PDFescape
pdfescape.com
The 2007 browser PDF editor that still fills awkward government forms
xodo.com
Reads and annotates a PDF properly, then merges or converts it.
Xodo is a PDF reader first — smooth scrolling, night mode, highlights, sticky notes and form filling — with a set of conversion and merge tools alongside. It is the closest a free web app comes to feeling like a desktop reader, which matters if you actually read long documents rather than just process them. It comes from Apryse, the company behind the PDFTron SDK.
AltFTool does this too
If you would rather not leave the site, PDF Annotation Tool covers the same job here — free, no account, and it runs in your browser.
Open PDF Annotation ToolQuestions
A genuinely usable free tier with paid plans for volume or team features. Reading and annotating are free; converting and merging repeatedly runs into a Pro upgrade prompt.
Yes. Xodo sends your input to its own servers to process it. That is fine for public material; for anything containing personal data, use one of the on-device tools instead.
Reading and annotating are free; converting and merging repeatedly runs into a Pro upgrade prompt.
Alternatives
Same category or same task, ordered by how closely they overlap.
pdfescape.com
The 2007 browser PDF editor that still fills awkward government forms
sejda.com
Actually edits the text inside a PDF, not just annotations on top
acrobat.adobe.com
Adobe's own PDF tools, free for about a job at a time
dochub.com
Fills in a PDF form and signs it without printing anything
ilovepdf.com
Merge, split, compress, unlock and convert PDFs from one toolbar
smallpdf.com
The tidiest PDF suite, rationed to a couple of jobs a day