Every online PDF tool I've used uploads your documents to their servers. Tax returns, contracts, medical records — they all go to some third-party server for processing. That bothered me enough to build an alternative.
PDF Toolbox is a set of PDF tools where everything runs locally in your browser.
How it works
- You select a PDF file
- The file loads into browser memory (ArrayBuffer)
- pdf-lib processes it entirely in the browser
- You download the result
The file never leaves your computer. No upload. No server. No privacy risk.
Features
- Compress PDF — reduce file size while keeping quality
- Merge PDFs — combine multiple files into one document
- Split PDF — extract pages or split into separate files
- PDF to JPG — convert pages to high-quality images
- JPG to PDF — turn images into a PDF document
- Unlock PDF — remove password protection
Why I built it
I handle sensitive documents regularly and the thought of uploading them to random servers makes me uncomfortable. With WebAssembly and modern PDF libraries like pdf-lib, there's no technical reason PDF tools need server-side processing anymore.
Most online PDF tools (SmallPDF, iLovePDF, etc.) upload your files to their servers. That means your contracts, tax documents, and personal records sit on someone else's infrastructure. PDF Toolbox eliminates that risk entirely.
Tech Stack
- Next.js 16 with App Router
- pdf-lib for PDF generation and manipulation
- pdfjs-dist for PDF rendering
- Tailwind CSS 4 for styling
- Vercel for hosting
The entire processing pipeline runs client-side. Zero server costs for file processing, zero privacy concerns, and no file size limits imposed by a server.
Try it out
PDF Toolbox — completely free, no registration, no limits.
Source code on GitHub. Feedback and feature requests welcome!