Three tools, compared
Which free PDF tool do you need? One table answers it.
PDF Web Group runs three websites: PDF Shrink to compress, merge, split and rotate; PDF Conversion for PDF to Word, Excel, JPG and 35 more conversions; and PDF Protection to turn photos into an AES‑256 password‑protected PDF. Find your task in the left column and follow the mark.
Yes, in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.Yes, on the site’s server. Deleted after one hour.Not on this site.
| Task | PDF Shrinkpdfshrink.io | PDF Conversionpdfconversion.io | PDF Protectionpdfprotection.io | Fourth sitecoming later |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Make it smaller | ||||
| Compress PDF, reduce file sizeUp to 90% smaller with Light, Balanced or Strong | ||||
| Compress PDF to a target size“Under 200 KB” for portals, Premium | ||||
| Merge, split or rotate PDFCombine files, extract pages, fix orientation | ||||
| Change the format | ||||
| PDF to Word, Excel or PowerPointEditable DOCX, XLSX, PPTX | ||||
| PDF to JPG, PNG or WebPEvery page as an image | ||||
| PDF to text or MarkdownPlain text, or headings and paragraphs | ||||
| PDF to PDF/A or grayscaleArchive-ready, or black and white for print | ||||
| Word, Excel or PowerPoint to PDFDOCX, XLSX, PPTX and OpenDocument | ||||
| JPG, PNG or WebP to PDFPhotos and screenshots into one PDF | ||||
| HEIC to JPG, PNG or PDFiPhone photos to common formats | ||||
| Web page or HTML to PDFAny public URL | ||||
| EPUB, MOBI and PDF e-book conversionsEPUB to PDF, PDF to EPUB, MOBI to EPUB | ||||
| OCR a scanned PDF or photo of textMake it searchable and copyable | ||||
| Lock it | ||||
| Photos to a password-protected PDFAES-256, up to 30 images, opens only with the password | ||||
| Restrict printing, copying and editingReader permissions with an owner password | ||||
| Add a password to an existing PDFNot offered yet by any site in the family | ||||
| Good to know | ||||
| Free without an accountNo sign-up, no watermark | ||||
| Works on iPhone and AndroidSafari and Chrome, nothing to install | ||||
| Optional Premium planBatches, higher limits, unlimited server jobs | ||||
Free limits at the time of writing: PDF Shrink, one PDF up to 25 MB. PDF Conversion, unlimited browser conversions and five server jobs a day. PDF Protection, up to 30 images at 20 MB each, no daily limit.