With the dependency on technology, paperwork has been reduced to a great extent, and PDF formats have gained immense popularity owing to their portability, convenience, and ease of use. Now, if you work with PDF files regularly, you may need a competent PDF editor to manage, edit, and collaborate on your assignments. Smallpdf is one such solution to common PDF-related challenges.
If you are dicey using the software, we are here to help you with a detailed Smallpdf review to help you evaluate its features and see if it fits your budget and needs. Let's check out its features, functions, pros, cons, mobile app, and price to see if its offerings are enough to meet your requirements. Stay in for a knowledgeable read.
Getting to Know Smallpdf
Smallpdf Overview
The award-winning company, Smallpdf, was made in Switzerland in 2013 to provide users with simple, secure, and reliable PDF software. Its sole mission was to solve the world's PDF challenges and make working with them more accessible. It offers a suite of clever document management tools for home, work, and life and has removed unnecessary features to focus only on improving user experience. Currently, Smallpdf boasts serving over a billion users and is used in 1000,000 different organizations across the world in 24 different languages.
Smallpdf has become a versatile solution for users looking to streamline their PDF management tasks. With its convenient features and ease of use, users have found numerous valuable use cases for this online application. It can convert multiple file formats to PDF and vice-versa. Moreover, integration support with Dropbox and Google Drive has allowed dynamic and smooth PDF processes to access and manipulate documents easily.
Smallpdf Pricing
Smallpdf offers a free trial to new users. But it also has three pricing editions, from $0 to $108, including a free/freemium version. Look at the different pricing editions below to find out which one is right for you.
| Price Plans | Duration | Features |
| Free | $0/month |
|
| Pro (Single user) |
Monthly:$12/user Yearly: $108/user |
|
| Team (2 - 14 users) |
Monthly: $10/user Yearly: $84/user |
|
| Business | Price varies according to the custom plan |
|
Smallpdf Features
Smallpdf offers a collection of top-notch process digital documents and streamlines your workflow seamlessly. Some of these are:
- Convert and compress documents for easier management of PDF documents
- Fill in forms, digitally sign contracts, request e-signatures, and track your document at every step
- Edit and work directly on your file
- Manage documents to keep them organized in one place
- Available as a web version, Windows app, and mobile app
- Offers 21 PDF tools to start, manage, and finish the work with digital documents, such as
- Compress PDF: Reduce your PDF size without affecting the quality.
- PDF Converter: Converts Word, PowerPoint, and Excel files to and from PDF.
- PPT/JPG/Excel/Word to and from PDF: Convert PowerPoint presentations, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and transform JPG/PNG/GIF/BMP and TIFF images to PDF documents and vice-versa.
- PDF Reader: Helps display, print, and share PDFs online.
- Edit PDF: Easily add text, shapes, images, and freehand annotations to your PDF.
- Rotate PDF: Quickly rotate one or all pages in PDF.
- Number Pages: Insert page numbers in PDF.
- Merge and Split PDFs: Combine multiple PDFs in one unified document and extract pages from PDF to save each page as an individual PDF.
- Delete PDF Pages: Remove one or multiple PDF pages.
- eSign PDF: Create your signature and sign the PDF.
- Protect PDF: This lets you add a password and encrypt your PDF file.
- Unlock PDF: Remove password, encryption, and permission from PDF.
- PDF Scanner: Create PDFs from scans on your mobile.
These features help save time and enable you to work seamlessly and smartly with the documents with improved productivity.
Smallpdf Mobile App
Smallpdf's mobile application is available on the Play Store and App Store for assistance to Android and iOS users in organizing and managing PDF files and documents. The app helps you seamlessly access PDF files and documents on your smartphone and activate reading mode for easier reading. It even syncs scans to the online Smallpdf file storage service and helps email or send PDF scans to different apps like Gmail, WhatsApp, or Viber.
Features and Functionality
- Compress PDF between 40% to 75%
- Convert PDF to Word/Excel/PPT/JPG
- Convert PPT/Word/Excel/JPG to PDF
- Scan, edit, and rotate the PDF
- Merge PDF files and delete PDF pages
- Create a scanned PDF
- Sign a copy
Though the Smallpdf app is pleasant to use but, compared to the web version, the experience is not very satisfying as the app has its own share of pros and cons.
Pros
- Simple installation
- Wide range of functions for various PDF tasks
- Converts PDF files into several formats
- Merge several PDF files into one
- Compress files to reduce size
Cons
- Limited in free mode
- Consumes more internet
- The problem of data confidentiality
- Limits features and document size
Security and Privacy
Smallpdf is the most visited website in Switzerland. It processes 100+ million monthly tasks of 40+ million monthly users' PDFs, so it is essential to follow appropriate security measures and protect user data and documents.
Besides the basic PDF editing and management tools, Smallpdf employs password protection to encrypt users' essential PDF files and documents. Users can add a strong password and safely encrypt their critical PDF files. This way, no unauthorized person can see the hidden content unless it is unlocked and the permission is removed.
Also, Smallpdf is ISO 27001 certified and GDPR and eIDAS compliant. It has advanced TLS encryption for file transfer security to enable free and paid users to store their documents online using the file storage service, which can be disabled anytime.
User Interface and User Experience
The user-friendliness of the Smallpdf website and its various tools is beyond excellence. SmallPDF has a cloud-based platform, yet it also has an iOS app, an Android app, a Scanning app, and a Windows app. Unfortunately, Smallpdf for macOS app is no longer supported since 1st October 2021. But there are Dropbox apps, G Suite apps, and a Google Chrome extension for using the software.
While using Smallpdf, you may get slightly confused about where everything is as the interface appears as if things were in a convoluted place. But once your hands are set on the software, it works well. However, the same issue will arise when working with a new tool. You can find a place to integrate Smallpdf via a PDF embedded in any website, allowing you to quickly view, work with, and download PDFs via the program.
Pros and Cons
Smallpdf is a lightweight PDF document management and editing tool for desktop and mobile devices with many PDF tools for converting, compressing, and editing digital documents. But it has its bits of advantages and disadvantages. Look at its pros and cons to make an informed decision if you are planning to use or purchase a Pro plan of Smallpdf.
Pros
- Converts PDF to and from PDF easily
- Intuitive and well-organized interface
- User-friendly and simple online-first design software
- Drag and drop functionality
- Offers basic PDF editing functions
- It is easy to select and extract specific pages from the PDF and merge them together
- Protecting files with passwords
- Converts, merges, and deletes pages from a PDF
Cons
- Annoying ads on pages and difficulty in subscription cancellation
- The free version has limited features for advanced users
- Error in mathematical formulas and symbols when converting a PDF file to Word or PPT
- Requires an internet connection to use, and some data is lost during the conversion
- Picture quality gets disturbed while compressing files, and file size becomes large while merging
- Security concerns while uploading documents with personal information
- Unresponsive customer support team
Bonus Part: Smallpdf Alternative
SwifDoo PDF is a versatile and reliable PDF editor and a supreme alternative to Smallpdf. Its competitive functions make it stand on par with modern PDF tools and editors.
SwifDoo PDF offers ease of reading, editing, and managing documents in the popular PDF format. It provides a comprehensive toolkit to handle all types of PDF-related tasks with ease. The program lets you create, edit, convert, merge/split, compress, annotate, and sign PDFs. Using the software, you can add content and graphics to your document and make a high-quality report or presentation.
Exclusive Features
- Enables PDF management and integrates document annotation
- Translates PDF files into different languages
- View PDF files in Dark, Presentation, and Full-Screen mode
- Convert text to speech for increased convenience and accessibility
- eSign and security features
- Read out loud for multitasking
- Performs characters, words, lines, and page count in the PDF document
But that's not it. You must instead get a first-hand experience of the feature-packed software by downloading and using the SwifDoo PDF program yourself to enjoy its unparalleled performance and powerful features. Undoubtedly, it is an excellent choice for anyone looking for a full-featured tool for editing and managing PDF files efficiently. Moreover, SwifDoo PDF for iOS is also worth trying.
Final Verdict
As the name suggests, Smallpdf is a lightweight software best suited for basic PDF conversion and editing needs on the go. You may have gone through the pros and cons of the software and would have known by now that it is not a perfect and elaborative PDF editor. But still, it manages to lure users with its pretty good price and toolset.
We have discussed every element in the Smallpdf review in deep detail, like features, tools, mobile app, user interface, security measures, and price plans, to offer you a balanced assessment and help you make a rational decision. We found the software relatively good for individuals and small teams/businesses running low on budget to manage their simple day-to-day PDF files and documents. However, users with advanced needs can switch to a reliable Smallpdf alternative.
- Annotate PDFs by adding notes, bookmarks, etc.
- Convert PDFs to Word, Excel, and other editable files
- Edit, compress, organize, and split PDFs
- Compare PDF files hassle-free
Monica