Lumin
Cloud PDF editor and e-signature built around Google Drive
Lumin is a pDF & document tools tool for Small businesses and Freelancers, offered as freemium ($9/mo). Founded in New Zealand in 2014.
About Lumin
Lumin is a cloud PDF editor and e-signature tool from Christchurch, New Zealand. Max Ferguson, who studied civil engineering at the University of Canterbury, started it in 2014 in his university flat and grew it largely through the Google Drive app marketplace into a product the company says is used by tens of millions of people. Its core job is opening, editing, annotating and signing PDFs straight from cloud storage without installing Acrobat.
Lumin edits PDF text, annotates, redacts, merges, splits, compresses and converts PDFs to and from Word, Excel, PowerPoint and images, with OCR for scans. Lumin Sign adds e-signatures, verified signing with ID checks and an eSign API. Lumin AI summarizes documents, answers questions about a PDF and generates agreements such as NDAs and leases. It runs on the web, Mac, Windows, iOS and Android. Plans move from a free tier with three documents a month to Starter, then team plans (Pro and Business) priced per workspace rather than per seat.
Lumin fits Google Workspace teams and small businesses that edit and sign PDFs occasionally and want flat team pricing. Adobe Acrobat remains stronger for print production, accessibility and advanced forms, Smallpdf is simpler for quick conversions, and Foxit is a cheaper desktop-first Acrobat alternative. Heavy e-signature senders may prefer Dropbox Sign or DocuSign.
Buying tip: Pro and Business are priced per team, so adding colleagues does not raise the bill, but documents are pooled at 200 per month. Every paid plan has a 7-day free trial.
Key features of Lumin
- Edit PDF text, annotate, redact and create fillable forms
- Merge, split, compress, rotate and reorder pages
- Convert PDFs to and from Word, Excel, PowerPoint and images
- OCR text recognition for scanned documents and images
- Lumin Sign e-signatures with ID-verified signing and an eSign API
- Lumin AI summaries, chat with PDF and agreement generation
- Works directly on files in Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive
- Web, Mac, Windows, iOS and Android apps with offline mobile use
Pros and cons
Pros
- Team plans priced per workspace, not per seat
- Deep Google Drive integration keeps files where they are
- Runs on every major desktop and mobile platform
- AI agreement generator for common contracts
- Usable free tier for occasional edits
Cons
- Free plan limited to three documents a month
- Team plans share a pooled monthly document quota
- Only 5 agreements per month on Pro
- Less capable than Acrobat for print and accessibility work
Lumin pricing
Lumin uses a freemium model. A 7-day free trial is available.
| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 3 docs per month, basic editing and eSignatures |
| Starter | $9 / mo | Billed annually; 10 docs per month, digital signing |
| Pro | $19 / team/mo | Billed annually; 200 docs, 5 agreements per month |
| Business | $99 / team/mo | Billed annually; access and domain controls, connectors |
| Enterprise | Custom | Enterprise SSO, storage controls, success manager |
Source: www.luminpdf.com · checked on Oct 20, 2026
How Lumin compares in PDF & document tools
- Rank by votes
- #1 / 15
- Starting price
- $9
- Free alternatives
- 0
0 votes from members
18% below the category median ($11/mo)
Free or open-source tools in PDF & document tools
Lumin ranks #1 of 15 pdf & document tools tools by community votes and is priced below most tools in the category.
Common use cases
- 1Editing and signing PDFs stored in Google Drive
- 2Small teams sharing one flat-priced PDF workspace
- 3Drafting NDAs and leases with the AI agreement generator
- 4Annotating and reviewing documents on tablets
- 5Sending contracts for ID-verified signatures
Best for
Google Workspace teams and small businesses that need everyday PDF editing and signing at a flat team price.
Not ideal for
Print production, accessibility and complex form work (Adobe Acrobat) or high-volume signature workflows (DocuSign, Dropbox Sign).
Integrations
- Google Drive
- Google Workspace
- Dropbox
- OneDrive
- Slack
- Salesforce
- HubSpot
- Claude
Our take
Lumin is a sensible Acrobat replacement for teams that live in Google Drive and edit PDFs a few times a week. Pick Pro for a small team, but check the 200-document pool and agreement limits before rolling it out widely.
FAQ
- What is Lumin?
- Lumin is a PDF & document tools tool: Cloud PDF editor and e-signature built around Google Drive.
- How much does Lumin cost?
- Lumin uses a Freemium model; paid plans start at $9 per month.
- Does Lumin have a free trial?
- Yes, Lumin offers a 7-day free trial.
- What does Lumin integrate with?
- Lumin integrates with Google Drive, Google Workspace, Dropbox, OneDrive, Slack, Salesforce and more.
- Which platforms does Lumin support?
- Lumin is available on web, macos, windows, ios, android.
- Who is Lumin for?
- Google Workspace teams and small businesses that need everyday PDF editing and signing at a flat team price.
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