15 Best Free Online PDF Tools in 2025 (No Signup Required)

There are hundreds of "free" PDF sites on the internet. Most are not really free — they push you into a $9.99/month plan the moment you try a second file, watermark your output, or quietly upload your documents to do the work. After testing dozens of them, we put together this shortlist of 15 best free online PDF tools for 2025. Every tool on this list runs in your browser, requires no signup, leaves no watermark, and respects your privacy.

How we evaluated each tool

To make the list, a tool had to clear four bars:

Truly free — no daily file limit, no signup wall.
No watermark on the output, ever.
Privacy-respecting — files processed locally when possible.
Fast — most actions complete in under 10 seconds.

The 15 best free PDF tools in 2025

1. Merge PDF

The classic. Combine any number of PDFs into one, reorder by drag and drop, no file count limit.

2. Split PDF

Break a long PDF into pages or chapters. Useful for sending only the relevant section of a report.

3. Compress PDF

Shrink files by up to 90% without visible quality loss. Essential for email attachments.

4. Rotate PDF

Fix sideways or upside-down scans in one click. Saves the rotation permanently.

5. PDF to JPG

Turn every page into a high-quality image. Great for sharing PDFs on platforms that prefer images.

6. JPG to PDF

Bundle phone photos and screenshots into a single PDF — drag to reorder, pick paper size.

7. PDF to Word

Convert a PDF into an editable .docx without losing layout or fonts. Free with no daily limit.

8. PDF to Excel

Extract tables into a working .xlsx spreadsheet — formulas not included, but the data is editable.

9. PDF to PowerPoint

Turn a slide-style PDF into editable PowerPoint slides for last-minute presentation tweaks.

10. Protect PDF

Add a password to keep sensitive PDFs out of the wrong hands. Real AES encryption, not just a flag.

11. Unlock PDF

Remove a password from a PDF you own. Needed before merging or converting protected files.

12. Add Watermark

Stamp "Draft", "Confidential", or your logo across every page. Customizable size, opacity, and color.

13. Add Page Numbers

Insert clean, consistent page numbers across a multi-file packet after merging.

14. PDF reader (built into your browser)

Honorable mention: Chrome, Edge, Safari, and Firefox all ship excellent PDF viewers. You rarely need a separate reader anymore.

15. Phone scanner apps

Your phone's built-in camera (iOS Notes, Google Drive scanner) produces shockingly good PDFs. Pair them with the tools above and you have a complete free PDF workflow.

What makes a PDF tool worth using?

Beyond "free and no watermark", the small details matter:

Client-side processing — your file never leaves your device.
Mobile-friendly — works the same on a phone as on a laptop.
No upsells mid-workflow.
Honest about limits — if a feature is paid, it is paid; nothing hidden behind a "Sign up to download" button.

Tools we left off the list (and why)

Several popular sites failed at least one of our four criteria — they cap free use at one or two files per day, watermark output, force account creation, or quietly require an upload of every file even for tasks that could run locally. They might still work for occasional use, but they did not earn a slot here.

Putting the toolkit together

For most people, a complete free PDF workflow looks like this: scan with your phone, bundle into a PDF, merge with existing files, compress for email, and protect with a password if it is sensitive. That is the whole job, done in a browser, for free.

Bookmark this page and you have a 2025 free PDF toolkit that covers virtually every real-world task.