PDF Candy is a decent all-rounder: a long list of tools, a clean interface and no ads. The catches turn up once you use it a lot: free use is limited per hour, files above a certain size need a paid plan, there's no batch processing, and every file you drop in gets uploaded to its servers. Below are eight free alternatives, a table of exactly what PDF Candy charges for, and a tool-by-tool swap list. Most of the jobs people use it for, like merging PDFs and compressing PDFs, can be done right in your browser without uploading anything.
PDF Candy describes its free plan in words rather than numbers. As of October 2026, its pricing page lists "page and hourly restrictions", "no batch processing", "limited file size" and an operations limit on the desktop app. You don't need an account to start, but once you hit the limit it asks you to sign in or subscribe. Reviews from TechRadar and PCWorld describe the free web tier as about one task an hour. PDF Candy doesn't confirm that figure itself, so treat it as a rough guide.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | €0 | All web tools, no ads, no account to start; hourly and page limits, smaller files, no batch |
| Web Monthly | €6 a month | No hourly limit, files up to 500 MB per task, priority processing |
| Desktop + Web Yearly | €4 a month, billed yearly | Same, plus the Windows desktop app |
| Desktop + Web Lifetime | €99 once | Same, paid once |
Prices are from pdfcandy.com/pricing in October 2026. The site showed euros for us, while reviews quote the same numbers in dollars, so the currency probably depends on where you are. Plans renew automatically until you cancel.
For ordinary documents, yes. PDF Candy is run by Icecream Apps, a software company registered in Cyprus. Its security page says uploads are encrypted with 256-bit AES in transit and at rest, kept on servers in the EU and USA, and deleted automatically within 2 hours. You can also ask for earlier deletion.
The issue isn't trust in PDF Candy in particular. Any upload-based tool puts a copy of your file on someone else's server for a while. For a lease, a payslip or a medical letter, a tool that runs on your device removes that question entirely. Our guide on whether it's safe to upload PDFs online compares retention policies across the big services.
| Option | Where your file goes | Free limit | Platforms | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ToolAspect PDF tools | Stays in your browser | No file or task cap | Any browser | Merge, split, compress, OCR, sign and redact without uploading |
| PDF24 Creator | Your PC, offline | Free, including business use | Windows | A full offline toolbox, like PDF Candy Desktop with no limit |
| PDF24 Tools (online) | PDF24's EU servers, deleted after an hour | No stated limit | Any browser | The widest free toolset on one site |
| Sejda (online) | Sejda's servers | 3 tasks an hour, 200 pages or 50 MB per file | Any browser | Editing existing text in a PDF |
| iLovePDF | iLovePDF's servers, deleted within 2 hours | Varies by tool | Any browser, apps | Office conversions |
| Mac Preview | Your Mac | Free with macOS | Mac | Merging, reordering and signing on a Mac |
| LibreOffice Draw | Your computer | Free, open source | Windows, Mac, Linux | Changing text in simple PDFs |
| Stirling-PDF | A server you run yourself | Free, open source | Self-hosted | Teams that want a private toolbox |
If you liked PDF Candy Desktop but hit its operations limit, PDF24 Creator is the closest swap. It's free on Windows with no task counter and works fully offline. On a Mac, Preview handles more than most people expect: drag pages between open files to merge, and use Markup to add a signature.
| PDF Candy tool | Free swap, no upload | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Merge PDF | Merge PDF | No file cap. Pages are copied, not re-rendered |
| Split PDF | Split PDF | Custom ranges, every N pages, or one file per page |
| Compress PDF | Compress PDF | Lossless clean-up, or re-render at 72 to 300 DPI, which turns pages into images |
| PDF to JPG | PDF to JPG | JPEG or PNG at 72 to 300 DPI, multi-page as a ZIP |
| JPG to PDF | JPG to PDF | JPEGs go in untouched, so no quality loss |
| OCR | OCR PDF | Gives you a text transcript, not a searchable PDF |
| Rotate, delete, rearrange pages | Organize PDF | Drag to reorder, rotate or remove pages in one place |
| Protect / unlock PDF | PDF Password Tools | AES-256 with an open password |
| Sign PDF | Sign PDF | Draw, type or upload a signature. No audit trail |
| Add watermark | Watermark PDF | Text stamps like DRAFT or CONFIDENTIAL |
| PDF to Word | Microsoft Word or LibreOffice | Open the PDF directly. Simple layouts convert well; columns and tables may shift |
The yearly plan works out to about €48 a year. That's good value if you're on Windows, process PDFs most days, and like having one interface for everything, including the desktop app. It's also a fair pick if you regularly handle files bigger than free tools manage comfortably, since paid tasks go up to 500 MB.
It's harder to justify if your work is mostly merge, split and compress. Those are exactly the jobs free browser tools do without limits. If you're thinking about the lifetime plan, check how often you've actually hit the hourly cap in the last month. Twice? Wait an hour. Twice a day? The €99 might pay for itself.
Open the tool, then turn off Wi-Fi or unplug your network cable. If the tool still processes your file, it's working on your device. For a closer look, press F12, open the Network tab and drop in a PDF. An upload shows up as a request roughly the size of your file. Browser-based tools load their code once and then work offline.
Partly. Every tool works without an account, but free use comes with hourly and page limits, a smaller file size cap and no batch processing. PDF Candy's pricing page doesn't publish the exact numbers. Paid plans start at €6 or $6 a month depending on where you are, and remove the hourly limit.
It's a legitimate service run by Icecream Apps, a company based in Cyprus. Its security page says files are encrypted in transit and at rest, stored on servers in the EU and USA, and deleted automatically within 2 hours. That's reasonable for everyday files, but for tax, medical or ID documents a tool that never uploads is the safer choice.
Not of the desktop app. PDF Candy Desktop is for Windows only, from Windows 7 to 11. Mac and Linux users can use the website or switch to a browser tool that works offline, or Preview on a Mac.
Only if you're on Windows and use PDF Candy most weeks. The €99 lifetime plan covers the desktop app and the website. If you mainly merge, split and compress, free tools do the same jobs without a limit, so you'd be paying for convenience rather than features.
Not to start. PDF Candy says every tool works without registration, and the free tier needs no account. Once you reach the free usage limit, it asks you to sign in with Google, Apple or email, or to subscribe, before you can carry on.