Nitro vs PDF-XChange

Nitro PDF and PDF-XChange are, in essence, two highly sophisticated pieces of software designed to help humans wrestle their unruly PDF documents into submission. Both allow you to create, edit and annotate PDFs with the kind of precision that would make a particularly meticulous librarian weep with joy. They also contain OCR, a technology that tries to understand what your blurry, low-quality scan actually says, often with mixed results. Both support digital signatures, allowing users to sign contracts without ever having to find a pen, which is a feature designed primarily for people who never have pens when they need them.

Nitro PDF, created in 2005 by an Australian company, operates with the distinct swagger of a business tool that knows it belongs in corporate boardrooms. It integrates cloud services, boasts an interface that looks suspiciously like Microsoft Office and has its own eSigning service, because why rely on a third party when you can build your own? It is, as a result, somewhat more expensive, but this is perfectly acceptable in the world of enterprise software, where price tags often seem to be determined by a process involving blindfolds and darts.

PDF-XChange, on the other hand, hails from Canada and has been quietly getting things done since 2001. It is leaner, faster and significantly more interested in letting you mark up documents with an almost alarming variety of annotation tools. It even comes with a free version, which is the software equivalent of a friendly Canadian offering you a cup of coffee on a cold day—except that this coffee has an unavoidable watermark floating in it. It caters more to individuals and small businesses, the kind of people who like their software efficient, functional and not tied to a corporate licensing agreement that requires a law degree to decipher.

See also: Top 10 PDF Readers