Sejda
A privacy-minded PDF studio: full editor in the browser, or fully offline on your desktop.
About
Sejda is a Dutch PDF outfit founded in 2012 that takes a different angle from the big online suites: the same toolset ships as a web app and as a desktop app, and the desktop version processes everything locally so files never leave your computer. The toolbox is deep, covering edit, merge, split, compress, convert, OCR, forms, Bates numbering, watermarks, password protection, PDF repair, and flattening.
The free tier gives you every tool but only three tasks a day, with 50MB or 200-page file limits and a 10-page OCR cap. Paid plans run $5 a week, $7.50 a month, or $63 a year. Independent reviews from TechRadar and ITPro call the toolset top notch but note that editing existing text can be flaky, with text slipping out of alignment on complex layouts. It is closed source, and no independent benchmarks are published.
What it can do
- Edit PDFs: change text, add text, images, links, and annotations
- Merge, split, rotate, delete, and reorder pages
- Convert PDF to Word, Excel, TXT, and JPG and back
- OCR for searchable text in scanned documents
- Fill and create forms, add digital signatures
- Bates numbering, watermarks, headers, and footers
- Password protection, unlock, and PDF repair tools
- Desktop edition processes files entirely on your computer
Setup
Use the web app at sejda.com with no install, or download the desktop app for Windows, Mac, or Linux for fully local processing.
Prerequisites
A modern browser for the web app; Windows, macOS, or Linux for the desktop app. Free tier limited to 3 tasks per day.
Use cases
Works with
Trust score — 7/10
Scored 7/10 (verified tier, metrics-v1). Evidence: founded 2012 in the Netherlands per vendor data; TechRadar and ITPro both reviewed it hands-on, confirming the web-plus-desktop lineup and the tool depth; TrustRadius confirms the $5/week, $7.50/mo, $63/yr pricing. Strengths: the desktop app's fully local processing is a genuine privacy win, and the toolset is unusually deep for the price. Docked for: (1) the free tier's 3-tasks-a-day cap is tight; (2) independent reviewers found text editing flaky on complex layouts; (3) closed source with no published benchmarks. License: proprietary freemium.
How the trust score is built
Full methodology →- Adoption · stars/downloads, log-scaled vs peers
- 7.0/10
- Maintenance · recency, releases, issue load
- 8.0/10
- Openness · license + docs
- 2.0/10
- Manual review · sanity read + red-flag check
- 7.0/10
- · Sejda; founded 2012, Netherlands
- · Web app and desktop app with identical interfaces
- · Desktop edition processes everything locally: no file ever leaves the computer
- · Deep toolset: edit, merge, split, compress, convert, OCR, forms, Bates numbering, watermarks, repair
- · Reviewed hands-on by TechRadar and ITPro
- · Text editing can be flaky on complex layouts per independent reviewers
- · Free tier limited to 3 tasks/day
- · Closed source; no independent benchmarks
Sources
Every fact above was checked against these sources. Where a claim comes from the provider and couldn't be independently verified, the text says so.