PDFgear vs Smallpdf
We give PDFgear a 3.4 GPA and Smallpdf a 2.6, out of 4.0. PDFgear grades higher on value for money, the free plan and features. Smallpdf grades higher on ease of use. They get the same grade on platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Smallpdf
30-plus PDF tools in the browser, with Windows and mobile apps
Free plan
How we grade them
| 3.4GPAPDFgearVery good | 2.6GPASmallpdfGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | ANothing to pay, and it edits existing text, converts, OCRs and has AI. The maker says investment pays for it, not ads or selling data. Hard to beat free for a full editor, though some advanced bits may become paid later. | CNo confirmed dollar price: the pricing page fills prices in by location. Smallpdf's own comparison page puts Pro at $9 to $12 a month, which would sit in the normal range. With nothing confirmed, it's a C. |
| Free plan and trial | AEvery feature on every platform, with no signup, no ads and no caps on record. A free tool that edits text properly is rare in this category. | CA free plan with all 30-plus tools, but downloads are capped each day and text editing needs Pro. Fine for the odd job, not regular use. The 7-day Pro trial drops you back to free if you cancel. |
| Features | BEdits text, images and form fields like a word processor, batch-converts to Office, OCRs in 30-plus languages, annotates and has an AI copilot. It covers the whole job. Sending for signature is on eSignGear, its separate site. | CConverts, compresses, merges, and on Pro edits text and OCRs, with AI tools and Sign.com for sending to sign. Everyday jobs are well covered. But no form builder or redaction is on record, and the Windows app converts and merges rather than edits. |
| Ease of use | BNo store rating on record. No account to make and nothing to set up: install it and start editing. | A4.84 from 6,891 App Store ratings, about as good as it gets. Drop a file in the browser, pick a tool, download. No setup at all. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWindows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android, the web and a browser extension. That's everywhere bar Linux, but integrations stop at ChatGPT and its own eSignGear, so no top grade. | BWeb, Windows, iPhone, Android and a browser extension. Integrations are thin, though: Google Workspace and Dropbox, plus its own Sign.com. And Mac users get the browser only. |
| Best for | a full PDF editor that costs nothing | quick PDF jobs in the browser |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: PDFgear and Smallpdf. How we grade
Where they differ
- Only PDFgear lists a macOS app.
- PDFgear also covers forms.
In commonFree planWindowsiOSAndroidWebBrowser extensionAI featuresPDF editing
At a glance
| PDFgear | Smallpdf | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | Not published |
| Free plan | Every feature is free on every platform with no signup; the maker says it shows no ads, does not sell data and covers its costs with investment. | The 30+ tools with a daily download limit, basic compression, limited AI and mobile app use, and a Sign.com account for 2 documents a month. |
| Free trial | None listed | 7-day free trial of Pro; cancelling returns the account to the free plan |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | PDF Gear Tech Pte. Ltd. | Smallpdf AG |
| Price read from | pdfgear.com | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
PDFgear
- Anyone who wants a full PDF editor without paying or signing up
- Windows and Mac users replacing a paid editor for everyday edits
- People who want to ask questions of long PDFs with built-in AI
Smallpdf
- People who convert or shrink a PDF now and then in the browser
- Small teams that want PDF tools and e-signatures in one subscription
- Windows users who need PDF tools that work offline
Worth knowing
PDFgear
- PDFgear says most features will stay free but some advanced options, such as cloud AI tools and special conversions, may become paid.
- Some advanced conversions upload files to its Amazon cloud servers; the maker says they are deleted straight after processing.
- There is no Linux version; the apps cover Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad and Android.
- It is a young product: the first version came out in 2022.
Smallpdf
- US dollar prices could not be read: the pricing page fills them in by location. Smallpdf's own comparison page gives Pro as $9 to $12 a month.
- The same comparison page gives Teams, for 2 to 19 seats, as $7 to $10 per seat a month; 20 or more seats are quoted by sales.
- The free plan limits downloads each day, so regular use of any tool needs Pro.
- The desktop app is for Windows only; Mac users work in the browser.
Key features
PDFgear
- Text and image editing
- Edits existing text, images, shapes, links, signatures and fillable form fields in a PDF, much like a word processor.
- Batch conversion
- Converts between PDF and Word, Excel, PowerPoint, text and images, with a batch mode for many files at once.
- OCR
- Pulls text out of scanned pages and turns scans into editable Word or text files, in more than 30 languages.
- AI copilot
- Answers questions about a document and summarizes it; the maker says it pays for the ChatGPT API behind it from its own funding.
- Annotation
- Highlight, underline and strike through text, and add notes, comments, stamps, shapes and text boxes.
- Online tools and eSignGear
- Browser tools for editing, merging, splitting, compressing and signing, plus eSignGear, a separate site for sending documents for e-signature.
Smallpdf
- Convert and compress
- Converts PDFs to and from Word, Excel, PowerPoint and images, with basic compression on the free plan and strong and batch compression on Pro.
- Edit text and OCR
- Pro edits text in a PDF and recognizes text in scans, alongside tools to merge, split, rotate, unlock and protect files.
- AI tools
- An AI PDF assistant, summarizer and question generator, limited on the free plan and unlimited on Pro.
- Sign.com included
- Pro includes an unlimited Sign.com Premium subscription for sending documents for e-signature; the free plan's Sign.com account is capped at 2 a month.
- Offline Windows app
- A desktop app for Windows converts, compresses, merges, unlocks and protects PDFs without an internet connection.
- Mobile scanning
- The iOS and Android apps scan paper to PDF, run OCR and use the same tools, limited on the free plan.
Plans
PDFgear
PDFgear$0
Editing, conversion, OCR, signing and the AI copilot on Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and the web, with no account needed.
Smallpdf
Pricing could not be confirmed. See smallpdf.com.
