getPDF and PDF24: both free with no limits, so where do your files go?

We make getPDF, so read this knowing who wrote it. PDF24 is a fair competitor and a good product; every claim about it below was checked on its own pages on 11 October 2026 and is listed under Sources.

Side by side

	PDF24 online tools	PDF24 Creator	getPDF
Price	Free, paid for by ads on the web pages	Free, also for commercial use	Free, no ads, donations optional
What free allows	All tools, “no artificial limits”	All tools, “without any restrictions”	Every tool, no count
File size and pages	Not stated	Not stated	Your device’s memory
Where files are processed	On PDF24’s servers: “located in Germany” (tool pages), “data centers within the EU” (FAQ)	On your PC, offline	In your browser; nothing is uploaded
How long files are kept	Deleted within 1 hour after processing	Never leave the PC	Never received
Account needed	No registration	No	No
Watermark	Not stated	Not stated	None
Works offline	No	Yes	Yes, after you use a tool once
Edit existing text	Adds text, images and shapes; for text changes it suggests converting to Word and back	Not listed on its page	Yes, line by line; lines do not reflow
OCR	Yes, many languages, on its servers	Yes, offline	Yes, 11 languages, on your device
E-sign	Draw, upload a picture or use the camera	Not listed on its page	Draw, type or upload; no certificate signatures
Batch	Not stated	Not stated	Yes, many files at once, downloaded as a zip
Mobile	Install the website as an app from the browser; still uploads	No	Any mobile browser, no install
Platforms	Any browser	Windows 10 and 11 (x64, arm64, x86)	Any modern browser on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iPhone

“Not stated” means PDF24’s pages that we checked do not say.

Where PDF24 is the better pick

• An installed Windows app that works with no browser. Creator “brings all PDF24 tools as offline version” and files “remain locally on your PC”, in PDF24’s words. PDF24 also lists a PDF Printer among its desktop tools, so any Windows program can print to PDF. If you work in Windows all day and want installed tools rather than a browser tab, Creator fits that better than any website, ours included.
• Rolling it out at work. PDF24 offers an MSI installer for “distribution on corporate computers” and says companies and authorities may use it free. An IT team that installs software centrally gets exactly that. getPDF has no installer and no admin controls.
• More tools and formats. PDF24’s tool list is larger than ours: Word, Excel and PowerPoint to PDF, PDF to PowerPoint, PDF/A, compare 2 PDFs, make a PDF fillable, verify PDF signatures, and a set of e-invoice tools. getPDF has none of those yet.
• OCR in more languages. PDF24’s OCR language list runs from Afrikaans to Yoruba. getPDF reads 11 languages. For anything outside those, use PDF24, ideally Creator so the scan stays on your PC.
• Very large files on a weak device. PDF24’s online tools do the work on its servers, so a phone does not need the memory. getPDF uses your device’s memory; a very large scan on a phone may be too big, and the tool says so.
• Years of track record. PDF24 has been around far longer than getPDF, which launched in October 2026.

Where getPDF is the better pick

• Nothing uploaded, on every system. PDF24’s no-upload option is Creator, which is Windows only; PDF24 itself tells Mac and Linux users to use the online tools, which upload. getPDF keeps the file on the device on a Mac, a Chromebook, Linux, an iPhone or an Android phone.
• Nothing to install. A work laptop that blocks installs, a borrowed computer, a library PC: open the page and work. The engine loads with your first file, and then the tool works with Wi-Fi off too.
• Changing the words already on the page. PDF24’s Edit PDF page describes writing on pages and inserting images and shapes, and suggests converting to Word and back to change text. getPDF’s editor changes the existing text inside the PDF, in the file’s own font when it has the letters, and the text stays selectable and searchable. Edit a PDF without Acrobat shows how.
• No ads. PDF24’s online tools are “100% free thanks to advertising”. getPDF has no ads and no tracking scripts.
• Typed signatures and real redaction in 1 editor. Sign by drawing, typing your name or uploading a picture; redact with boxes that remove what is underneath when you save; fill forms; all in the same editor, on your device.
• A phone that does not upload. PDF24’s installable mobile app is its website, so the file still goes to its servers. getPDF on a phone works the same as on a laptop: on the device.

Where your files go

PDF24 online tools. Each tool page says the work runs “on our servers in the cloud”, with SSL transfer, servers in Germany, and files “automatically deleted from the PDF24 server after one hour”. The FAQ says all processing servers are in EU data centres, that you can delete an upload by hand straight away, and that PDF24 does “not store files and do not evaluate them”. The operator is Geek Software GmbH, a German company. That is a clear, published policy; it is still a policy, which you cannot check from outside.

PDF24 Creator. Files “remain locally on your PC and are NOT uploaded to the Internet”, in PDF24’s words. On Windows, that is as private as getPDF.

getPDF. Nothing is uploaded. Every tool runs in your browser tab, the site’s content security policy lets the page connect only to getPDF’s own address, and nothing there accepts files. The only message the site sends is an anonymous counter after a job: the tool, success or failure, and rough time and size buckets.

Check it yourself: use a tool once so its engine is loaded, turn Wi-Fi off, and run it again on another file. It still works. Prove a PDF tool is local shows the same test in the browser’s network panel, compress a PDF offline compares the offline routes, and the privacy page explains the architecture.

Moving from PDF24 to getPDF

The PDF24 tools people use most, and their place here:

In PDF24	In getPDF
Compress PDF	Compress PDF, with Print, Web and Email presets or a size target
Merge PDF, Split PDF	Merge PDF, Split PDF
Sort, rotate, remove, extract pages	Organise pages, Rotate PDF, Delete pages, Extract pages
Edit PDF	Edit PDF
Sign PDF	Sign PDF
OCR PDF	OCR PDF
PDF to Word, PDF to text	PDF to Word, PDF to text
PDF to images, images to PDF	PDF to JPG, PDF to PNG, JPG to PDF, HEIC to PDF
Protect PDF, Unlock PDF	Protect PDF, Unlock PDF
Redact PDF	Redact PDF
Remove PDF metadata	Remove metadata

No equivalent yet: Office files to PDF (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), PDF to PowerPoint, PDF/A, Compare PDFs, Make PDF fillable, Verify PDF signatures, the e-invoice tools, a PDF printer and an installed desktop app. On Windows, Microsoft Print to PDF covers printing to PDF; Inspect PDF shows whether a file carries signatures, though it does not validate them.

Try the job PDF24 sends to Word

Changing the text already in a PDF is the one everyday job where PDF24’s own advice is a round trip through Word. Here it happens in the PDF: drop a file, double-click a line, type, save.

Edit PDFReal text editing, objects, annotations, forms. Free, runs on your device.Open

For the whole field, read the best free PDF tools, compared, or see the other comparisons on the compare page.