# PDF Candy > 90-plus online PDF tools and a Windows app, free within limits PDF Candy is a web tool with more than 90 PDF tools for converting, merging, splitting, compressing, editing and protecting files, plus AI tools that summarize, translate and chat with a PDF. PDF Candy Desktop is an offline Windows app with 35 of the tools. Both are free without an account within page and hourly limits, and paid plans remove the limits by the month, the year or with a one-time license. - **Category:** PDF Editors - **Made by:** PDF Candy (Icecream Apps) (since 2016) - **Website:** https://pdfcandy.com - **Runs on:** Web, Windows - **Facts last checked:** Oct 18, 2026 ## Pricing PDF Candy has a free plan. Paid plans start at $4 per month, billed yearly. - **Pricing model:** Free plan - **Free plan:** Free on web and desktop with no account or ads: page and hourly limits, smaller files, no batch processing and a cap on desktop operations. - **Free trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Free | $0 | Most tools on web and desktop with page, hourly, file-size and operation limits. | | Desktop + Web Yearly | $4 per month, billed yearly | Shown as 75% off a crossed-out $18 a month: web and desktop with no hourly limits, 500MB files, priority processing, plus Video and Image Candy. | | Web Monthly | $6 per month | PDF Candy Web only, with no hourly limits, 500MB files and priority processing. | | Desktop + Web Lifetime | $99 one-time purchase | Pay once for PDF Candy Web and a permanent desktop license for the current version, with its minor updates but not major upgrades. | Read from https://pdfcandy.com/pricing.html on Oct 18, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with PDF Candy before buying. ## Ways to pay less - **Lifetime license for $99** (Lifetime license): A one-time payment of $99 buys PDF Candy Web and a permanent PDF Candy Desktop license for the current version. Source: https://pdfcandy.com/pricing.html - **A free year of online Pro for education** (Education): Students and teachers can get a year of PDF Candy's online Pro subscription at no cost. Source: https://pdfcandy.com/education.html ## Key features - **Convert to and from PDF:** Converts PDFs to and from Office files, images and e-book formats such as MOBI, and between many other formats. - **Edit and organize:** Edit PDFs and their metadata, merge, split, compress, rotate and reorder pages, and add or remove passwords. - **AI tools:** Summarize a PDF, translate it or chat with it from the web tools. - **Offline Windows app:** PDF Candy Desktop brings 35 tools to Windows for editing, converting and organizing files without an internet connection. - **Short file retention:** Uploaded files and results are kept for no longer than 2 hours, and the free plan needs no account. ## Good for - People who convert or merge PDFs now and then without signing up - Windows users who want an offline PDF tool for a one-time fee - Students and teachers, who can get a year of online Pro free ## Worth knowing - The free plan limits pages, hourly use and file size, with no batch processing. - The desktop app is for Windows only, and the Web Monthly plan does not include it. - The lifetime license covers the current desktop version and its minor updates, not future major versions. - Refunds within 30 days are given if errors keep happening and support cannot fix them. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.4 out of 4**, graded Oct 18, 2026. PDF Candy is a web tool with 90-plus PDF tools, plus a Windows desktop app that works offline. The free plan needs no account and shows no ads, and paid is $4 a month on a yearly plan or $99 once. It's a converter and toolbox first, though: no OCR or form builder is on record. - **Value for money: B.** $4 a month on a yearly plan for web and desktop, among the cheapest paid PDF tools. The $99 lifetime license, spread over three years, is cheap too, but it covers the current desktop version only, not future major ones. - **Free plan and trial: C.** Free on web and desktop with no account and no ads, but with page and hourly limits, smaller files and no batch processing. Fine for the odd job. - **Features: C.** Converts to and from Office and e-book formats, edits, merges, splits, compresses and protects, with AI summaries and chat. A big toolbox. But no OCR, form builder or signing is on record, so it's lighter as an editor. - **Ease of use: B.** No store rating on record. No account needed: pick a tool in the browser and go. - **Platforms and integrations: C.** The web, plus a desktop app for Windows only. No phone apps and no integrations on record. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from PDF Candy's own pages on 18 October 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among PDF editors - PDF Candy's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 5 of the 15 other PDF editors we grade. - It stands best on value for money (B, above 10 of 15) and worst on free plan and trial (C, above 0). - Its paid plans start at $4 a month, against a middle price of $6.67 for the category: 0 of the 10 others that charge start lower. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 1 tool scores higher and costs less. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/pdf-editors ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** Nothing PDF Candy does is plain enough to make in a weekend. The 3 things listed below take a company. It costs $48 a year. - You could not: Editing the text inside a PDF without breaking its layout. - You could not: A real app for Windows. Something home-made would be a web page. - You could not: AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. **Tags:** PDF editing, AI features, Works offline, One-time purchase ## Alternatives - [iLovePDF](https://toolgpa.com/tools/ilovepdf): Online PDF tools with desktop and mobile apps, free for light use. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/ilovepdf-vs-pdf-candy) - [Smallpdf](https://toolgpa.com/tools/smallpdf): 30-plus PDF tools in the browser, with Windows and mobile apps. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/pdf-candy-vs-smallpdf) - [Sejda](https://toolgpa.com/tools/sejda): Web and desktop PDF tools, free within daily limits or by the week. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/pdf-candy-vs-sejda) - [PDF24 Tools](https://toolgpa.com/tools/pdf24): Free online PDF tools paid for by ads, plus an offline Windows app. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/pdf-candy-vs-pdf24) - [LightPDF](https://toolgpa.com/tools/lightpdf): Online PDF editor and converter with AI tools paid for in credits. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/lightpdf-vs-pdf-candy) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 18, 2026: - https://pdfcandy.com/pricing.html - https://pdfcandy.com - https://pdfcandy.com/about-us.html - https://pdfcandy.com/education.html Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/pdf-candy Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).