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View
Fast, clean rendering that keeps up as you scroll. Viewing stays free forever, trial or no trial.
Desktop PDF editor · Linux + Windows
The PDF editor that keeps your documents yours
Core PDF is a fast, private desktop editor. View, annotate, fill and sign, run OCR, convert to and from Word, and organise pages. All of it on your machine, none of it in someone else's cloud.
7-day free trial · full features · viewing stays free after
Everything a PDF actually needs
The whole toolset in one desktop application, with no feature held hostage behind a higher tier.
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Annotate
Highlight, comment and mark up documents, then send them back looking the way you intended.
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Fill and sign
Complete forms and place your signature without printing a single page.
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OCR
Turn scans into searchable, selectable text, processed on your own hardware.
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Convert
Take a PDF to Word and back again when you need to edit the document properly.
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Organise and print
Reorder, rotate, merge and split pages, then print exactly what you arranged.
PKCS#7 certificate signing
Real digital signatures
Sign with a certificate, so the document proves who signed it and that nothing changed afterwards. Not a picture of a squiggle pasted onto the page.
Private by design
Your documents never leave your machine
Offline is the default, and the whole toolset works there. Open a contract on a plane, OCR a scan in a boardroom with no signal, sign a lease at home. Nothing needs a server.
Everything runs locally
Viewing, OCR, conversion and signing happen on your hardware, not on ours.
No document uploads
There is no Core PDF cloud reading your files, and no account standing between you and your own documents.
Crash reports are anonymised
They carry no document content, and you can switch them off entirely.
Why Core PDF
What actually sets it apart
Not a longer feature list, but a different set of choices: local, native, fairly priced, and built here.
Built for Linux, first
A fast, native PDF editor that treats Linux as a first-class desktop, not an afterthought. It runs on Windows too, from the same code.
Priced like a tool, not a tax
From R79 a month, cancel any time, no lock-in. A fraction of what the global suites charge for the same everyday work.
Real certificate signing
Proper PKCS#7 digital signatures that prove who signed and that nothing changed after, and that validate in other PDF readers. Not a picture of a signature.
Private by design
Your files are opened, OCRed, converted and signed on your own hardware. No cloud, no account to read your own documents.
Native, not a browser
A real desktop application, not a website in a window or an Electron shell. It starts quickly and stays responsive on large documents.
Made in South Africa
Built in Johannesburg by Randcore, priced in Rand with no VAT, and supported by people in your own timezone.
How Core PDF compares
The everyday work most people need from a PDF editor, side by side with the names you already know.
| Core PDF | Adobe Acrobat | Foxit | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Native Linux desktop app | ✓ | − | limited |
| Works fully offline | ✓ | partly | ✓ |
| Documents stay on your device | ✓ | cloud features | ✓ |
| Start without an account | ✓ | − | varies |
| Certificate (PKCS#7) signing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| South African company, Rand pricing | ✓ | − | − |
| Starts from | R79 / month | much more | more |
Comparison reflects Core PDF’s reading of publicly available information at launch. Other products change, and each has strengths of its own; check their current details before you decide.
Seven days, every feature
The trial is the full product. When it ends, Core PDF stays on your machine as a free viewer, and a licence switches the editing tools back on.
One editor, three plans
Every plan gets the full editor. The plans differ on who is licensed, not on which features you are allowed to touch.
View, annotate, fill and sign
OCR scanned documents
Convert to and from Word
Organise pages and print
Real certificate signing (PKCS#7)
Offline-first: documents never leave your machine
Personal
Your own documents, on your own machine.
R 79/month R 790/year
- The full editor, nothing held back
- One licence, personal use
- Updates included while subscribed
- Email support
Pro
For work: contracts, invoices, sign-offs.
R 129/month R 1 290/year
- Everything in Personal
- Commercial use licence
- Updates included while subscribed
- Priority email support
Team
Licences for the whole office, one invoice.
R 129/seat/month R 1 290/seat/year
- Everything in Pro
- Multiple seats under one subscription
- Updates included while subscribed
- Volume pricing on request
Prices in South African rand. Annual billing gives two months free. The 7-day trial needs no payment details, viewing stays free after it ends, and you can cancel any time.
Questions, answered plainly
What does Core PDF run on?
Linux and Windows, as a native desktop application. It is not a web app and it does not need a browser tab or an internet connection to work.
How does the free trial work?
Seven days with every feature switched on. When the trial ends, viewing stays free; the editing features need a licence.
Do my documents get uploaded anywhere?
No. Core PDF is offline-first and your documents never leave your machine. The only thing that can be sent is an anonymised crash report, and you can switch that off.
Can it apply real digital signatures?
Yes. Core PDF does certificate-based PKCS#7 signing, alongside everyday fill-and-sign for forms.
What does it cost?
Personal is R79 a month or R790 a year. Pro is R129 a month or R1 290 a year. Team is R129 per seat a month or R1 290 per seat a year. Annual billing gives two months free, the 7-day trial needs no payment details, you can cancel any time, and viewing stays free after the trial.
Who builds it?
Randcore Development (Pty) Ltd, a software studio in Johannesburg. Core PDF is part of the same family as Core Platform.
Core PDF
Put a proper PDF editor on your desk
7-day free trial · built in Johannesburg