--- title: "“Create a free account” or “Limit reached” when you download" description: "Why PDFBetter asks you to create an account or shows “Limit reached” when you download, what counts as a download, and your options when the allowance runs out." url: https://help.pdfbetter.com/troubleshooting/download-limit-reached/ collection: "Troubleshooting" section: "Emails & downloads" updated: 2026-10-18 publisher: "PDFBetter (AI Generated Inc.)" --- # “Create a free account” or “Limit reached” when you download > Guests need a free account to download edited documents; your work moves into it and the download continues. Free includes 3 edited-document downloads a month. When they run out, **Limit reached** offers Pro, Business or a Day Pass, or wait for the reset. - Counts toward: Edited-document downloads Do it in PDFBetter: https://pdfbetter.com/app/settings/billing/ ## “Create a free account to download” As a guest you can edit, fill and sign, but downloading, printing or sharing an edited document needs a free account. The dialog says **Your work is saved — it moves into the account, nothing is lost.** Create the account or log in, and you'll see **You’re signed in. Picking up where you left off…** as the download resumes. ## “Limit reached” When a monthly allowance runs out, the dialog reads **You've reached this month's edited-document downloads** (or whichever allowance it is) and shows how many you've used. Your work is saved either way. Your options: - **Upgrade to Pro** ($15 a month) for unlimited downloads. New subscribers get 7 days free with a card; cancel before the trial ends and nothing is charged. - **Start Business** ($24 per seat a month) for teams, branding and bulk sending. - **Get a Day Pass**: $6 for 24 hours of Pro, nothing renews. Upgrade to Pro within 7 days and the [Day Pass](https://help.pdfbetter.com/account-billing/day-pass/) price comes off your first payment. - Wait: [allowances reset](https://help.pdfbetter.com/account-billing/monthly-limits-and-credit-packs/) at the start of your next monthly period. | Per month | No account | Free | Pro | Business | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Edited-document downloads | — | 3 | Unlimited | Unlimited | | Signature requests | — | 3 | Unlimited | Unlimited | | Office & advanced conversions | 2 | 10 | 500 | 2,000 | | OCR pages | 5 | 20 | 1,000 | 5,000 | | AI credits | 5 | 20 | 500 | 2,000 | "Unlimited" is subject to fair use; "—" means not included. ## What counts as a download - The first download of each version of an edited document counts once. Downloading the same unchanged document again is free. - Printing from the editor counts as a download. - Browser tools (merge, split, rotate and similar) never count and need no account. - Signed copies from completed requests are delivered by email and from **Download signed copy**. > **Tip:** See what you've used this month in **Settings** → [Plan & usage](https://pdfbetter.com/app/settings/billing/). You can [cancel a subscription](https://help.pdfbetter.com/account-billing/cancel-plan/) there any time. ### It says “This needs a paid plan”. The feature itself isn't in your plan (for example bulk send or signer access codes), not just a monthly limit. Compare plans on [Pricing](https://pdfbetter.com/pricing/). ### I paid but still see the limit. Reload the page; the plan updates when checkout finishes. If it persists, [contact us](https://pdfbetter.com/contact/) with your account email. ### Is there a watermark on Free downloads? No. Free plan downloads have no watermark. ## Related articles - [What happens when you reach a monthly limit](https://help.pdfbetter.com/account-billing/monthly-limits-and-credit-packs.md): When you use up a monthly allowance, PDFBetter stops before the task and offers to wait for the reset, buy a Day Pass or upgrade. For AI credits and fax pages you can also buy a pack that never expires. - [Compare the Free, Pro and Business plans](https://help.pdfbetter.com/account-billing/compare-plans.md): Free costs nothing and has no end date. Pro is $15 a month for one person, with unlimited downloads and signature requests. Business is $24 per seat a month and adds teams, branding, bulk send, the API and the largest spreadsheet-fill allowance. - [Buy a Day Pass for a one-off job](https://help.pdfbetter.com/account-billing/day-pass.md): A Day Pass costs $6 and gives you Pro for 24 hours. It doesn't renew. Upgrade to Pro within 7 days of buying it and the Day Pass price comes off your first Pro payment. - [Download your edited PDF, fillable or flattened](https://help.pdfbetter.com/editing/download-edited-pdf.md): Click Done → Download, choose Keep fillable or Flatten, decide whether to Include comments and sticky notes, and click Download. Downloading needs a free account; Free includes 3 edited-document downloads a month, and Pro is unlimited. - [Use PDFBetter without an account](https://help.pdfbetter.com/getting-started/use-pdfbetter-without-account.md): You can open every tool without signing up. Browser tools (merge, split, rotate, images to PDF and more) download free. Edits you make in the editor are a guest draft kept for 1 hour; downloading, sharing or sending them needs a free account. --- Source: https://help.pdfbetter.com/troubleshooting/download-limit-reached/ · PDFBetter Help Center · Last checked against the product 2026-10-18. Questions: support@pdfbetter.com