PDF Candy vs PDFOptim

PDF Candy is a PDF toolkit for editing, converting, merging, splitting, compressing, signing, protecting and managing documents. Its tools include text editing, annotations and OCR, while AI features can summarize, chat with and translate PDF documents. Users can import files from Google Drive or Dropbox and save updated versions back to cloud storage. PDF Candy Desktop is a Windows download with 35 tools that can operate offline; the company lists 98 PDF tools and 19 languages. Access is listed for web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android. The free plan has page and hourly restrictions, limited file size, no batch processing and a desktop operations limit. Students and teachers can get one year of PDF Candy PRO online at no cost, with no hourly limits and uploads up to 500 MB. PDF Candy says files are deleted from its servers within two hours after processing. The free plan is available, with paid access from $6/mo.

PDFOptim provides browser tools to compress, merge, split, rotate, and reorder PDF files, alongside native apps for macOS, iOS, iPad, and Windows. Browser processing uses JavaScript and WebAssembly without uploading files to PDFOptim servers, and the tools work offline after the page has loaded; initial loading and license verification need internet access. Compression offers Web, Standard, Print, and Custom settings, and can reduce PDF size by up to 90%. Compress Only mode strips metadata and compresses internal streams without re-rendering software-created PDFs, preserving selectable text. Multiple PDFs can be batch-compressed, while downloading all results as a ZIP requires Pro. The free plan allows three operations per day on files up to 25 MB. Pro Monthly costs $4.99 a month and includes unlimited operations, files up to 200 MB, and batch ZIP downloads. Lifetime costs $19, paid once, with the same operation and file limits, batch ZIP downloads, future tools, and priority email support. The native apps process documents locally; a 30-day money-back guarantee is also listed.