Foxit Reader: A Comprehensive Review and the Best Alternative

A reliable PDF reader is essential if you frequently work with PDF documents. One of the popular options for viewing and editing PDFs is Foxit Reader. Foxit Reader is a free PDF document viewer and editor. It lets you view, create, edit, sign, and secure PDF files.

However, is Foxit Reader really worth using? Luckily, in this article, we’ll take an in-depth review of Foxit. Read on!

Part 1. An Overview of Foxit Reader

Foxit Reader is a popular free PDF viewer and basic editor. It provides a clean interface to open, view, and annotate PDF files. You can fill out forms, add comments, highlight text, sign documents, and more. It is a lightweight PDF viewer and editor for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS. Let's delve into the details!

1.1 What is Foxit Reader?

Foxit Reader is a free PDF viewing and editing software. It allows you to open, view, and print PDF documents. You can also fill out PDF forms, annotate PDFs by adding comments and highlights, sign digital documents, and more. Foxit Reader provides an intuitive user interface and toolbar for easy navigation of PDF pages.

Foxit Reader is compatible with both Windows and Mac operating systems. There are also Foxit Reader apps for Android and iOS mobile devices to access your PDFs on the go.

Moreover, Foxit Reader integrates with popular cloud storage services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive for convenient document syncing and sharing across platforms.

1.2 Is Foxit Reader Free?

Yes, Foxit Reader is free to download and use. However, the free version only contains basic PDF viewing and annotating capabilities, to edit a PDF while reading with Foxit, you have to use another PDF editing tool. Some of the critical free features include:

• Opening and viewing PDF documents.
• Basic PDF annotation features include highlighting, adding notes, and text boxes.
• Filling out interactive PDF forms and applications.
• Basic page management like extracting, rotating, and deleting pages.
• Basic security options such as PDF password protection and encryption.
• Basic PDF signing using self-signed digital IDs.
• PDF printing and PDF A creation support.

For more advanced PDF functionalities, Foxit offers the paid Foxit PhantomPDF software, which provides additional features for PDF conversion, bates numbering, redaction, and OCR. However, the free Foxit Reader version should work well enough for most common everyday PDF tasks for individual and business use. Foxit Reader remains free to use for both personal and commercial purposes.

However, if you want to activate multiple computers, you have to buy a license per computer - it is quite expensive. Luckily, we have an alternative - UPDF, that allows users to purchase one license and use it on 4 platforms simultaneously, including Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. You can download it for a free trial first.

1.3 Is It Safe to Use Foxit Reader?

Yes, you can securely use Foxit Reader. It implements standard security protections for PDFs like password encryption and digital signatures. However, exercise caution since some older versions have vulnerabilities if not updated. Always download the latest Foxit Reader release and keep it up to date.

Disable JavaScript in the preferences for enhanced safety. Take standard precautions like using strong passwords and avoiding questionable links or files. You can properly use the latest Foxit Reader by following safe computing practices and maintaining the latest Foxit Reader.

1.4 How Can You Read PDF with Foxit Reader?

Step 1: Download and install Foxit Reader from the official website.

Step 2: Open the PDF file you want to read with Foxit Reader. You can either drag and drop the file into the software window or go to File > Open and browse for the file.

Step 4: To activate the Read Out Loud feature, go to View > Read > Activate Read Out Loud. Foxit Reader will start reading from the beginning of the page. You can pause, resume, or stop the reading at any time by going to View > Read and choosing the appropriate option.

Step 4: To activate the Read Out Loud feature, go to View > Read > Activate Read Out Loud. Foxit Reader will start reading from the beginning of the page. You can pause, resume, or stop the reading at any time by going to View > Read and choosing the appropriate option.

Step 5: To read a specific part of the PDF, you can select the text with your mouse and then go to View > Read > Read This Selection Only. Foxit Reader will read only the selected text aloud.

Next, we'll sum up the pros and cons of Foxit Reader so that you can determine whether to use it or not.

1.5 Pros of Foxit Reader

• Free to download and use. Foxit Reader is free for both personal and commercial use.
• Lightweight and fast. Foxit Reader has a small footprint, so it launches and runs quickly.
• Intuitive interface. Foxit Reader provides an easy-to-navigate user interface with familiar toolbar options.
• Cross-platform support. Foxit Reader works on Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS with sync across devices.
• Essential PDF features. Foxit Reader supports common PDF functions like viewing, printing, annotating, form filling, and signing.

1.6 Cons of Foxit Reader

Basic editor. Foxit Reader only provides basic PDF editing capabilities. For advanced editing, you need the paid Foxit PhantomPDF.

• Short trial period. Foxit Viewer only provides a 14-day free trial, and you need to buy a license to continue to use it.
• Not good for businesses. According to the user review on G2, "The volume licensing and roll out to 50+ users has been painful".
• Occasional bugs. Some long-time users report encountering technical bugs and glitches with specific PDF files, especially with newer version updates.
• Frequent crashes. The app crashes a lot (especially on Windows computers), and it takes a long time to re-open it after the crash.
• Limited support. As a free product, Foxit Reader only provides little technical support. For enterprise support, a paid license is required.

Part 2. A More Cost-efficient Alternative to Foxit Reader - UPDF

As an avid PDF user, you deserve a better PDF solution than Foxit. UPDF is an all-in-one, stable, powerful, and popular alternative that offers more advanced features. Download UPDF to explore its amazing features!

• Better Viewing and Annotating: UPDF allows you to display PDFs as presentations, and add and manage bookmarks while reading them. It provides plenty of annotation tools to help you add comments, markups, shapes, lines and more.
• Better Editing: UPDF enables more efficient PDF editing. You can easily add, delete, or modify text, images, and pages for free. However, Foxit makes editing cumbersome with limited functionality.
• Practical Viewing Mode: UPDF has a more practical PDF viewing mode, users can easily add and manage bookmarks, or display them as slideshows.
• PDF Creation: UPDF has more powerful PDF creation features. It allows users to create PDFs from different types of documents: PowerPoint, Excel, Word, Visio, Image, and CAJ. Users can also create PDFs from blank pages.
• AI Assistant: UPDF offers a practical AI assistant that enables you to chat with your PDFs directly. With it, you can summarize, translate, explain, and rewrite your PDFs effortlessly.
• Convenient Enterprise Dashboard: UPDF provides an enterprise version for businesses. Business owners can manage the licenses and authorizations more conveniently.

Watch the video below to learn the reading capabilities of UPDF. Download it now from the button below to try it by yourself!

Part 3. A Comparison Between Foxit Viewer and UPDF

After going through the above content, you now know Foxit Reader better. In some cases, it might not be a good option for viewing and editing PDFs, however. If you want a more smooth editing or viewing experience on PDFs, try UPDF. 

Unlike Foxit Reader, UPDF works everywhere on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android. It's an all-in-one PDF solution that lets you easily view, edit, convert, annotate, and sign PDFs. Here's why:

Conclusion

Although Foxit Reader is an excellent PDF viewer, UPDF has more advantages than Foxit Reader in terms of price, functionality, versatility, and user satisfaction. UPDF is a free PDF editor that offers you everything you need to work with PDF documents on any device and platform - download it for a free trial!