Excise vs PDFRedaction

Excise is a free, open-source PDF editor for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Its central feature is permanent redaction: it removes text, images, and vector graphics from PDF content rather than placing a visible cover over them. By default, the cleanup also removes metadata, attachments, JavaScript, thumbnails, and hidden layers, and reports those removals. The app handles search, text selection and copying, annotations, page organization, Bates numbering, file-size reduction, and AcroForm filling, flattening, and creation. Its command-line tools support batch work and stable JSON output; `unredact` checks for leaked redacted text, while `audit` looks for text beneath opaque overlays. Excise reads and writes AES-128 and AES-256 encryption and inspects digital signatures against the operating system trust store. Signature inspection does not check revocation or evaluate timestamp and long-term validation material. Dynamic XFA layouts are experimental and cannot be filled. Downloads include packages for Apple Silicon macOS, Windows 10/11 x64, Ubuntu/Debian, and x64 or ARM64 Linux; builds are unsigned, not notarized, and lack auto-update.

PDFRedaction is a browser-based tool for detecting and permanently removing sensitive information from documents. Its AI detection, analysis, and redaction run locally in an isolated browser context, and document content, extracted text, PII values, and redacted output are not transmitted to its servers. The service detects more than 50 types of personally identifiable information, including names, contact details, financial identifiers, and medical IDs. OCR covers scanned PDFs and image-based documents, with layout preserved in PDF output. Redaction removes sensitive text and covers it with solid black rectangles. The tool also scans PDFs for malicious elements and strips them during export. Users can add a signature image or sign on screen, then position and resize signatures or stamps in the browser. It supports PDF, image, text, and data formats. Registered users can process up to 10 documents per day on the free plan; processing pauses when the quota is reached. Professional and Enterprise plans are not currently available for purchase.