR to make scanned files editable
Extract data from forms and scanned PDFs
Convert PDFs to or from other file types
UPDFFill and sign forms; annotate, edit, and convert PDFs with OCR; Protect PDF
Use UPDF across Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android with one license
Convert PDF to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Images, HTML, XML, Text, CSV with OCR technology.

What is the best software to create Fillable forms?

Soda PDF – Great for scanning PDFs

Soda PDF is a full-featured best PDF form creator solution accessible on desktop and from the cloud. Among the best in its field, Soda PDF also allows you to easily edit PDFs.

The software has two versions: Standard and Pro which allows you to edit and convert PDF files. The only difference stands in the presence or absence of some advanced functions.

The Pro version has more advanced features that allow you to transform scanned PDF files into editable and searchable documents and annotate your pages.

Soda PDF can be used like a word processor where you can add, remove, change, or modify the text, fonts, and colors directly in the PDF. You can even fill in and edit forms without converting the PDF to another file format.

You should also know about these other impressive features that set it as the second-best free trial software to create fillable PDF forms:

  • Compatible with all versions of Windows, MacOS, and iOS
  • Merge or split PDFs
  • Convert PDFs into other formats
  • Markup tools and comments
  • E-sign and password protect

Soda PDF

Easily edit PDF files and write on PDF like a word processor!
Check price Visit Website

Adobe Acrobat Pro DC – Exceptional PDF Editor

Which Adobe program is best for fillable forms? From creating fillable PDFs to editing, signing, and sharing, Adobe’s Acrobat DC is the ultimate PDF form creator tool to execute every PDF-related task flawlessly.

The extensive set of features on display makes the Acrobat a solid choice for businesses. However, the price tag may be hard to justify for individuals.

Adobe Acrobat Pro DC is the best app for creating fillable forms and consists of three main functions, Acrobat DC, Adobe Document Cloud, and Acrobat Reader.

Do I need Acrobat Pro to create fillable forms? The free version of Adobe Reader is unable to build forms that can be filled out. To develop forms that Reader users and other Acrobat users may fill out, you need to have the complete version of the Acrobat program.

The first one enables you to edit PDFs, the second one keeps PDFs in sync in its cloud storage, and the last one is to read, print, and sign PDFs.

Other key features include:

  • Convert Word, Excel, or Powerpoint files to PDFs
  • Merge multiple files or split a PDF file
  • Convert web pages
  • Create editable PDF forms
  • Free mobile app for multiple platforms

Adobe Acrobat DC Pro

When it comes to PDF readers and builders, Adobe is the industry standard. So why not go directly for the best?
Free trial Visit Website

pdfFiller – Easiest setup

pdfFiller is another great PDF editing service with which you can not only fill PDF documents automatically but benefit from other reliable features as well.

You can add fillable forms to a document and fill them with information from a CRM, Excel spreadsheet, or even database.

pdfFiller allows you to create fillable PDF free and automatically up to a thousand copies of a contract, form, or any other document.

Moreover, you can text, highlight, erase text, insert images, and draw graphics in any browser without effort.

Other key features you might want to know about include:

  • Cloud-based usage
  • Enterprise-level eSignature option
  • Collaborate securely on documents
  • Powerful document management

pdfFiller

Maximize your PDF experience and fill in documents automatically.
Free Trial Visit Website

Wondershare PDFelement – Good editing features

Like the previous tool on our list, the PDFelement by Wondershare is perfectly adapted to suit both Mac and Windows infrastructures and simultaneously provides a top-notch PDF handling experience.

This software developer is all about delivering powerful features wrapped in simplistic, uncluttered and most of all, intuitive UI, and the PDFelement makes no exception.

You can use this tool as a full-scale, standalone PDF editor, and of course, the forms are particularly privileged since you can easily design and share forms and even edit and combine them for further analysis.

Let’s quickly look at its key features:

  • Create, edit, and convert PDF documents
  • Cross-platform and cross-device compatibility for unhindered mobility (Windows, Mac, Android, iOS)
  • Design and publish forms
  • Export in spreadsheet function
  • Protect PDF documents to secure confidential information from unauthorized access

Wondershare

A fast and affordable PDF solution that helps you edit, convert, sign PDFs, and many more, without making any effort.
Free Trial Visit Website

SwifDoo PDF – Outstanding PDF encryption

SwifDoo PDF is great software with a lot of incredible features. It allows you to create, compress, convert, merge, and sign PDF files without making any effort.

With the Edit PDF feature, you can change font size, style, and color and generate superscript and subscript for the text. Copying and pasting the text is facile as well.

Furthermore, the OCR feature enables you to identify and acknowledge text within enigmatical scanned PDFs.

You can also crop PDF pages by setting a personalized margin or dragging a bounding box handle.

Another thing you can do is add images and links. The Edit feature provides different link actions that allow you to skip to a new page in the same file, to an external web page, or a particular document. In addition, you can insert images into a PDF and alter the transparency.

Here are some other great features:

  • Convert PDFs to editable MS Office documents
  • Merge or split PDF pages
  • Faster transfer speed when compressing PDFs into smaller files
  • Annotate and markup PDFs
  • Password protect and guard PDF files

SwifDoo

A pro software that is great for converting, editing, compressing, and e-sign PDFs with just a few clicks.
Free Trial Visit Website

Nitro PDF Pro – Excellent integration feature

Because our angle is clearly focused on Windows, we cannot ignore this most powerful PDF editor with a full set of features.

This cutting-edge software allows you to do pretty much anything with a PDF, from adding signatures, images, and objects to performing corrections and, of course, creating fully editable interactive forms.

With a plethora of versatile editing tools and native OCR support, Nitro PDF Pro makes PDF handling as easy as a breeze and forms management even easier.

This tool can create and edit fillable PDF forms with auto-generate fields on Windows. Extraordinary, right?

Let’s quickly look at its key features:

  • Cross-platform fillable PDF forms creation
  • Convert any format (including web) into PDF and vice-versa
  • Sign and fill feature
  • Edit, correct, merge, annotate, comment, split, rotate, delete PDF files, and more
  • Support for OCR technology
  • Export to Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and more
  • iCloud or Dropbox integration to save and store your PDFs directly into the cloud
  • Create interactive forms with auto-generate text fields, checkboxes, and submit buttons

Nitro PDF Pro

An excellent tool you can easily use for your PDFs to fill, edit, sign, and many more.
Free Trial Visit Website

ABBYY FineReader PDF – Highest-quality OCR

ABBYY FineReader PDF is a great OCR application that helps you edit, digitize, protect, share, and collaborate on all kinds of files in the same workflow.

You can convert PDF, scanned, and image documents into editable or searchable documents. Additionally, you can identify tables and photo charts and digitize them comprehensibly and correctly.

Furthermore, you can edit any kind of PDF document most easily and effectively. Edit entire paragraphs while keeping the text flowing evenly from line to line as you change, add, or delete the text.

On top of that, you can fix typos or make significant adjustments to a PDF without recreating it in layout and design software.

Let’s see other impressive features:

  • Exceptionally interface
  • High-quality OCR
  • Exports to multiple formats
  • Capture digital signatures
  • Split PDFs

ABBYY FineReader PDF

Excellent OCR system with editing and other significant features that helps you get the job done.
Free Trial Visit Website

Icecream PDF Editor – Easy to use

If you’re wondering how to make a fillable pdf form without Acrobat, Icecream PDF Editor is the best choice for the task, letting you enjoy four different PDF editing modes.

To be more precise, it comes with Edit, Annotate, Manage pages, and Fill-in forms – and all of them are incredibly intuitive to use.

What sets Icecream PDF Editor apart from its powerful competitors is precisely its unmatched ease to create PDF documents from scratch.

With helpful features such as notes, highlighted areas, and custom stamps, it saves a ton of time and energy that would be otherwise wasted when trying to master other similar tools.

Besides these, Icecream PDF Editor brings to the table even more tempting features:

  • Editing PDF objects is a job of mere seconds
  • Combining and reordering PDF pages is super easy
  • Splitting and merging PDF files are both intuitive
  • Extracting PDF pages is done in seconds
  • Quick search features

Icecream PDF Editor

Icecream PDF Editor has a lot of great features, including those that allow you to easily create editable PDF forms.

iSkysoft PDF Editor – Impressive annotation tool

iSkysoft PDF Editor - editable PDF creator

iSkysoft PDF Editor staying true to its name offers all the features that are required to create an editable PDF form.

In addition, it also comes with other sets of tools like the ability to convert PDFs, PDF password lock, and OCR scanning feature.

iSkysoft PDF Editor is a premium tool that can create a fillable PDF from Word and comes in Standard and Professional editions. However, you can try the free trial, which offers most of the features but puts a watermark.

iSkysoft PDF editor enables you to edit PDF text while preserving the formatting and also lets you edit the PDF content like images and pages with insert, replace, crop, and extract options.

If you want to work with a scanned PDF, the OCR feature can extract data from any PDF file.

Other features include PDF markup, annotation, freehand drawing, and stamp PDF which is useful for adding business stamps.

PDF files can be protected using passwords and encryption. It can also convert PDF files into Microsoft Office formats as well.

iSkysoft PDF Editor is a multi-function tool that involves a short learning curve but is reasonably priced.

โ‡’ Get iSkysoft PDF Editor

UPDF – Best for preserving document formatting

UPDF is a visually appealing PDF editor which comes with navigation tools and vast annotation tools to add text boxes, shapes, highlights, and other elements to your documents.

It allows you to add or edit text and change the font size and style of the original text to customize your file as per your preferences.

The tool has the option to fill out forms and create fillable PDFs from scratch. You can also design handwritten signatures as per your liking.

This PDF editor also comes with an image editor, which lets you easily resize, replace, reposition, copy, crop, or delete an image.

It provides you with options to extract, add, split, delete, rotate, reorder, and replace pages with efficiency.

UPDF comes with options to convert the file to different formats, including Excel, Word, CSV, RTF, PowerPoint, Text, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, BMP, GIF, XML, and HTML while preserving layout and formatting.

This powerful app also has an advanced OCR tool that can recognize text in a scanned file in 38 languages.

A one-time purchase or annual subscription to UPDF gives you access to the service and your documents on four devices (two desktops and two mobile handsets) at once, regardless of whether you use Windows, Mac, iOS, or Android.

Let us take a quick look at the highlights of UPDF:

  • Batch-processing feature that enables editing multiple documents
  • Enables you to add a watermark to your documents
  • Gives you the option to customize backgrounds
  • Comes with an option to compress PDF to a smaller size
  • Protect your file with a password to set restrictions

UPDF

Fill out, create, and customize PDF forms from scratch with ease by using this amazing tool!
Free trial Visit Website

How to create a fillable form?

You can easily create fillable forms by using dedicated programs, such as Adobe Acrobat Pro DC, Soda PDF, Icecream PDF Editor, and many others that you will find selected in our guide.

These programs allow you to execute every PDF-related assignment, including editing, signing, converting, and annotating to finish your tasks flawlessly.

With these tools, you can also:

  • Split or merge editing PDF files
  • Convert any format
  • Cross-platform fillable PDF forms
  • Export to multiple formats

What programs create fillable forms?

As youโ€™ve seen, our PDF programs will help you fill out any online forms. Generally, you can make use of handy software like pdfFiller, WonderShare PDFElements, or the classic Adobe Reader Pro. Not only that, you can also use DocHub, a complete PDF workflow platform that allows you to edit documents online.

Before leaving this page, note that all these software tools are also suitable when looking for a fillable PDF creator or a PDF creator form type.

We also recommend checking our selection of the best free PDF editors for Windows 11. Which software did you choose? Let us know about it in the comments section below.

More about the topics: PDF

User forum

0 messages