Every "free PDF editor" list eventually pushes you to a paid plan or stamps a watermark on your document at the worst possible time. Below are the four we actually use that stay free for the things they advertise.
1. PDF24 Tools — the everything tool
PDF24 is a German-built suite that covers merge, split, compress, edit text, sign, OCR, password-protect, and convert. The web version runs entirely in your browser (no upload, sensitive documents stay on your device). Free for all features.
2. Sejda — best for editing text inside a PDF
Editing the actual text in a PDF (not just adding text on top) is the feature most "free" editors lock. Sejda allows three free edits per day with files up to 200 pages. For occasional use it's perfect.
3. iLovePDF — best for batch operations
Splitting a 300-page document, merging twenty receipts, compressing a folder of scans — iLovePDF's free tier handles all of it with no watermarks. Files over 25 MB hit the paid wall, but most documents come in under that.
4. Smallpdf (use with caution)
Smallpdf has the slickest UI but pushes a paid plan aggressively. Free tier limits to 2 documents per hour. Useful as a fallback when others are down.
What to avoid
Skip anything that requires a desktop installer for basic operations (those are almost always bundled with adware), and skip "online PDF editor" sites that demand email registration before showing the result.
Sensitive documents
For anything containing a CNIC, financial info, or contracts, use PDF24's in-browser version (everything runs locally) or install PDFsam Basic on your computer — it is genuinely free, open source, and works offline.