A free PDF tool we trust

If you're looking to merge, split, compress, or edit a PDF, don't download the first Google result — most of them charge $15/month after a fake trial. Here's a better one.

Our recommendation: BentoPDF

It's free, it doesn't ask for an account, and it runs entirely inside your web browser — meaning your files never leave your device. It covers the day-to-day things almost anybody needs a PDF tool for.

Open BentoPDF Opens in a new tab

That link opens a different website in a new tab. BentoPDF is made by a separate team — we're just recommending it.

What you can do there

Merge PDFs

Stick two or more PDFs together in any order. Useful for putting a cover letter in front of a resume, or joining monthly statements.

Split a PDF

Pull out a single page or a range of pages into a smaller PDF.

Compress a PDF

Shrink a too-large PDF so it fits under email attachment limits.

Rotate pages

Rotate one page or the whole document 90, 180, or 270 degrees.

Sign or add text

Draw a signature with your mouse or finger, or type text on top of any page.

PDF ↔ images

Turn JPG or PNG pictures into a PDF, or turn a PDF back into images.

Why we point people here

Search "merge PDF" on Google and most of the top results are pay-to-use sites dressed up as free. They do one of a few predatory things:

  • Free for one document, then a $10-$20 monthly charge after a 7-day "trial".
  • Email-address sign-up to download the very file you just made.
  • Desktop installers that bundle toolbar add-ons or worse.
  • Server-side uploads of your private documents — bank statements, tax forms — to a company that logs them for "AI training".

BentoPDF has none of those. It's free, there's no account, nothing is uploaded, and the code is open source — you or anyone else can read it.

Is it really private?

Yes. BentoPDF runs entirely inside your web browser using a technology called WebAssembly. That means:

  • Your file is never uploaded to a server.
  • Nothing is stored about your PDF — not even its file name.
  • After the page loads, you can even disconnect from the internet and the tool still works.

For sensitive documents — bank statements, tax returns, medical forms — this is the safest free option on the internet.

Prefer an installed app?

Website tools aren't for everyone. If you'd rather have a proper program you can open from your Start menu or Dock — one that works offline and keeps your files in your normal Documents folder — we recommend a free app called PDFGear. Same free, same private, just installed instead of in a browser.

Jump to the Windows install guide or the Mac install guide, or read the full rundown first.

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Questions people ask

  • Is BentoPDF really free?

    Yes — fully free, no account, no file count limits. It's an open-source project and we don't make any money when you use it. We just think it's the best free option out there, so we point readers to it instead of the sketchy paid sites that dominate search results.

  • Do you host it? Do you make money from it?

    No to both. BentoPDF is made by a separate team. The link here goes to their site. We get nothing if you use it — no affiliate payment, no referral fee. It's purely a recommendation because we trust it.

  • Which browsers does it work in?

    Any modern browser: Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari — including the mobile versions on iPhone and Android. Older Internet Explorer will not work.

  • My file won't open. What now?

    A few PDFs (typically very old or password-protected ones) can't be opened by any free tool. Try saving the file again from whatever program made it, and uncheck the password protection if it's on.

  • What about scanned documents?

    It works fine on scans, but the text inside a scan is technically a picture — you can't search or copy words from it. For that you need OCR (optical character recognition), which the free online tools mostly don't offer without uploading your file. Skip those for anything sensitive.