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Excise

Free#88 of 102 in PDF EditorsDocument Redaction Software

Excise: A capable open-source PDF toolkit for forms, redaction, OCR, and command-line automation. Ranked #88 of 102 in PDF Editors by our editors (3.0/10); pricing: Free plan; best for technical PDF processing and batch workflows.

3.0/10Editor score

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At a glance

Editor score
3.0 / 10
Pricing
Free plan
Best for
Technical PDF processing and batch workflows
Free plan
Yes
Paid from
Free
OCR
Yes
Facts checked
20 Sep 2026

Where it wins
- Glyph-level redaction includes metadata and attachment scrubbing.
- Forms, annotations, OCR, and signatures inspection cover technical workflows.
- Cross-platform desktop apps pair with .NET libraries and JSON batch output.
Where it doesn't
- Does not edit existing PDF text.
- Does not provide general PDF format conversion.
- OCR depends on the system Tesseract CLI.

Our verdict on Excise

Excise is an open-source PDF editor and pure-.NET PDF framework for desktop users and .NET developers. Its desktop application supports Windows, macOS, and Linux, while the codebase provides reusable parser, rendering, OCR, and viewer libraries under the MIT license. The feature set is aimed at technical document handling: users can view, search, copy text, organize pages, fill and author AcroForms, place flat typewriter text, create annotations, redact document content, inspect signatures, and work with attachments.

Its strongest fit is structured, repeatable PDF processing. Command-line batch workflows with JSON output give developers a way to automate document operations, while page insertion, extraction, removal, reordering, and rotation cover common document-management tasks. Glyph-level redaction is paired with metadata and attachment scrubbing, and OCR workflows use the system Tesseract CLI. These capabilities make Excise a practical choice for teams that value local tooling, scriptable operations, and access to .NET components rather than a hosted subscription workflow.

Excise is free and open source, with no paid tier structure described. The main boundary is editing depth: it adds flat typewriter text but does not edit existing PDF text. It also does not provide general PDF format conversion, so users who need broad conversion or direct modification of established text should choose a different PDF editor. Pick Excise for cross-platform forms, annotations, redaction, OCR, signature inspection, and batch JSON workflows; avoid it when full text editing or format conversion is central to the job.

Your product? Our editors can test Excise in depth and publish a review, labelled as paid · from $149/mo →

Excise pricing

Plans Free planFree Free to use — no paid tier required for the core job.

See plans on github.com

Excise fact sheet

Free plan	Yes
Paid from	Free
Text editing	No
Annotation tools	Yes
OCR	Yes
PDF conversion	No
Form creation	Yes
Supported platforms	Windows, macOS, Linux
Deployment	Desktop, Self-hosted
Platforms	Windows, macOS, Linux
Support	Docs
Built for	Solo, Small business, Mid-market (editorial estimate)
Pricing	Free plan
Website	github.com
Facts checked	20 Sep 2026

Alternatives to Excise

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Also Ranked In

Excise is ranked in 2 of our directories.

#22Document Redaction Software27 tools ranked

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Featured on iTechGuides

Excise is listed in our PDF Editors directory. Add the badge to your site — it links back to this page.

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Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

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Last updated 16 Oct 2026 · How we research and update