Alternatives to PDF Candy

Xodo, a PDF toolset from Apryse, runs in the browser and as a desktop editor called PDF Studio for Windows, macOS and Linux. The web tools cover merging, splitting, compressing, editing and converting PDFs, including PDF to Word and OCR, while the desktop editor works fully offline. Free use on the web is limited to one action a day, and the full tools need a paid plan or a short trial that asks for a payment method.

Shared requirement: Merge, Split or Compress PDF · Convert PDF · E-sign Documents

Only the tasks below are shared; other capabilities do not follow from this match.

Same platform: Website → Website

Recorded facts for this choice

Neither side has verified data for these fields, so equality cannot be inferred. No watermark.

Check the official page for current quotas and output conditions. Check each tool’s plan separately; one feature’s allowance does not cover another.

PDFgear is a free desktop app and online toolkit for editing, merging, splitting, compressing and converting PDFs to Word, Excel, PowerPoint or JPG.

Shared requirement: Merge, Split or Compress PDF · Convert PDF

Only the tasks below are shared; other capabilities do not follow from this match.

Tasks listed only for PDF Candy: E-sign Documents

Same platform: Website → Website

Recorded facts for this choice

Confirmed on both sides with the same value: Free output · No account needed · Works offline · Batch processing.

Neither side has verified data for these fields, so equality cannot be inferred. No watermark.

Verify file formats, size limits and language support in the official plan. Check the official page for current quotas and output conditions.

Sejda offers PDF tools for merging, splitting, compressing, editing and converting to Word, Excel or JPG in the browser or a desktop app.

Shared requirement: Merge, Split or Compress PDF · Convert PDF

Only the tasks below are shared; other capabilities do not follow from this match.

Tasks listed only for PDF Candy: E-sign Documents

Same platform: Website → Website

Recorded facts for this choice

Confirmed on both sides with the same value: Free output · No account needed · Works offline.

Neither side has verified data for these fields, so equality cannot be inferred. No watermark.

Check the official page for current quotas and output conditions. Verify file formats, size limits and language support in the official plan.

PDFsam Basic is a free, open-source desktop app for merging, splitting, extracting, rotating and mixing the pages of PDF files on your own computer.

Shared requirement: Merge, Split or Compress PDF

Only the tasks below are shared; other capabilities do not follow from this match.

Tasks listed only for PDF Candy: Convert PDF

Same platform: Desktop → Desktop

Recorded facts for this choice

Confirmed on both sides with the same value: Free output · Works offline.

Neither side has verified data for these fields, so equality cannot be inferred. No account needed · Batch processing.

Requires desktop installation.

Stirling PDF is an open-source PDF platform with dozens of tools such as merge, split, compress, sign, redact, convert and OCR, available as a desktop app or on your own server.

Shared requirement: Merge, Split or Compress PDF

Only the tasks below are shared; other capabilities do not follow from this match.

Tasks listed only for PDF Candy: Convert PDF

Same platform: Desktop → Desktop

Recorded facts for this choice

Confirmed on both sides with the same value: Free output.

Neither side has verified data for these fields, so equality cannot be inferred. No watermark · Batch processing.

Requires desktop installation. Check each tool’s plan separately; one feature’s allowance does not cover another.

TinyWow is a multi-tool website with dozens of PDF, image, video and file conversion tools in the browser, usable without registration, plus an optional paid plan.

Shared requirement: Merge, Split or Compress PDF

Only the tasks below are shared; other capabilities do not follow from this match.

Tasks listed only for PDF Candy: Convert PDF · E-sign Documents

Same platform: Website → Website · Merge PDF

Recorded facts for this choice

Confirmed on both sides with the same value: Free output · No account needed · Works offline.

Neither side has verified data for these fields, so equality cannot be inferred. No watermark.

Check each tool’s plan separately; one feature’s allowance does not cover another. Check the official page for current quotas and output conditions.

Ask a PDF questions and summarize specific sections.

Shared requirement: Merge, Split or Compress PDF

Only the tasks below are shared; other capabilities do not follow from this match.

Tasks listed only for PDF Candy: Convert PDF · E-sign Documents

Same platform: Website → Website · Merge PDF

Recorded facts for this choice

Check each tool’s plan separately; one feature’s allowance does not cover another. Check the official page for current quotas and output conditions.

Turn text in scanned PDFs into searchable, selectable content.

Shared requirement: Merge, Split or Compress PDF

Only the tasks below are shared; other capabilities do not follow from this match.

Tasks listed only for PDF Candy: Convert PDF · E-sign Documents

Same platform: Website → Website · Merge PDF

Recorded facts for this choice

Neither side has verified data for these fields, so equality cannot be inferred. No watermark.

Check each tool’s plan separately; one feature’s allowance does not cover another. Check the official page for current quotas and output conditions.

Turn scanned PDFs and photos into searchable documents with OCR.

Shared requirement: Merge, Split or Compress PDF

Only the tasks below are shared; other capabilities do not follow from this match.

Tasks listed only for PDF Candy: Convert PDF · E-sign Documents

Same platform: Website → Website · Merge PDF

Recorded facts for this choice

Confirmed on both sides with the same value: Free output · No account needed.

Neither side has verified data for these fields, so equality cannot be inferred. No watermark.

Check each tool’s plan separately; one feature’s allowance does not cover another. Check the official page for current quotas and output conditions.

Find the main points of long PDFs with concise summaries.

Shared requirement: Merge, Split or Compress PDF

Only the tasks below are shared; other capabilities do not follow from this match.

Tasks listed only for PDF Candy: Convert PDF · E-sign Documents

Same platform: Website → Website · Merge PDF

Recorded facts for this choice

Neither side has verified data for these fields, so equality cannot be inferred. No watermark.

Check each tool’s plan separately; one feature’s allowance does not cover another. Check the official page for current quotas and output conditions.

CloudConvert is an online file converter that handles more than 200 formats in the browser, including PDF to Word, with a daily free credit allowance.

Shared requirement: Convert PDF

Only the tasks below are shared; other capabilities do not follow from this match.

Tasks listed only for PDF Candy: Merge, Split or Compress PDF · E-sign Documents

Same platform: Website → Website

Recorded facts for this choice

Confirmed on both sides with the same value: Free output · Works offline.

Neither side has verified data for these fields, so equality cannot be inferred. No watermark.

Check the official page for current quotas and output conditions. Verify file formats, size limits and language support in the official plan.

Convertio converts documents such as PDF, DOCX, XLSX, ODT and RTF in the browser, with nothing to install. Its document page says conversion is free without an account; the upload area shows a 1 GB limit and premium plans raise limits and speed. The site says uploads are erased right away and converted files after 24 hours; scanned PDFs need the separate OCR feature.

Shared requirement: Convert PDF

Only the tasks below are shared; other capabilities do not follow from this match.

Tasks listed only for PDF Candy: Merge, Split or Compress PDF · E-sign Documents

Same platform: Website → Website

Recorded facts for this choice

Confirmed on both sides with the same value: Free output · No account needed · Works offline.

Neither side has verified data for these fields, so equality cannot be inferred. No watermark.

Verify file formats, size limits and language support in the official plan.

Docusign eSignature lets you send agreements for electronic signature from the browser, track their status and reuse templates; the signing side works on any device and signers do not need an account. You can start with a free trial and then choose a paid plan, and the lowest paid plan limits how many signature requests (Docusign calls them envelopes) you can send each month. Docusign also offers agreement-management products, but this record covers only eSignature.

Shared requirement: E-sign Documents

Only the tasks below are shared; other capabilities do not follow from this match.

Tasks listed only for PDF Candy: Merge, Split or Compress PDF · Convert PDF

Same platform: Website → Website

Recorded facts for this choice

Neither side has verified data for these fields, so equality cannot be inferred. No watermark.

Check the official page for current quotas and output conditions. Check each tool’s plan separately; one feature’s allowance does not cover another.

Dropbox Sign is Dropbox's web service for sending documents out for electronic signature: you choose a file, add signers and signature fields, send the request, and the signed copy can be saved automatically to a connected storage account. Recipients can sign without creating an account. You start with a 30-day free trial and then continue on a paid plan; Essentials is for individuals, Standard for small teams and Premium for large teams on a custom quote.

Shared requirement: E-sign Documents

Only the tasks below are shared; other capabilities do not follow from this match.

Tasks listed only for PDF Candy: Merge, Split or Compress PDF · Convert PDF

Same platform: Website → Website

Recorded facts for this choice

Neither side has verified data for these fields, so equality cannot be inferred. No watermark.

Check each tool’s plan separately; one feature’s allowance does not cover another.

LibreOffice is the free, open-source office suite of The Document Foundation for Windows, macOS and Linux. Its help documents exporting Writer and Draw files to PDF with page range, encryption and PDF version options, also from the command line. Use it to save your own documents as PDF; to turn an existing PDF into Word or Excel, look at PDF-focused converters instead.

Shared requirement: Convert PDF

Only the tasks below are shared; other capabilities do not follow from this match.

Tasks listed only for PDF Candy: Merge, Split or Compress PDF

Same platform: Desktop → Desktop

Recorded facts for this choice

Confirmed on both sides with the same value: Free output.

Neither side has verified data for these fields, so equality cannot be inferred. No account needed · No watermark · Batch processing.

Requires desktop installation.

Xodo Sign (formerly eversign), a product of eversign GmbH, lets you send documents for electronic signature from the browser, place signature fields and track who has signed. The Free plan allows up to five documents a month, paid plans lift that limit, and recipients can sign without a paid seat or an account. The Professional plan adds advanced PDF editing such as redaction and annotation.

Shared requirement: E-sign Documents

Only the tasks below are shared; other capabilities do not follow from this match.

Tasks listed only for PDF Candy: Merge, Split or Compress PDF · Convert PDF

Same platform: Website → Website

Recorded facts for this choice

Confirmed on both sides with the same value: Free output.

Neither side has verified data for these fields, so equality cannot be inferred. No watermark.

Check the official page for current quotas and output conditions.