PeekPlainCompare
PeekPlain vs Preview
Preview is free, built into every Mac, and good at images and basic PDFs. PeekPlain's free version is meant to match what Preview does, then add the jobs Preview cannot do.
| Preview | PeekPlain | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, built in | Free; Pro is $24 once |
| View and annotate PDFs, fill forms, sign | Yes | Yes, free |
| Merge PDFs, rotate, delete and reorder pages | Yes | Yes, free |
| Reduce file size | Yes, one built-in filter | Yes, three presets, free. Exact target size in Pro |
| Image crop, resize, adjust color, remove background | Yes | Yes, free |
| Make a scanned PDF searchable (OCR) | No; text in scans can be selected on screen | Yes, Pro |
| True redaction that removes the text | No | Yes, Pro |
| Edit existing PDF text | No | Yes, Pro |
| Render Markdown, show code with colors | No | Yes, free |
| Reload when a file changes | No | Yes, keeps your place |
| Command palette, Shortcuts, command-line tool | Shortcuts only | Palette free; CLI in Pro |
| Verified saves with a backup of the original | Not promised | Yes, for edits PeekPlain makes |
| Import from iPhone camera | Yes | Yes |
| Import from a scanner | Yes | Not yet |
| Maturity | Decades of use | New and in beta |
Competitor details reflect our understanding at the time of writing and products change, so check their own pages before you decide. PeekPlain is in free beta; features marked Pro are rolling out through 1.0.
Where PeekPlain is weaker
- Preview is mature. It has been through decades of macOS releases, and PeekPlain has not.
- Preview imports from a scanner. PeekPlain imports from an iPhone or iPad camera, but not from scanners yet.
- Preview supports a wider range of obscure image formats today.
- PeekPlain's PDF features are still arriving through the beta. Keep Preview installed until you trust it with your files.
Where PeekPlain is better
- Everything Preview does is free in PeekPlain, with no watermark and no account.
- Pro adds the jobs Preview cannot do: searchable OCR, true redaction, editing existing text, splitting, batch tools.
- Markdown, code, CSV, JSON and YAML open rendered, in the same app.
- Saving is verified and backed up, and you can restore an earlier version.
Which should you pick?
If you only look at images and read PDFs now and then, Preview is enough and costs nothing. If you merge, sign, redact or OCR documents, or read Markdown and code all day, try PeekPlain next to it. Both can live on the same Mac.