FileDial vs Wondershare PDFelement
By Himanshu Ranjan · Updated 8 November 2026
Wondershare PDFelement is a full PDF editor for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android, costing US$79.99 a year or US$129.99 perpetual for a Mac license, with a watermarked 7-day trial. FileDial is a $20 Mac app with 525 offline tools for PDFs, photos, video and audio. Choose PDFelement for in-depth editing and e-sign workflows, FileDial for quick batch jobs that never leave your Mac.
At a glance
| FileDial | Wondershare PDFelement | |
|---|---|---|
| Where files are processed | On your Mac, files are never uploaded | Desktop app; cloud features go online |
| Works offline | Yes, every tool works with Wi-Fi off | Internet required to activate and for cloud |
| Platforms | Mac only: macOS 14+, Apple silicon (M1 or newer) | Windows, Mac (macOS 11+), iOS, Android |
| Price | $20 once, lifetime license for 2 Macs | US$79.99/year or US$129.99 perpetual (Mac) |
| Trial | 1-day trial of every tool, no card | 7-day trial, no card, saves add a watermark |
| Refund | 14-day refund | 30-day money-back under stated conditions |
| PDF editing | Pages › Edit PDF… adds text, images, shapes and drawing to a new copy | Edit text, fonts, images and links |
| OCR | OCR › Make searchable adds an invisible text layer | 27 languages, batch OCR and deskew |
| Redaction | Redact text…, Find and redact personal info…, Check redactions | Area, search-term and smart redaction |
| E-signatures | Image signature or certificate signature | E-sign, send to several recipients, track |
| Cloud storage | None; results are saved beside the original | 20 GB PDFelement Cloud on paid plans |
| File types beyond PDF | Photos, video, audio, documents, spreadsheets, archives | PDF focused, with Office and image conversion |
Details about Wondershare PDFelement come from its own website and documentation, checked 2026-11-09. Prices and features change; check the source links below.
About Wondershare PDFelement
A PDF editor from Wondershare for editing, converting, OCR, forms, e-signatures, redaction and AI tools, with desktop and mobile apps.
Platforms: Windows, Mac (macOS 11+, Intel and Apple silicon), iOS 14+, Android 7+. Price: Mac individual: US$79.99 a year, US$109.99 for 2 years or US$129.99 perpetual; 7-day trial with watermarked saves; 30-day money-back guarantee under stated conditions.. Where files are processed: Desktop app works on files on your computer; its tech spec says internet is needed for activation, updates and cloud features, and paid plans include 20 GB PDFelement Cloud.
Choose Wondershare PDFelement if
- You edit existing PDF text and layout often and want a full desktop editor.
- You need the editor on Windows, iPhone or Android as well as a Mac.
- You send contracts to several signers and track their signatures.
- You run an Intel Mac or macOS 11 to 13, which FileDial does not support.
Choose FileDial if
- You want every job done offline, with no activation server or cloud account involved.
- You would rather pay $20 once than $79.99 a year.
- You process stacks of files: Combine › Merge PDFs by name, Organize › Split every page or Compress › Compress under 10 MB on a whole selection.
- You also convert photos, video and audio.
Depth of PDF editing
PDFelement is a mature editor. Its Mac page describes text editing with custom fonts, image replacement and extraction, links, fillable form creation, OCR in 27 languages with batch processing and deskew, area and search-term redaction, and e-signatures you can send to several recipients and track. It also adds AI tools for chat, translation, summaries and contract review.
FileDial does not try to be that kind of editor. Pages › Edit PDF… adds text, images, shapes and drawing to a new copy, and Sign & Lock › Fill form… types into existing fields. Its strength is jobs you run on files from Finder: Sign & Lock › Redact text… turns matching pages into images with black boxes and re-OCRs them, Sign & Lock › Check redactions reports text still hidden under black boxes, and Sign & Lock › Make PDF fillable turns empty boxes and blank lines into fields as a best guess.
Online requirements
PDFelement's tech spec says the Windows and Mac apps need an internet connection for activation, help, live updates and cloud functionality. Paid plans include 20 GB of PDFelement Cloud for syncing scans and signatures across devices, which is convenient if you move between a desktop and a phone.
FileDial runs every tool on the Mac and never uploads a file. All tools work with Wi-Fi off; the app only checks its license weekly and sends optional anonymous counts of which tools ran, never file names or contents.
Cost and trial terms
On Wondershare's Mac store page a yearly plan is US$79.99, a 2-year plan US$109.99 and a perpetual license US$129.99, with a 30-day money-back guarantee under the technical circumstances its policy accepts. The registered 7-day trial needs no card but watermarks saved files. FileDial's 1-day trial includes every tool without watermarks, then it is $20 once for 2 Macs with a 14-day refund.
Questions
Does PDFelement work offline?
Its tech spec says the desktop apps need internet for activation, live updates and cloud features. FileDial works with Wi-Fi off for every tool, going online only for a weekly license check.
Does the PDFelement trial add a watermark?
Yes. Wondershare's store page says both the unregistered and the registered 7-day trial add a watermark when you save a PDF. FileDial's 1-day trial has no watermark.
Is PDFelement a one-time purchase?
It can be. The Mac store page lists a perpetual plan at US$129.99 alongside yearly and 2-year subscriptions. FileDial is $20 once.