A Free Smallpdf Alternative With No Account or Subscription
ProPDF is a free Smallpdf alternative: 21 PDF tools that you use in a web browser, with no account, no subscription and no daily quota.
As of September 2026, Smallpdf's pricing table has rows for a daily download limit and a daily task limit, and its Free plan lists limited document downloads. Below, each common Smallpdf job is matched with the ProPDF tool to open instead, followed by what you would give up and how your files are handled.
Why choose ProPDF
- No account, no sign-up and no trial to cancel
- No daily quota; the eight server tools accept files of up to 4 MB, and the chat allows 50 messages per conversation, answers included
- Output files carry no watermark
- Merge, split, sign, compare and nine other tools process the file on your device
- Server tools delete your file once the task ends; the chat keeps the text and the conversation in your tab, not on the server
- Available in English, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese and Russian
Key features
Three compression levels
Compress a PDF offers Low, Medium and High. Photos and scanned pages lose the most weight; real text stays selectable, while text inside scanned images can lose detail. If the chosen level cannot make the file smaller, the tool says so and offers no download.
Answers and summaries from your PDF
Chat with PDF answers questions about a text PDF in the language you write in, and a summary button condenses the document. It accepts files of up to 500 pages, but past about 280,000 characters of text (70,000 in Chinese, Japanese or Korean), only the pages that fit in the first 240,000 (60,000 in those languages) are read. A conversation allows 50 messages, answers included, with questions of up to 4,000 characters, and the answers come from Claude (Anthropic) through Amazon Bedrock with a European inference profile.
One file, several tools
After most tools that return a PDF, a panel headed "File ready" suggests what to do next, such as compress, sign or protect. Pick one and the same file opens there, with no need to select it again. Nothing is saved between visits: reloading the page clears it.
Page tools that stay on your device
Merge, split, reorder, rotate, delete or extract pages without sending the file anywhere. Because they run in your browser, file size is limited only by your device's memory.
Task by task: the ProPDF tool to open instead
Most everyday Smallpdf jobs have a ProPDF tool of their own. Each entry gives the tool name to look for and the limit that matters.
- Compressing: Compress a PDF, one file at a time, up to 4 MB. Password-protected files are refused, so remove the password first with Unlock PDF.
- Converting to Word: PDF to Word, for digital PDFs. Tables normally come out as text boxes and drawn lines rather than Word tables; if that conversion fails, a second converter builds the file differently.
- Word or images to PDF: Word to PDF takes .docx, .doc, .odt and .rtf files. JPG to PDF places JPG files as they are and stores PNG files again without loss, at 8 bits per color channel, while WebP, GIF and BMP are converted to JPEG.
- PDF to images: PDF to JPG or PDF to PNG, for the pages you select, from 72 to 288 dpi.
- Editing text: Edit PDF changes lines that are already on the page and rewrites them in one of three standard fonts, with Latin letters and common Western European accents only: other letters, such as Cyrillic ones, come out as a dot. It cannot add text to a blank area, and above 4 MB it no longer detects any text.
- Signing: Sign PDF, in your browser, with a drawn, typed or imported signature and initials. The result is a visual signature only.
- Protecting and redacting: Protect PDF adds an AES-256 open password, Unlock PDF removes one you know, and Redact PDF removes the text under the areas you draw, with the form fields, comments and links they overlap, while the document title and author, bookmarks and the files attached to the document stay in the file, and the accessibility tags of a tagged PDF lose the redacted text too, except in rare cases.
- AI questions and summaries: Chat with PDF.
- Page work: Merge PDF, Split a PDF, Organize PDF, Rotate PDF, Delete PDF Pages and Extract PDF Pages.
How to switch from Smallpdf
Switching needs no installation or sign-up: open the tool you need and add your file. A few habits make the move smoother.
- Bookmark the tools you use most: each one has its own page, so you can open it directly.
- Check the file first: server tools take up to 4 MB, text tools need a digital PDF rather than a scan, and browser tools do not support a password-protected PDF, even one that opens without asking for a password.
- Expect new file names: results download as new files, such as contract_signed.pdf or contract_redacted.pdf.
- Keep an image of your signature on hand: Sign PDF imports PNG or JPEG files, and its signature library is not kept once you reload the page.
What you give up by leaving Smallpdf
Smallpdf lists several features that ProPDF does not have. Check this list before you switch.
- OCR, which Smallpdf lists for making text in scans searchable. ProPDF has no text recognition.
- Excel and PowerPoint conversions, in either direction.
- Asking other people to sign through Sign.com, which Smallpdf says tracks activity and provides a certificate of completion.
- The Windows App and the Smallpdf Mobile App: ProPDF exists only as a website.
- PDF Form Filler, Crop PDF, PDF/A conversion and Flatten PDF.
- Shapes, freehand drawing and highlighting, listed for Smallpdf's editor and annotator.
- Share links for sending a PDF to others.
What happens to your files on ProPDF
Eight tools run on our server: Compress a PDF, PDF to Word, Word to PDF, Edit PDF, Redact PDF, Protect PDF, Unlock PDF and Chat with PDF. They send your file over HTTPS to AWS in the Paris region (eu-west-3), where it is processed, then deleted as soon as the task ends.
Edit PDF sends a document of up to 4 MB in full when it opens and again after each change, so that it can detect the text blocks; a larger one is not sent. Chat with PDF sends the text it extracts back to your tab, which sends it again with each question, along with the conversation; the server keeps neither once it has answered.
Our server keeps no copy of your files or their content, and the site carries no ads. Audience-measurement cookies (Google Analytics) are set only with your consent.
Which One to Choose
For compressing, editing existing text, converting Word files, signing, protecting and page work, ProPDF can replace Smallpdf for free, as long as server jobs stay under 4 MB and the text you edit or convert is real text, not a scan. If you depend on OCR, Excel or PowerPoint conversion, signature requests or the apps, keep Smallpdf for those tasks.