Hey there! 👋
Welcome to the story behind PDFSmaller
The "Aha!" Moment
It all started with a simple frustration: "I just want to make my PDF smaller!"
You know the drill - you're trying to email an important document, and boom! "File too large." So you google "make PDF smaller" and find a dozen sites that want your email, your credit card, or worse - they slap a giant watermark on your document. Ugh! 😤
That's when PDFSmaller was born. The name says it all - when you just want to make your PDF... smaller! (See what we did there? 😉) But then we thought, why stop there? Let's make ALL the PDF tools people need, completely free, with absolute privacy, and zero nonsense.
Our Latest Achievement: Real PDF Encryption!
NEWWe did the impossible! Everyone said you can't do real PDF encryption in under 1MB (Cloudflare's limit). Existing libraries are 2-20MB. So what did we do?
We built our own encryption engine from scratch! Hand-crafted MD5 and RC4 implementations in just ~7KB. It's PDF Standard compliant, implements Algorithm 2 & 3 from the spec, and provides real RC4 128-bit encryption that actually prompts for passwords in any PDF reader.
While others gave up or used placeholders, we persevered and created something truly unique. This is what happens when you refuse to accept "it can't be done!" 🚀
Why We're Different (And Proud Of It!)
No BS Policy
No sign-ups, no "premium" upsells, no watermarks. Just click and go. Life's too short for complicated PDF tools.
100% Private - Your Files Never Leave Your Device
This is our core promise. Everything happens right in your browser. Your files never take a trip to our servers. We can't see them, store them, or access them in any way. It's like having a PDF workshop on your own computer - because that's exactly what it is!
Faster Than Making Coffee
No upload times = instant gratification. Most tools finish before you can say "Why do other sites make this so complicated?"
Actually, Genuinely, Truly Free
Not "free trial" free. Not "5 files per month" free. Actually free. Forever. We keep the lights on with some non-intrusive Google Ads - no popups, no overlays, no annoying interruptions. Just subtle ads that help us keep the servers running and the tools free for everyone. It's a fair trade, we think!
Fun Fact #1
Our compression algorithm is so efficient, it once made a PDF so small, we had to check if it was still there. (It was!)
Fun Fact #2
We've saved people from approximately 1 million "Please create an account to continue" pop-ups. You're welcome!
Our Promise
We'll never make you jump through hoops to use our tools. PDFs are boring enough without us making it worse!
The Goal
Make PDF tools so simple and fast that you actually forget you used them. That's when we know we've succeeded!
The Tech Stuff (For The Curious)
We use modern JavaScript libraries and browser APIs to run everything locally. Think powerful PDF libraries like PDF.js and pdf-lib doing all the heavy lifting right in your browser - it's like having Adobe Acrobat's little cousin living in your browser, except this cousin is free, doesn't need updates every week, and won't try to sell you a Creative Cloud subscription.
Everything is open-source friendly, privacy-first, and built with love (and probably too much coffee ☕).
The Scoreboard 🏆
More Free Tools from Our Team 🛠️
We love building useful tools! Check out our other 100% free web apps:
AttendanceSheeter
Create attendance sheets online instantly. Track attendance for any event or class.
TapVoter
Create secure elections in 23+ languages. Anonymous voting made simple.
PrayerCreator
Generate personalized prayers in 25+ languages. Find comfort and guidance.
CostMyMenu
Free restaurant menu price calculator. Know your costs, price for profit.
ColorZap
Zap a color, get a palette instantly. The fastest way to create beautiful color schemes.
All tools are 100% free forever • No sign-ups required • Privacy-first
Ready to Make Your PDFs Smaller?
Or bigger. Or rotated. Or merged. Or... you get the idea. 😄
Let's Go Make Some PDF Magic!P.S. - If you love what we're doing, tell your friends!
If not, tell us how to make it better. We're all ears! 👂