PDF24 Tools

PDF24 is a free PDF toolkit: convert, merge, split, compress, sign, compare, redact and run OCR, either in the browser or through the PDF24 Creator desktop application. There is no paid tier and no account — the service is funded by advertising and by a separate fax product, and the legal notice commits to keeping the free tools free.

That makes the comparison with Acrobat unusually lopsided in one direction. OCR and redaction are reserved for Acrobat Pro at roughly EUR 25 a month; here they cost nothing.

The limits are equally plain. PDF24 cannot edit the text already in a document — its own FAQ answers the question by telling you to convert the PDF to Word first — so the overlay editor is for adding content, not changing it. The desktop Creator is Windows-only, there are no mobile applications, and without accounts there is no cloud storage or sync.

PDF24 is the brand of geek Software GmbH, Einstein Palais, Friedrichstrasse 171, 10117 Berlin, incorporated in March 2006 and registered at Amtsgericht Berlin-Charlottenburg under HRB 100865 B, VAT DE248847214, with Benjamin Bohlmann as managing director.

The binding German-language terms of use name that company as the provider, apply the law of the Federal Republic of Germany to the entire relationship, and set venue in Berlin-Schoeneberg; the English page states that the German version is the sole authoritative one. No parent company is recorded and no US entity appears in the terms, the legal notice or the privacy policy.

The business model is unusual for this category: the tools are free, permanently, funded by advertising and by the separate PDF24 Fax service, and the legal notice commits that services currently offered free of charge will stay free. German GmbH shareholder lists are not available without payment, so the cap table is unverified, and the company is small — a handful of staff and no filed accounts since 2014.