Updated for 2026
Updated 6 August 2026: every rating, price and listing name below re-read from Google Play; Xodo and OfficeSuite now ship under new listing names.
Most people
Xodo, now listed on Play as PDF Reader & Editor: Xodo by Apryse, is the best overall pick: annotation, form filling and signing are free with no ads, but free exports carry a watermark and daily save and export actions are capped.
For: free annotate, fill and sign; no ads at all; fast with huge files, tabs and night mode. Against: watermark on free exports; daily save and export caps; upsells reach $109.99.
Skip it if you export or convert PDFs daily; the watermark makes that a paid job.
Xodo or Adobe Acrobat? Xodo for free markup without ads; Acrobat for complex layouts and Liquid Mode reflow.
↑ Back to the comparisonSafe default
Adobe Acrobat Reader is the safe default: the most faithful renderer here, with Liquid Mode reflowing dense pages to fit a phone screen, free to read and comment, but its Play listing now carries a Contains ads label and editing text or exporting to Word needs a paid plan.
For: best-in-class rendering; Liquid Mode reflow; syncs through an Adobe account. Against: listing now flags ads; heaviest of the big readers; editing and export paywalled.
Skip it if you want a small quiet viewer; this is a large app with constant AI and upsell surfaces.
Acrobat or Xodo? Acrobat when documents must look exactly as sent; Xodo when you mark up more than you read.
↑ Back to the comparisonHeavy readers
Librera Reader is the heavy reader’s pick, free with ads and no in-app purchases (the ad-free Librera PRO listing is a one-time $5.99): its developer describes it on librera.mobi as "a highly customizable and feature-rich application for reading books in PDF, EPUB, MOBI, DjVu, FB2, TXT, RTF, AZW, AZW3, HTML, CBZ, CBR formats on Android devices", and that breadth plus offline text to speech is the point.
For: a dozen ebook and document formats; offline text to speech; remembers your place per book. Against: ads in the free app; dated interface; PDF markup is basic.
Skip it if you mostly annotate work PDFs; Xodo does that better.
Librera or MuPDF Mini? Librera for a library you live in; MuPDF for opening one file fast with nothing else installed.
↑ Back to the comparisonDrive users
Google Drive’s built-in viewer is the zero-install answer, completely free with no ads and now capable of basic freehand highlighting and drawing, but it will not fill forms or place a binding signature, and offline reading needs a downloaded file.
For: already on the phone; opens Drive files instantly; free with no ads. Against: no form filling; no real signatures; useless offline unless you plan ahead.
Skip it if PDFs are part of your job; a dedicated reader earns its install in a week.
Drive or Samsung My Files? They solve the same casual case; use whichever your phone opens by default.
↑ Back to the comparison
More than a viewer
Foxit PDF Editor is the middle path, lighter than Acrobat with free account-free signing and form filling and no ads, but its 4.0 stars is the weakest big-name rating here and editing or conversion needs the subscription.
For: crisp rendering on older phones; free sign and fill, no account; no ads. Against: 4.0 rating trails its rivals; subscription for real editing; upsells reach $139.99.
Skip it if you already carry Acrobat or Xodo; Foxit duplicates them.
Foxit or Acrobat? Foxit to stay light and account-free; Acrobat for fidelity and reflow.
↑ Back to the comparisonOffice users
Microsoft 365 Copilot, renamed from the Microsoft 365 (Office) app in early 2025, is the reader for documents that arrive in Teams or Outlook, free for personal use, but it is a huge suite to install for a PDF habit and its listing carries a Contains ads label.
For: one app for Word, Excel and PDF; photo to PDF; free sign and annotate. Against: heavyweight install; Contains ads label; subscription nags on the free tier.
Skip it if you never touch Office files; a dedicated reader is smaller and quieter.
Microsoft 365 or WPS? Microsoft when your files live in OneDrive and Teams; WPS for the stronger free PDF night reader.
↑ Back to the comparisonOffice + travel
WPS Office, listed on Play as WPS Office-PDF, Word, Sheet, bundles a genuinely good free PDF reader inside a full office suite, but PDF to Word conversion now sits behind the Premium tier and the free version shows ads.
For: suite and reader in one app; strong night reading; converts on the phone. Against: conversion moved behind Premium; ads in the free version; in-app prices run to $264.99.
Skip it if you only read PDFs; a dedicated viewer is lighter and ad-free.
WPS or Microsoft 365? WPS for one travel app that reads, edits and signs; Microsoft when collaboration happens in Teams.
↑ Back to the comparisonStylus notes
KDAN PDF, listed on Play as PDF Reader(KDAN PDF): Edit PDF, is the stylus pick for tablet pen annotation, free at its core, but its 3.7 star rating is the lowest on this page, the free app shows ads, and cloud plus advanced editing sit behind a plan.
For: stylus-first annotation; smooth long-file navigation; free core app. Against: 3.7 rating, lowest here; ads in the free tier; cloud and editing paywalled.
Skip it if you read on a phone without a stylus; its whole edge disappears.
KDAN or Xodo? KDAN for tablet pen notes; Xodo for everything else, with a far stronger rating.
↑ Back to the comparisonMinimalists
MuPDF Mini is the minimalist’s viewer, free, open source, with no ads and no in-app purchases, but it cannot annotate at all: Artifex, the developer, pitches the engine on mupdf.com as "MuPDF is the fast & powerful solution for managing PDF and other document formats", and Mini is that engine with every extra stripped away.
For: tiny and instant; zero ads or tracking; reads PDF, XPS and ebook formats. Against: no annotation; no extras at all; small 231-review base on Play.
Skip it if you ever highlight or sign; this one is read-only by design.
MuPDF or Librera? MuPDF to open one file fast and privately; Librera to manage a nightly reading shelf.
↑ Back to the comparisonGalaxy owners
Samsung’s bundled My Files opens the odd PDF free with nothing to install, but it is a file manager that hands the PDF to a viewer, and the S Pen markup people expect actually lives in the separate Samsung Notes app.
For: already on every Galaxy; free; keeps documents beside the rest of your storage. Against: plain reading only; no markup of its own; S Pen notes need Samsung Notes.
Skip it if you annotate anything; install Xodo even on a Galaxy.
My Files or Drive? The same casual job; My Files for local storage, Drive when your files live in the cloud.
↑ Back to the comparison
Quick PDF tasks
Smallpdf is for the read-then-fix crowd, compressing, merging, converting or signing a file right after you open it, with no ads, but the free tier caps daily tasks and Pro pricing starts at $7.99 in-app.
For: compress, merge, convert and sign in one place; clean interface; no ads. Against: daily task caps on free; in-app prices start at $7.99; overkill for reading alone.
Skip it if you only ever read; the toolbox is the whole point here.
Smallpdf or Xodo? Smallpdf for quick one-off file surgery; Xodo for daily reading and markup.
↑ Back to the comparisonTablet reading
OfficeSuite, now shipping on Play as MobiOffice: Word, Sheets, PDF, remains the comfortable tablet reader with annotation, signing and conversion in one place, but the free version shows ads and the editing side needs a subscription.
For: clean tablet layout; annotate, sign and convert in one app; reader works free. Against: ads in the free version; subscription for editing; the rename confuses store searches.
Skip it if you read mostly on a phone; the tablet layout is the draw here.
MobiOffice or WPS? MobiOffice for long tablet review sessions; WPS for the stronger free suite.
↑ Back to the comparisonMatch the app to what you actually do. If you only read, a light viewer such as MuPDF Mini or the built-in Drive viewer opens faster and never nags. If you read and mark up, Xodo covers highlighting, forms and signing free. If documents must leave the app changed, converted, reordered or carrying a verifiable signature, that is editor territory and usually paid; start with our PDF editor guide.
Two things trip people up. Annotating is not editing: highlighting never changes the text, and the paywalls cluster around text editing, conversion, OCR on scans and binding e-signatures. And privacy is mostly one question: local viewers keep the file on the phone, while cloud suites upload it to convert, summarize or OCR it, which deserves a pause for contracts and medical records. Install from Google Play only, never a modded APK, and duplicate a signed document before you mark it up.
For most people we point to Xodo, which reads, annotates, and signs PDFs for free without watermarks or aggressive upsells. If you want something even lighter, MuPDF Mini and Librera are both free and fast. The right pick depends on whether you only read or also need to mark documents up.
Reading, highlighting, and signing are covered by most readers here. Changing the actual text, rearranging pages, or heavy editing usually needs a dedicated tool. For that we suggest browsing our best PDF editor apps guide and this roundup of free Android PDF editors.
Yes. Once a PDF is saved to your phone, apps like Librera, MuPDF Mini, and Xodo open it with no connection at all. Cloud based options such as Google Drive need to download the file first, so grab it while you have signal if you are heading somewhere without data.
For long study sessions we lean toward Xodo or KDAN PDF, since both make highlighting and note taking quick, especially with a stylus on a tablet. Librera is a strong free alternative thanks to its reading themes and place memory. If you also juggle languages, our language learning apps guide pairs well with these.
Less of it than before. Reading and core annotation are still free, but Xodo's current free tier stamps a watermark on exported documents and caps daily save and export actions, with conversion and cloud tools sitting in the Pro subscription. For reading and markup it remains fine for free; for clean exports without a stamp, Adobe Acrobat Reader does it at no cost.
Yes. Librera has built-in text-to-speech that works offline. For anything on screen, Android's TalkBack accessibility feature can also speak text. If you prefer listening to reading, our free audiobook apps guide covers the dedicated options.
A reader displays a document and lets you annotate, fill forms and sign. An editor changes the document itself: rewriting text, deleting or rearranging pages, merging files. Everything on this page reads PDFs well; for real editing see our PDF editor guide.
Xodo is now listed as PDF Reader and Editor: Xodo, published by Apryse. It is the same app under a new listing name, and as of August 2026 it holds 4.2 stars from about 475 thousand reviews.
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