Free alternatives to Smallpdf
For merging, splitting and rotating PDFs, our free Merge PDFs and related tools work in your browser with no daily count and no upload, and the free PDF24 Creator app compresses and converts PDFs offline on Windows. Smallpdf Pro is still worth paying for if you need OCR on a Mac or phone, batch conversion, or its mobile app regularly.
Smallpdf's facts below come from its own pages, checked November 10, 2026. If you're choosing between online services instead, see Smallpdf vs iLovePDF.
What people pay Smallpdf for, job by job
Getting past the daily limit
Smallpdf's help page says free accounts get "limited access to basic features of 21 online tools" and "up to 2 conversions per day." If you hit that limit merging, splitting or rotating pages, our tools have no daily count and need no account.
Merging, splitting and rotating pages
Our Merge PDFs, Split a PDF and Rotate PDF pages have recorded tests in Chrome. They process your file in your browser without uploading it, which you can check yourself. Add page numbers to PDF shares its code with the Deskshed Batch screen, where that code was tested.
For a desktop app, PDFsam Basic is free and open source for Windows, macOS and Linux, and merges, splits, rotates and extracts pages on your own computer. On a Mac, Preview combines PDFs when you drag pages between documents.
Compressing a PDF
We don't compress PDFs. If you still have the photos the PDF was made from, shrink them with Compress images, keeping JPG as the format, then rebuild the PDF with Images to PDF, which adds JPGs without re-saving them. Check that text in a scanned page is still readable at the width you pick. In our test, a 3000 × 2000 JPG resized to 800 px went from 359 KB to 22 KB. For an existing PDF, PDF24 Creator includes a compression tool. It's free for private and commercial use on Windows 10 and 11, and works offline.
Smallpdf's help page says Pro adds "a stronger compression mode." We can't match that for PDFs that aren't made of photos.
Converting Word, Excel and PowerPoint files
To make a PDF, use the app that made the file. Microsoft Office apps save or convert files to PDF without extra software. For PDF to Word and other formats, PDF24 Creator does the conversion offline on Windows. Our tools don't convert Office files.
Filling in, signing and editing
To place a drawn signature, text and the date on a PDF, our free Sign a PDF does it in your browser. To fill in and sign a form, the free Adobe Acrobat Reader is enough: Adobe says it lets you "fill out PDF forms and sign PDFs." Deskshed, our desktop app, fills in forms and adds text, a date, a checkmark and a drawn signature. It also redacts. We've tested those features with PDFs generated for the test, not yet with forms from real apps. It's for Windows, $5 one-time for the first 1,000 buyers, then $9.
Changing the existing text in a PDF has no free option we'd rely on. Our Acrobat alternatives page covers that job.
Reading text in scans (OCR)
Smallpdf's help page lists OCR as a Pro feature. PDF24 Creator recognizes text in PDF and image files for free. Our tools don't: a PDF made with Images to PDF is pictures of pages, so you can't search the words.
Using it on your phone
There's no free option from us here. We haven't tested our tools on phones, and Smallpdf's help page includes the Smallpdf Mobile App in Pro.
What Smallpdf costs now
We can't quote a price. When we opened Smallpdf's pricing page on November 10, 2026, it didn't show one, so check it there. The help page says the free trial is for "first-time subscribers to Smallpdf Pro," and that it asks for payment details.
When paying for Smallpdf is worth it
Pay for Pro if you use it often for jobs free tools don't cover well:
- OCR, batch conversion or digital signatures, which the help page lists as Pro features.
- Many conversions a day, well past the free limit of two.
- A phone app, or the offline Smallpdf Desktop App for Windows. The help page includes both in Pro.
- Your team already uses it, and switching would cost more time than it saves.
For uploading at all, Smallpdf's help page says it removes files from its servers "after one hour of processing (for most tools)." For private documents, read is Smallpdf or iLovePDF safe for sensitive documents? first.
How to cancel Smallpdf
Smallpdf's help page, checked November 10, 2026, says: "You can cancel a Smallpdf Pro trial or existing subscription at any time via the “Plan” section on the Account page." If you subscribed through an app store, see how to cancel subscriptions on iPhone and Android.
Common questions
Is Smallpdf free?
Partly. Smallpdf's help page, checked November 10, 2026, says free users get limited access to basic features of 21 online tools and up to 2 conversions a day. OCR, batch conversion, digital signatures and the desktop and mobile apps are part of Pro.
Does Smallpdf upload my files?
Its online tools do. Smallpdf's help page, checked November 10, 2026, says it removes files from its servers automatically one hour after processing, for most tools, and that transfers use 256-bit TLS encryption. Its paid Windows desktop app works offline. Our PDF tools run in your browser, so the file isn't uploaded.
Can I compress a PDF without Smallpdf?
Yes, with a desktop app such as PDF24 Creator on Windows. If the PDF is made from photos, you can also shrink the photos with Compress images and rebuild the PDF. We don't have a tool that compresses an existing PDF directly.
Is there a free Smallpdf alternative with no daily limit?
For page jobs, yes. Merge PDFs, Split a PDF and Rotate PDF pages have no daily count and no sign-up. The limit is your browser's memory, so a very large scanned book may need to go in smaller groups.
Paying for something not listed here? Ask for a quote to replace it.