A Smallpdf alternative that does the work in your browser
Smallpdf is a quick way to do one thing to a PDF: drop it on the page, pick the job, download the result. To get there the file makes a round trip to Smallpdf's servers. Here is the same list of jobs done inside the browser tab instead, which of them cost nothing, which are part of Pro, and the few that are not here at all.
Most of what people open Smallpdf for has a tool on this site that runs in the browser tab and uploads nothing. PDF merges, splits, rotates, fills, signs, password protects and redacts; PRESS compresses; REFLOW turns a PDF back into a Word file; OPTIC reads the text out of a scan. The PDF editor is part of the free Workspace and needs no account. The single-purpose tools are free to open and check a file with, and saving what they make is part of OBSCURA Pro. What is not here: changing the words already on a page, turning a PDF into Excel or PowerPoint, and sending a document to other people for their signatures.
What Smallpdf does well
Smallpdf is a tidy set of online PDF tools: compress, convert to and from Word, Excel, PowerPoint and images, merge, split, edit, sign, protect and unlock, each on a page of its own, with a free tier and a paid subscription for heavier use. It asks very little of you, it works on any computer with a browser, and it is quick.
It works the way almost every online converter works. The file is uploaded to Smallpdf's servers, the work is done there, and the result is sent back for you to download. Smallpdf publishes how it protects those files and how long it keeps them, and for a menu, a flyer or a public report that arrangement is perfectly reasonable.
The question is the other files: the tenancy agreement, the payslip, the letter from the hospital, the contract with the price in it. For those the upload is the step people would rather not take, and a browser no longer needs it. The same code that shows you a PDF when you click a link can draw one, change it and write it back, entirely inside the tab.
What happens here instead
Every tool in the table below is code running in your browser tab. The file goes from your disk into the tab's memory and back to your disk. There is no server that receives it, so there is no copy to delete afterwards and no retention period to read about, and there is no account. Once a page has loaded it keeps working with the network switched off, which is also the quickest way to check that nothing is being sent.
Smallpdf's jobs, and the tool that does each one here
Free means free to use and to save, with no account. Pro to save means the tool opens your file and shows you the result for nothing, and keeping the result is part of Pro.
| The job | Use | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compress a PDF | PRESS | Pro to save | Pictures brought down to screen, e-book or print resolution; compare a page before and after first |
| Merge PDFs | Free | Combine Files; a picture becomes a page. STAPLE does it in bulk, with page numbers | |
| Split a PDF | Free | Split Document by a number of pages or at the bookmarks; the parts come out in a zip | |
| Rotate, reorder or delete pages | Free | Organise Pages | |
| Add text, pictures or shapes | Free | Written into the page when you save | |
| Fill in a form | Free | Every field in a panel; the answers can be burned into the page | |
| Sign a PDF | Free | Draw or type your signature once and place it. PACT adds a signature page with the document's fingerprint | |
| Password protect a PDF | Free | 256-bit AES, which every current reader opens | |
| Take off a password you know | PADLOCK | Free | Needs the password; nothing here breaks one |
| Black out text for good | Free | The page is written as a picture with the boxes burned in. SEAL adds a record of what was removed | |
| Watermark every page | Free | WATERMARK can put a different recipient's name on each copy | |
| Number the pages | Free | Header & Footer, with the page number and the page count | |
| PDF to Word | REFLOW | Pro to save | Headings, lists, tables and pictures rebuilt; a scan needs OPTIC first |
| Word to PDF | Docs | Free | Open the .docx and print it to PDF |
| PowerPoint to PDF | Slides | Free | Open the .pptx and export it as PDF |
| Excel to PDF | Sheets | Free | Open the .xlsx and use Print / PDF |
| PDF to JPG or PNG | Free | One page, or every page in a zip | |
| JPG or PNG to PDF | Free | PDF from File | |
| Read the text in a scan | OPTIC | Pro to save | Copying the text is free; the text file and the searchable PDF are Pro |
| Compare two versions | REDLINE | Pro to save | Compares the words, not the layout |
| PDF to Excel or PowerPoint | Not here | ||
| Change the words already on the page | Not here | Write over them, or go back to the document the PDF came from | |
| Send a PDF to other people to sign | Not here | There is no server to send it from | |
| Keep files in an online account | Not here | On purpose: they stay on your disk, or in a folder you choose |
What is not here
A comparison that lists only what a tool has is an advert, so this is the part to read before you start.
- Editing the text that is already on a page. A PDF stores letters at positions, not paragraphs, so retyping a sentence means reflowing what was never a flow. You can cover a word and write another over it. To change the document properly, change the file it was made from, or rebuild it with REFLOW and edit that.
- PDF to Excel and PDF to PowerPoint. REFLOW rebuilds a document, with tables where the columns line up, and saves it as Word or Markdown. A spreadsheet or a slide deck is not written.
- Signature requests. Sending a document to three people, reminding them and collecting their signatures needs a server that holds the document while it waits, which is the one thing this site does not have. Each person can sign their copy here and send it on.
- A locked file you have no password for. PADLOCK takes a password off when you have it. Nothing here guesses one.
- Repairing a damaged file. A PDF the browser's own reader cannot open will not open here either.
What is free, and what is Pro
The PDF editor is part of the Workspace, and the Workspace is free for everyone with no account: opening, changing and saving a PDF there costs nothing. So do Docs, Sheets and Slides, which are how a Word file, a spreadsheet or a deck becomes a PDF.
The single-purpose tools (PRESS, STAPLE, PACT, SEAL, REFLOW, OPTIC and the rest) are free to open and try: they read your file, do the work and show you the result. Saving that result is part of Pro. Taking a password off your own PDF with PADLOCK is free. OBSCURA Pro is $144 a year, which is $12 a month, or $15 month to month, with 7 days free first; a day pass is $5 and a week pass $9. For a team it is $69 a month or $690 a year for up to 25 people, with 14 days free.
How to check the claim
Open a tool, let the page finish loading, and switch the network off; aeroplane mode does it. Then open a PDF and do the job. A tool that uploads cannot work in that state, and a tab with no connection has nowhere to send anything.
Try it on a file you have. Open the PDF editor for merging, splitting, filling, signing, protecting and redacting, free. Open PRESS to see how much smaller your PDF gets before you decide whether it is worth Pro to keep.
Questions people ask about A Smallpdf alternative that does the work in your browser
Is there a Smallpdf alternative that does not upload my files?
Yes. The PDF tools on this site run in your browser tab: the file is read into the tab's memory, changed there and written back to your disk. There is no server that receives it and no account. Once a page has loaded it works with the network switched off.
Is it free?
The PDF editor is, completely: merging, splitting, rotating, filling in, signing, password protecting and redacting, with no account. The single-purpose tools, such as PRESS for compressing and REFLOW for PDF to Word, are free to open and check a file with, and saving the result is part of OBSCURA Pro. Pro is $144 a year ($12 a month) or $15 month to month, with 7 days free first, and a pass is $5 for a day or $9 for a week.
How much smaller will PRESS make my PDF?
It depends on what is in the file, whichever tool does it. Most of the weight in a heavy PDF is pictures stored at a higher resolution than the page shows, and PRESS brings them down to what a screen, an e-reader or a printer needs. A scanned document or a brochure full of photographs shrinks a lot; a PDF that is mostly text barely changes, because there is little to take out. PRESS shows a page before and after so you can judge it before saving.
Can I sign a PDF without an account?
Yes. Open it in PDF, draw your signature or type your name, place it and save. It is a picture of your mark, as a pen makes. For a signature with a record that can be checked later, PACT adds a signature page carrying the document's SHA-256 fingerprint and the time.
What does Smallpdf do that this does not?
Changing the words already on a page, converting a PDF to Excel or PowerPoint, sending a document to other people to sign, and keeping your files in an online account. The table on this page lists each one, so you can check your job against it before you start.
Related tools
- PDFOpen, fill, sign and edit a PDF
- PRESSMake a PDF smaller without sending it anywhere
- STAPLEMerge, split, reorder and number PDFs
- PADLOCKPut a password on a PDF, or take one off
- REFLOWRebuild an editable document out of a PDF
- SEALRedact a PDF so it stays redacted
- An iLovePDF alternativeThe same jobs, grouped the way iLovePDF groups them
- Is it safe to upload a file to a free tool?What actually happens to the file