About pdfia

Why pdfia exists

Most online PDF tools work the same way: you upload your document to a stranger's server, wait in a queue, hit a paywall or a watermark, and hope your file gets deleted afterwards. That always struck us as backwards — modern browsers are more than powerful enough to do this work themselves.

So pdfia takes the opposite approach. Every tool on this site runsentirely in your browser using JavaScript and WebAssembly. Your files never leave your device. There's nothing to sign up for, no watermarks, no file-count limits, and no "Pro" upsell blocking basic features. It's fast because there's no upload — and private because there's no server involved at all.

What you can do here

pdfia covers the everyday PDF workload:merge,split,compress,reorder,rotate, andcrop pages; convertPDF to images andimages to PDF; addwatermarks andpage numbers; extracttext; and editmetadata — eighteen tools and counting, all free.

We also believe the next wave of PDF work will be done by AI assistants, so pdfia ships a free REST API and MCP server that lets any AI agent merge, split, watermark, and edit PDFs programmatically — no API key required.

Our promises

• Private by architecture. Browser tools can't leak files we never receive. See our privacy policy.
• Free means free. No watermarks, no sign-up walls, no artificial limits on core tools.
• No dark patterns. No fake progress bars, no "premium" countdown timers, no nag screens.
• Honest guides. Our guides compare alternatives fairly, including when a competitor is the better fit.

Contact

Questions, bug reports, or a tool you wish existed? Email[email protected] — a human reads every message.

How it's built

pdfia is a static site — plain HTML with small, focused tool scripts built on open-source libraries (pdf-liband PDF.js). No frameworks loading megabytes of JavaScript, no trackers, no ads. The whole site is designed to load in under a second and get out of your way.