When you receive an application form, survey, registration form, sales invoice or customer feedback in PDF format and can’t fill in directly, it’s time to find a fillable PDF form creator to help you get out of the way.
Most of fillable PDF form creators in the market enable users to build interactive PDF by adding text fields, signature fields, list box fields, combo box fields, and several types of form fields. Here is a full round-down on the best fillable PDF form creator we explore.
Cisdem PDFMaster
Free Download macOS 11 or later 
Free Download Windows 11/10/8/7
If you need the most powerful fillable PDF form creator out here, 4 almighty and well-known PDF software below can be your best choice. Each of them can not only create, design and fill in forms, but also come with many editing tools in handy. Now, let’s dive deeper into it!
Cisdem PDFMaster was released in 2014, and updated the latest version in 2024 with brand new interface, more powerful features, batch process and professional after-sales service.
It is a top-rated PDF editor designed to handle all the needs of PDF files, including building PDF fillable form, editing the existing text in PDF, managing pages, convert/create PDF, reduce the file size, add passwords, unlock passwords, etc.
As we have seen, creating fillable PDF form is just one of the features of this program, with up to 6 types of form fields you can add to your PDF. Tap on the form fields, you can change the field name, field flags, size, color and indicators effortless.
Free Download macOS 11 or later Free Download Windows 11/10/8/7
Earlier than macOS 11, click here
Windows 11/10/8/7 (64 bit); macOS 10.11 or later
$49.99/Annual License
If you are a big fan of Adobe and have subscribed to Adobe Acrobat Pro, you can’t miss this part. As a top-notch and standard PDF software in the market, it brings the robust and newest features to customers across desktop, mobile and even on the go. Head to the “Prepare Form” tool on the toolbar, there are more than almost 10 types of form fields you can easily add to your PDF and make PDF form fillable.
Windows 11/10/8/7; macOS 10.13 or later
$29.99/month; $239.88/year
Nitro PDF Pro, which is called the leading replacement for Adobe Acrobat, has been widely praised by many small and medium-sized enterprises and individuals. It comes with a Microsoft Office-like interface, which provides intuitive experience for even PDF beginners. Whether you upload a simple PDF or scanned form, Nitro PDF Pro can create fillable forms from scratch with minutes.
Windows 10/8 (64 bit); macOS 10.14 or later
$179.99/One Time License
Actually, there is another way to create an interactive PDF form without adding text fields. What you need to do is insert text/images/signature/shapes to the area that you want to edit. Swifdoo PDF is a one-stop PDF solution for Windows users to edit, convert, merge, compress, create, annotate, sign and protect PDF in a breeze.
Windows 11/10/8/7/XP (32 & 64)
$103.2/Perpetual
Free fillable PDF creators are popular because they are reliable and capable while users do not need to pay for subscription fees. If your goal is to find the best free pdf fillable form creator, I believe that Icecream PDF Editor and PDF gear can be your ultimate picks.
Windows users may be similar to this Icecream Apps, a software company that focuses on multimedia, entertainment and business software such as PDF Editor, PDF Converter, Ebook Reader, Video Editor, etc. Among them, PDF Editor is what we want to talk about. Icecream PDF Editor is a free editing solution that allows uses to edit text, annotate PDF and create fillable PDF form by adding objects such as text box, images and shapes.
Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7
You may not have seen this software before, like me. But after actually operating and using it, I regret not discovering it earlier. PDFgear is a full-featured and free PDF reader and PDF editor that is available on Windows, Mac, even iOS. No registration and watermark are covered, you can freely view, annotate, insert, comment, protect and manage pages. With this free fillable PDF form creator, you can head to Annotate > Text Box and click the area you want to insert contents.
Windows 11/10; macOS 10.14 to macOS 13
There are multiple options to convert existing PDF to fillable PDF form, you can also get get free fillable PDF creator services online without paying and installing. However, be careful not to upload private files to any website, and most of them require login and have some restrictions. If you don’t mind these restrictions, read on.
Jotform is a top-rated and free online form builder & form creator that is used by more than 15 million users around the world. The main reason for recommending it is that it automatically recognizes the form and adds text fields or other form elements as desired. After that, you can name your form, send email, add a thank you page after submission, connect your form to other cloud apps...
As the name shows, GoFormz is a professional online PDF form maker that helps users to upload existing form or build interactive form by adding fields, like text, images, signatures, tables, numbers, maps, date, barcode and more. Up to 18 elements you can insert to your PDF and it’s easy to set the field name, formatting, display (size, color, background, font, align...) and more details.
We found that online PDFescape finally got rid of the old interface, and brought a stylish interface and advanced features. This form field creation tool supports adding text box, checkbox, radio button, dropdown, listbox, reset button and submit button. However, it is still divided into three sections: Insert, Annotate and Page. If the function points can be more abundant, it can better meet the needs of users.
It’s another free online PDF fillable form creator that supports automatically recognizing forms and insert fields in this part. You can also drag and drop the specified fields or buttons to your PDF form, like single line text, multi-line text area, numbers, date, drawings, images, radio button, dropdown, checkbox, signature, etc. What’s more, when you finish, you can test the fillable form your created, pre-fill or share to fill as you like.
In conclusion, there is a wide range of excellent PDF fillable form creators on desktop and website available today for various purposes like survey, job applications and invoices. However, you should note that there are still some restrictions on free trial, operating systems, file size... All in all, we hope our shared list of the best fillable PDF form creators has put your mind to rest.
Bianca is a senior tech editor and strategist at Cisdem with Over 10 years of experience on PDF related solutions which covers all document editing, annotating, converting and managing etc.
