Sign a PDF without Adobe: the free options, compared honestly

By the getPDF team · Published 11 October 2026

The short answer

You do not need Acrobat to sign a PDF. For 1 quick signature on a simple letter, the browser you already have is enough: Chrome and Edge both have a Draw tool, and iPhone’s Preview app (iOS 26) signs too. For a lease, a real form or anything you sign often, use a tool that types or uploads a signature, fills fields and flattens: getPDF does that free in the browser with nothing uploaded, and the free Acrobat Reader does it as an installed app.

Sign it here, free

Sign PDFDraw, type or upload; flatten on save. Free, runs on your device.

getPDF is one row in the table below, described the same way as the others. It runs on your device and nothing is uploaded; there is no account and no limit on documents.

The fair starting point: Reader is free too

Adobe Acrobat Reader’s Fill & Sign costs nothing. It types, draws or uses a picture of your signature, fills form fields and adds text anywhere. People search for “without Adobe” for other reasons: a desktop install for one signature, prompts to sign in, upsells to paid Acrobat, and a feature called Request signatures that uploads the document to Adobe’s cloud. If you already have Reader installed and do not mind it, it is a good signing tool. The Acrobat comparison has the full picture of the paid side.

The options side by side

Checked on 11 October 2026 against each maker’s help pages or recent independent walk-throughs (named below the table). Features change; the date is the point.

	Chrome	Edge	iPhone Preview (iOS 26)	Acrobat Reader	getPDF
Install	None	None	Built in	Desktop or mobile app	None, a web page
Draw a signature	Yes, Draw tool	Yes, Draw tool	Yes, finger or Pencil	Yes	Yes
Typed signature	Not found	Not found	Not found	Yes	Yes, as outlines
Picture of your signature	Not found	Not found	Not found	Yes	Yes, paper made see-through
Saved for the next document	No	No	Yes, in the app	Yes, in Adobe Document Cloud when signed in	Until the tab closes, also for the next file opened in it
Fill form fields	Yes	Yes, basic forms	Text, dates, checkmarks	Yes	Yes, plus Sign here fields
Text on a form without fields	Not found	Yes, Add text	Yes, text boxes	Yes	Yes, Text tool
Flatten on save	Not found	Not found	Not found	Not checked	Yes, Save flattened PDF
XFA forms	No	No	No	Yes	Hybrid ones such as the W-9; pure XFA no
Certificate signature	No	No	No	With your own digital ID	No
Where the file goes	Stays on device (or Google Drive if you pick it)	Stays on device	Stays on device	Stays on device; Request signatures uploads	Stays on device

“Not found” means the feature is not in the sources we checked, not that it can never exist. Sources: Chrome: BGR (30 June 2026) and Chrome Story (23 June 2026). Edge: the Microsoft Edge and Adobe announcement of 8 February 2023, and coverage of Edge’s Add text and form filling. iPhone Preview: iThinkDiff (24 September 2025). Acrobat Reader: Adobe’s help pages “Fill and sign PDF forms” and “Change saved e-signatures”, and university IT guides to its Use a certificate tool.

What the browsers do well now

Chrome added annotation tools to its PDF viewer in February 2026, on computers and on Android: a pen, a highlighter, an eraser, and with them the ability to draw a signature. Form fields have filled in Chrome for years. For a 1-page letter that needs your scrawl, it is the fastest route there is: open, draw, done. One trap from Chrome Story’s walk-through: save with the Download button, because the plain Save can keep a copy without your marks.

Edge has used Adobe’s PDF engine since 2023 and has a Draw tool and an Add text tool, so you can sign and also write on a form that has no fields. Basic form fields fill; XFA forms do not.

iPhone Preview arrived with iOS 26: open the PDF, tap Markup, tap the plus, Add Signature, draw with your finger. The signature stays in the app for next time, and you can add text, dates and checkmarks. For a phone, that is a good built-in; signing a PDF on your phone compares it with the browser route.

Preview on a Mac has signed PDFs for years, with signatures from the trackpad, the camera or a nearby iPhone, and Apple’s guide says they are available on your other Macs through iCloud Drive.

Where the built-ins stop

The browsers are made for reading, with marking as an extra. On a real signing job that shows:

No typed or uploaded signature in Chrome or Edge. With a mouse, the Draw tool gives you a mouse signature.
No reuse in the browsers. Initials on 12 pages of a lease means drawing 12 times, each slightly different.
Freehand marks that stay where they fell. Walk-throughs of Edge describe a drawing that cannot be moved or resized afterwards: you erase it and draw again.
No flattened save that we could find. If a recipient asks for a flattened PDF, the browsers do not offer it as a choice.

Where getPDF fits, stated like the others

What it does: draw, type or upload a signature (a typed one becomes outlines, so no font is embedded and it looks the same in every viewer; an uploaded one has the white paper made see-through), initials and today’s date as separate stamps, a click on a “Sign here” field places the signature at the field’s size, form fields fill in place, the Text tool writes on forms that have no fields, and Save flattened PDF fixes the filled fields into the page when you are done. It is a web page, so there is nothing to install; it runs on your device, nothing is uploaded, and after you have used a tool once it works with Wi-Fi off.

What it does not do: it keeps no saved signature after the tab closes (your signature stays ready for every file you open in the same tab, then it is forgotten, by design; the guide on reusing your signature shows the 10-second workaround), it does not send documents to other people for signature, it does not make certificate or qualified signatures, and it cannot fill a pure XFA form (a hybrid one such as the IRS W-9 fills like any other form).

Pick by document

Your document	Good free choice
1 signature on a simple letter or delivery note	The browser you have open: Chrome or Edge Draw, or Preview
A form with fields to fill, then sign	getPDF or Acrobat Reader
A lease with initials on every page	getPDF (copy and paste the initials) or Acrobat Reader
A form with no fields, printed lines only	getPDF, Edge or Acrobat Reader
A form that says “Please wait…”	Acrobat Reader: it is an XFA form (why)
A document with your tax number or ID number	A tool where nothing is uploaded: getPDF, or any of the built-ins
A tender or registry filing that demands a qualified signature	None of these: a qualified trust service provider

The honest part

For 1 signature, the browser is genuinely enough. Use it. Reach for a dedicated tool when you sign often, sign many pages, or must fill a form properly.

Acrobat Reader is the better choice for XFA forms, for anyone who wants a signature saved across devices through an account, and for anyone who already holds a digital ID from a trust provider: Reader’s Use a certificate tool signs with it. getPDF chose the opposite trade: nothing stored, nothing uploaded, nothing to install.

Apart from Reader with your own digital ID, none of the options here makes a certificate signature, getPDF included. They place a simple electronic signature, which is valid for most everyday documents in the EU (eIDAS) and the US (ESIGN and UETA). This is not legal advice; when a recipient demands more, ask them which providers they accept.

For a broader look at free PDF tools beyond signing, see the best free PDF tools; for editing without Acrobat, see edit a PDF without Acrobat. The full signing and filling job is in Sign and fill a PDF.

Questions

Can I sign a PDF in Chrome without installing anything?

Yes, since February 2026 Chrome's PDF viewer has a Draw tool you can sign with, on computers and Android. It draws with a pen only: no typed or uploaded signature and no saved one. Use Download to keep the signed file. Checked on 11 October 2026.

Is Adobe Acrobat Reader free for signing?

Yes. Fill & Sign in the free Reader types, draws or uses a picture of your signature, fills forms and can save your signature for reuse. People avoid it for the install and the account prompts, not the price.

Which free option is best for a lease with many pages?

One that fills fields, reuses your signature and flattens: getPDF or Acrobat Reader. A browser's Draw tool means drawing every initial by hand.

When is Adobe Reader the right answer?

For pure XFA forms, the older Adobe-only form type that shows Please wait in other viewers. Reader is the one free tool that fills them as intended; getPDF, browsers and Preview cannot. Hybrid XFA forms such as the IRS W-9 also carry normal fields, and getPDF fills those.

Does any free option make a certificate signature?

Only Acrobat Reader, and only with a digital ID you already got from a provider: its Use a certificate tool applies it. Chrome, Edge, Preview and getPDF place a simple electronic signature, a mark like one on paper.