PDF TOOLS · NO SUBSCRIPTION · NO UPLOAD
The PDF editor without the subscription.
Merge, split, sign, fill forms, stamp and convert — every everyday PDF job, done right in your browser. Your files never leave your device, and there is nothing to rent: the bench is free, and the full Toolkit is $39 once.
One honest note before you start: PDFByHand will not retype the words already printed on a page — no honest browser tool can. Everything else on the bench, it does. The full honesty list.
The PDFByHand Toolkit — $39, one time
Every tool on the bench, plus the deep bench: many files at once, a form builder, compression, scan reading (OCR), and your signature and form answers saved on your own device. Yours to keep — no subscription, ever.
THE FREE BENCH
Eleven tools. No sign-up, no caps, no watermarks.
Pick a tool and drop a file on it. Each one works on the spot — one file, one job, done properly.
Merge PDF
Put two or more PDFs together into one file, right in your browser. Nothing is uploaded anywhere, so a…
No. 02Split PDF
Take the pages you need out of a PDF and save them as their own file. Maybe you only need three pages from…
No. 03Organize PDF
Put a mixed-up PDF back in the right order, and drop the pages you do not need. Reorder pages by dragging…
No. 04Rotate PDF
Turn sideways pages the right way up, and keep them that way. A scan that opens sideways is fixed…
No. 05Fill PDF Form
Fill out a PDF form on your phone or computer, without Adobe and without an account. Type into the form's…
No. 06Sign PDF
Sign a PDF on your phone or computer, without an account and without a subscription. Draw your signature…
No. 07Images to PDF
Turn photos from your phone into a single PDF. Snap a receipt, a homework sheet, or a stack of pages, and…
No. 08PDF to Images
Save PDF pages as pictures you can share, post, or print. Pick the pages you need and get them as PNG or…
No. 09Extract Text from PDF
Get the words out of a PDF so you can copy, search, or quote them. Paste the result into notes, an email,…
No. 10Add Page Numbers
Put numbers on every page of a PDF, so a printed stack stays in order and a reader can find their place.…
No. 11Watermark PDF
Stamp every page of a PDF with DRAFT, COPY, CONFIDENTIAL, or your own words, so a reader knows at a glance…
THE PRIVACY PROOF
Open your network tab. Watch nothing leave.
Most PDF sites upload your file to their computers, do the job there, and keep a copy for a while. That is how they have to work. PDFByHand works the other way: the tool itself travels to your file — the code loads into your browser and the job happens on your device.
- Open any tool on this bench.
- Open your browser's developer tools and click the Network tab.
- Run the job. The only requests are this page and its tools, loaded once — your file is never sent anywhere.
- Stronger test: switch off your internet and run the same job. It still works.
Tax returns, contracts, medical letters — the files people most need to merge, sign and send are exactly the files that should not be uploaded to a stranger's server.
THE FINE PRINT, IN THE OPEN
What the free giants won't do
Free tiers pay for themselves with walls. Walls measured October 2026:
| Tool | The free wall | The rent |
|---|---|---|
| Smallpdf | 2 jobs a day · files up to 5 MB · some jobs paid-only | about $108–120 a year |
| Sejda | 3 jobs an hour · 50 MB · 200 pages | $63 a year |
| iLovePDF | Some free results carry a watermark — you find out after | about $60–159 a year |
| Adobe Acrobat | One free use per tool, then an account | $179.88–239.88 a year |
| PDFByHand bench | No job caps · no watermarks · no sign-up | Free |
| PDFByHand Toolkit | The deep bench, unlimited, offline | $39 once |
Prices checked October 2026 from the tools' own pages and comparisons. Walls change; the shape of them doesn't.
Why this bench exists
In March 2026, Adobe settled with the US Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission for $150 million — over a cancellation fee it hid and a cancellation door it made hard to find. People were not angry about the tools. They were angry about the rent. Read the settlement story.
PDFByHand is the other shape: tools you open in a browser, files that never leave your device, and a price you pay once — like a tool you hang on your own wall.
Questions, answered straight
Is PDFByHand really an editor?
It does the jobs people mean when they say that — merge, split, sign, fill forms, stamp, number, convert — in your browser, with no subscription. One thing it will not do is retype the words already printed on a page: no honest browser tool can, and any tool that claims it is covering the old words with a box. Our full honesty list is on the What PDFByHand can't do page.
Where do my files go?
Nowhere. Every tool runs on code loaded into your browser and works on the file right there on your device. Open your browser's network tab while you merge a file and watch: no file leaves. The tools even keep working with your internet switched off.
Why is it not a subscription?
Because a PDF tool is a bench tool, not a service. You would not rent a hammer by the month. The free bench is free with no caps and no watermarks; the full Toolkit is $39 once, and it is yours.
What does Adobe charge for this?
Adobe Acrobat Standard is $179.88 a year and Pro is $239.88 a year (prices checked October 2026), subscription only — and in March 2026 Adobe settled with the US Department of Justice and the FTC for $150 million over hidden cancellation fees. The whole story is on the settlement page.
Does it work on my phone?
The everyday jobs — merge, split, sign, fill a form — are built phone-first. The heavy jobs (reading a long scan, shrinking a huge file) live in the Toolkit and will honestly tell you they prefer a computer.