A Smallpdf alternative with no sign-up and no upload
Most people go looking for a Smallpdf alternative for one of two reasons: they have hit the free limit at exactly the wrong moment, or they have stopped to think about what it means to upload a payslip, a tenancy agreement or a medical letter to a service they will use once.
PDFTools answers both with the same design decision. Every tool runs as JavaScript inside your browser tab. Your file is read from your own disk, rewritten in memory using pdf-lib and PDF.js, and saved straight back to your downloads folder. Nothing is transmitted, so there is no per-file cost for us to recover and nothing to gate behind a sign-up wall.
That also means no conversion funnel. You will not be asked to create an account to download your own document, you will not be shown a countdown before the next free task, and you will not be nudged towards a subscription at the end. The tool finishes and gives you the file.
PDFTools vs Smallpdf
| Feature | PDFTools | Smallpdf |
|---|---|---|
| Where files are processed | In your browser, on your device | Uploaded to and processed in the cloud |
| Account required | Never — no sign-in exists | Sign-in prompted for continued or repeated use |
| Free tier limits | None imposed by us | Limited free tasks, then a paid plan or a trial |
| Cost | Free, no ads, no upsell | Subscription for unrestricted use |
| Works offline | Yes, once the page has loaded | No — the server does the work |
| Storage of your files | Nothing is stored — the file is never sent | Stored during processing, deleted after a retention window |
Where Smallpdf is still the better fit
Smallpdf is a polished product with a much broader remit than ours. It is the better choice when you need:
- A shared workspace where documents live between sessions and colleagues can pick them up.
- Requesting signatures from other people, with tracking and reminders.
- OCR on scanned pages, or conversion to and from Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
- Integrations with Google Drive, Dropbox and similar cloud storage.
- A mobile app or a scanning workflow that starts on a phone camera.
Those features genuinely require a server, an account or both. PDFTools deliberately has none of them, which is exactly why it can promise that your file stays put.
What PDFTools does well
- Compress an oversized PDF until it fits an email attachment limit.
- Merge and split documents, including one-file-per-page output as a ZIP.
- Turn photos and scans into a single tidy PDF, and pull pages back out as JPGs.
- Fix sideways scans by rotating individual pages or the whole file.
- Delete, reorder and extract pages while keeping text selectable.
- Read and rewrite document metadata before you send a file on.
How to verify nothing is uploaded
Open developer tools on any tool page, go to the Network tab, tick “Preserve log” and clear it. Run the tool on a real file and read the list: page assets only, no request containing your PDF.
For the stronger version of the test, disconnect from the internet after the page has loaded and run the tool again. It still works, which is only possible because the processing code is already on your device.
The longer explanation, including what the claim does and does not cover, is on our private PDF tools page.
Try the tools
Every tool below runs locally. Nothing to install, nothing to sign up for.
Merge PDF
Combine multiple PDF files into one document.
Split PDF
Extract pages or split a PDF into multiple files.
Compress PDF
Reduce PDF file size.
JPG to PDF
Convert JPG images into a PDF.
PDF to JPG
Convert PDF pages into JPG images.
Rotate PDF
Rotate PDF pages.
Delete PDF Pages
Remove unwanted pages from a PDF.
Reorder PDF Pages
Change the order of pages in a PDF.
Extract PDF Pages
Save selected pages as a new PDF.
PDF Metadata
View or edit PDF metadata.
Frequently asked questions
- Do I need an account to use PDFTools?
- No, and you cannot create one. There is no sign-in, no email capture and no download gate — the file is produced in your browser and saved directly.
- How many files can I process per day?
- As many as you like. We have no counter because we never see your files; the only limit is your own device's speed and memory.
- Does PDFTools add a watermark?
- No. Output files carry no watermark, badge or footer of any kind.
- What does PDFTools not do?
- There is no OCR, no e-signature workflow, no Office conversion and no cloud storage. If you need those, a full suite like Smallpdf is the right tool.