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.

Download for Linux Download for Windows

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.

View and annotate

Fast, clean rendering that keeps up as you scroll. Highlight, comment and mark up, then send it back the way you intended. Viewing stays free forever.

Fill and sign

Complete forms and place your signature without printing a page. After you drop a mark, you can nudge it straight away.

OCR and convert

Turn scans into searchable text and take a PDF to Word and back, all processed on your own hardware.

Real redaction

Black out sensitive text and the content underneath is actually removed from the file, not just hidden. Important for anything you send on.

Protect and watermark

Lock a PDF with an AES-256 password, or stamp a DRAFT or CONFIDENTIAL watermark across every page.

Organise pages

Reorder, rotate, merge, split and extract a range of pages to a new file, navigate by the document outline, 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.

Start the free trial

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

A properly lekker PDF editor, built in Johannesburg by Randcore, priced in Rand, and backed by people in your own timezone who actually use it.

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.

Why I built this

It started because I was fed up.

I kept hitting the same wall. Every time I needed to do something real with a PDF, sign it, fill it in, redact a bit, split out a page, I was either fighting a viewer that could not do it, or being asked to pay a monthly fortune to one of the big names for the privilege. And I work on Linux, where a proper PDF editor was almost impossible to find.

So I got irritated enough to do something about it. Core PDF began as the tool I wanted for myself: fast, native on Linux and Windows, private, and priced like a fair tool instead of a tax. Once it was working, it was obvious it should not just be mine.

I built it for everyone stuck with the same frustrations I had. If you have ever sat there wrestling a PDF and thinking there has to be a better way, this is that better way.

Ethan Lowery, founder · Randcore Development

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.

Get the free trial See the plans

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

Real redaction and AES-256 password protection

Organise, extract and watermark pages

Real certificate signing (PKCS#7)

Larger text and high-contrast options for easy reading

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

Buy Personal

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

Buy Pro

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

Buy Team

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.

Do I need Adobe installed?

No. Core PDF is a complete PDF editor on its own, so you do not need Adobe Acrobat or Reader on your machine. It opens and works with your everyday PDFs natively on Linux and Windows.

Does it work without an internet connection?

Yes. Everything runs on your own machine, so you can open, annotate, OCR, convert and sign with no signal at all. Handy when the wifi or the power is having a moment.

Can I use it for work?

Yes. The Pro and Team plans include a commercial-use licence. Personal is for your own documents.

How do I get my licence key?

It is emailed to you right after payment, usually within a minute or two. Open Help then Enter licence key in the app and paste it in. Activation works offline after that.

Is paying safe?

Payments are handled by Paystack on their secure page. We never see or store your card number.

Can I cancel?

Any time, and there is no cancellation fee. Cancelling stops the next renewal; your licence keeps working until the end of the period you have paid for. See the refund policy for the first-payment money-back window.

Who builds it?

Randcore Development (Pty) Ltd, a software studio in Johannesburg. Core PDF is part of the same family as Core Platform. Built here, for the way we actually work.

Core PDF

Put a proper PDF editor on your desk

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7-day free trial · built in Johannesburg