Free PDF Tools.
No upload required.
Convert images to PDF, merge, split, compress, and convert PDFs to JPG — all entirely in your browser. Your files never leave your device. No accounts. No daily limits. No watermarks.
Everything you need to work with PDFs
Built different — no uploads, no limits
No upload — ever
Smallpdf and iLovePDF upload your files to their servers. We don't have a server. Every tool runs in your browser using JavaScript. Your contracts, IDs, and personal files stay on your device.
Faster than server tools
No upload queue. No rate limits. No waiting. Processing happens at native browser speed — typically under 3 seconds. Works even on a slow or offline connection once the page loads.
Truly free — no catch
No account. No daily task limits. No watermarks. No "premium" upsell. Smallpdf allows 2 tasks/day free. iLovePDF has file size caps and ads. We have none of that.
Works on any device
Mobile-first design. On phones, pick files from your gallery or camera. No app to install. Works on iOS Safari, Chrome Android, and all desktop browsers.
Works offline
Once loaded, these tools keep working without a network connection. On a plane, on a train, no signal — your files still convert and merge instantly.
Transparent & auditable
Built on open-source libraries: pdf-lib, pdf.js, JSZip. Open your browser's network tab while using any tool — you'll see zero upload activity. We have nothing to hide because there's nothing to hide.
How we compare to Smallpdf and iLovePDF
Data based on published terms and free-tier documentation as of 2025.
| Feature | Fast Private PDF ✦ | Smallpdf | iLovePDF |
|---|---|---|---|
| Files uploaded to server? | ✓ Never | ✗ Yes | ✗ Yes |
| Daily task limit | ✓ Unlimited | ✗ 2/day free | ~ Limited |
| Watermarks on output? | ✓ None | ✗ On some tools | ✗ On some tools |
| Account required? | ✓ No signup | ✗ Email needed | ✗ Email needed |
| Works offline? | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | ✗ No |
| File size limit? | ✓ Device RAM only | ✗ 5MB free | ✗ 200MB |
| Price | ✓ Free forever | $7/month for full access | $4/month for full access |
What people use this for every day
Job applications
Combine your CV, cover letter, and references into one PDF. Merge them, then compress if the portal has a file size limit.
Sharing scanned receipts
Phone scans come out as separate JPGs. Use Image → PDF to combine them, then compress to fit email attachment limits.
Sharing one page of a contract
Split the PDF to extract just the page you need. Send that page without exposing the full document.
Posting PDF pages on chat
WhatsApp and Slack render images better than PDFs. Convert PDF pages to JPG for easier sharing.
Government portal uploads
Bank and government sites often cap uploads at 2–5 MB. Compress your PDF locally before uploading — without handing it to a third party first.
Combining signed documents
Print, sign, scan, then merge the signed pages back with the original. All locally, all private.
Why browser-based PDF tools matter for privacy
PDFs are the documents people care about most: contracts, tax returns, salary slips, scanned IDs, medical records, bank statements, signed agreements. These aren't casual files — they're the ones you'd hesitate to email to a stranger. Yet almost every "free online PDF tool" works by doing exactly that: uploading your file to a server you don't control, processing it there, and sending the result back.
The companies running these servers delete files eventually — usually within a few hours. But "eventually" isn't the same as "immediately," and "deleted" doesn't mean it wasn't logged, cached, or seen. When Smallpdf, iLovePDF, Sejda, or any similar service processes your PDF, a copy of that file exists on their infrastructure for some window of time. For a utility bill, that's fine. For a tax return or a signed NDA, it's a meaningful risk most people don't think about until it's too late.
How browser-based processing actually works
Fast Private PDF Tools is built differently. Every tool on this site runs entirely inside your web browser using three open-source JavaScript libraries: pdf-lib for creating and modifying PDFs, pdf.js (Mozilla's own PDF renderer) for reading and rendering documents, and JSZip for bundling multi-file exports. These libraries are downloaded once from a CDN when you first visit the page, then run locally in your browser tab.
When you drop a file into one of our tools, it's read into your browser's memory using the standard JavaScript File API. The library processes it — converting, merging, splitting, or compressing — entirely on your CPU. The output is then saved directly to your device's downloads folder via the browser's native download mechanism. At no point does any byte of your document transit the network to any server we control.
This isn't a claim you have to take on faith. Open your browser's developer tools (F12 → Network tab), drop a PDF into any tool, and run the conversion. You'll see the CDN library loads on first use — but zero file upload activity. The bytes that make up your document never leave your machine.
The practical benefits beyond privacy
The architecture has advantages that go well beyond privacy. Because there's no upload step, conversions are significantly faster — you're not waiting for a file to travel to a data centre and back. A 10 MB PDF that takes Smallpdf 15-20 seconds to process (upload + convert + download) typically processes in under 3 seconds locally. The tools also work offline after the page loads once — useful on flights, trains, or anywhere with a slow or unreliable connection. And because there's no server infrastructure to pay for, there are no rate limits, no daily task caps, and no file size restrictions beyond what your device's RAM can handle.
What you genuinely can't do in a browser
Honest disclosure matters here. There are PDF tasks that currently require server-side processing to do well: full text-layer-preserving compression (true Ghostscript-style), OCR on scanned documents, and PDF-to-Word conversion with accurate layout reconstruction. Our compress tool uses a rasterization approach — pages are re-rendered as images, which achieves excellent file size reduction but means the text in compressed files is no longer searchable or selectable. For contracts or documents where you need to copy-paste text later, keep your original. For documents you're sending as a read-only attachment, the compressed version is fine.
How this compares to Smallpdf and iLovePDF
Smallpdf is a polished product with 39 million monthly visitors and an authority score of 82. iLovePDF is similarly established. Both are good tools for non-sensitive documents. But their free tiers are designed as funnels: Smallpdf's free plan allows 2 tasks per day before hitting a paywall; iLovePDF caps file sizes and shows ads. More importantly, both require your files to pass through their servers. If you need a Smallpdf alternative with no daily limits, or an iLovePDF alternative that doesn't upload your files, this is the answer. Five tools, genuinely free, no task limits, no watermarks, no server upload — ever.
You can merge PDFs, split and extract pages, compress for email, convert images to PDF, and export pages as images — all without an account, all without a file size cap, all without a single byte of your document leaving your browser.
Common questions, answered honestly
We get asked these a lot. Here are complete, direct answers — no marketing fluff.
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Yes, genuinely free. All five tools — Image to PDF, Merge PDF, Split PDF, Compress PDF, and PDF to JPG — are free with no signup, no daily task limits, and no watermarks on any output. There is no premium tier, no "pro" version that unlocks features, and no subscription. We don't even ask for your email. The site is free because it runs entirely in your browser — we have no server costs to cover from processing your files, so there's nothing to charge you for.
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No upload happens. Here's exactly what does happen: when you drop a file into one of our tools, your browser reads it into local memory using the JavaScript File API — the same way a local app would read a file. The open-source library (pdf-lib, pdf.js, or JSZip depending on the tool) then processes it on your CPU, entirely inside your browser tab. The result is saved to your device via the browser's native download mechanism. At no point does any part of your file leave your machine. You can verify this: open your browser's Network tab (F12) while running a conversion and watch the traffic. You'll see zero upload requests to any server.
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It's gone. Because your file is only ever held in your browser's memory (RAM), closing the tab or navigating away frees that memory immediately. There's no temporary storage, no cloud cache, no "recently processed files" list anywhere on our end. We have no technical ability to retrieve a file after you've closed the page — because we never had it in the first place. Your downloaded output file is just a normal file on your device, same as if you'd created it with a local app.
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The fundamental difference is architecture. Smallpdf, iLovePDF, Sejda, Adobe Acrobat Online, and virtually every other browser-based PDF tool process your files on their servers. Your document is uploaded, held on their infrastructure while processing, then deleted after some retention period (anywhere from 1 hour to several days). Their free tiers also impose limits: Smallpdf allows 2 tasks per day before requiring payment; iLovePDF caps file sizes and shows ads. Fast Private PDF Tools has no server involvement in file processing at all — no upload means no retention, no deletion policy to trust, no data breach exposure. Processing is also faster (no upload latency) and works offline. We have no daily limits and no watermarks.
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Yes, fully. The site is mobile-first and tested on iOS Safari, Chrome for Android, and Samsung Internet. On phones, tapping "Browse files" opens your native file picker — you can select PDFs and images from your Files app, Photos app, Downloads folder, or camera roll. The entire workflow (upload, reorder, process, download) works on a phone with no app installation. One note: very large PDFs (100+ pages, or high-resolution) may take longer on phones because mobile CPUs are less powerful than laptops. For typical documents it's fast.
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Yes, after the page has loaded once. The tool pages load the JavaScript libraries (pdf-lib, pdf.js, JSZip) from CDN on first visit. Once those are cached by your browser, you don't need an internet connection to process files. You can convert images to PDF, merge documents, or split files on a plane, train, or anywhere with no signal. The only thing that requires a connection is loading the page for the first time, or if your browser clears its cache.
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No hard limit is imposed by the tools. The practical limit is your device's available RAM. In practice: a modern laptop with 8 GB RAM can easily handle PDFs with hundreds of pages or dozens of high-resolution images. A phone with 4 GB RAM handles typical documents (10-50 pages) without issue. If a file is genuinely too large for your device, your browser will slow down noticeably — treat that as the natural signal. Most everyday PDF tasks (merging a handful of documents, compressing a scanned form, converting a few photos) are well within any device's capacity.
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The compress tool uses a rasterization approach: each page is rendered to a canvas at the resolution of your chosen preset, then re-encoded as a JPEG image, and the resulting images are assembled into a new PDF. This produces significant file size reduction — typically 50–80% smaller — but the text in the output becomes part of the image rather than selectable text. The document looks identical at normal viewing zoom on all three presets. At high zoom, "Best Quality" remains sharp; "Smallest Size" will show some JPEG compression artifacts. The compressed PDF is still fully printable and shareable — it just isn't text-searchable. If you need copy-paste to work, keep your original file. If you're attaching something to an email or uploading to a portal, the compressed version is ideal.
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The Image to PDF tool supports JPG/JPEG and PNG files. These cover the vast majority of phone photos, screenshots, and scanned documents. HEIC (the default iPhone photo format) is not currently supported — if your iPhone photos aren't showing up, check your Camera settings under Settings → Camera → Formats and switch from "High Efficiency" to "Most Compatible" to shoot in JPG. You can also share photos from your iPhone's Photos app directly to a browser tab where they'll be converted to JPG automatically.
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No — password-protected (encrypted) PDFs cannot be merged, split, or compressed until they're unlocked. When you try to process an encrypted PDF, the tool will show an error message identifying which file is the problem. To fix this: open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Reader, your phone's PDF viewer, or any PDF app that can open it with the password, then re-save or export it without password protection. Once unlocked, it'll work normally with all our tools.
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The Split PDF tool accepts comma-separated page numbers and ranges. Some examples: 1-5 extracts pages 1 through 5. 1, 3, 7 extracts those three specific pages. 1-3, 7, 10-12 extracts pages 1, 2, 3, 7, 10, 11, 12. The order you list pages is the order they appear in the output PDF — so 5, 1, 3 gives you a 3-page PDF with page 5 first, then page 1, then page 3. Reverse ranges work too: 10-1 extracts pages 10 down to 1, effectively reversing a 10-page document. If you enter a page number that doesn't exist, you'll get a clear error message.