PDFRaw vs SimplePDF
SimplePDF is a deliberately small in-browser editor for filling, signing and annotating. Here is what each tool covers, and when its local-only approach wins.
Last checked August 2026. SimplePDF is a product of its respective owner; details below come from their public site and can change.
Side by side
| Feature | PDFRaw | SimplePDF |
|---|---|---|
| Free for individuals | YesAll 113 tools | YesEditor is free without limits |
| Account required | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Watermarks on output | No | No |
| Where files are processed | Our servers, deleted after 2 hours | In your browser; the free editor uploads nothing |
| Fill, sign and annotate | Yes | Yes |
| Edit existing PDF text | Yes | NoOverlay and annotate only |
| Compress, convert and OCR | Yes | No |
| Audio, video and ebook tools | Yes | No |
| AI tools | Yes | PartlyCopilot form filling on paid plans |
| Embeddable in your own product | No | YesIts core business, from $99 per month |
| Number of tools | 113 | One editor, well made |
Where SimplePDF is strong
- The free editor processes documents entirely in your browser, so a sensitive form you fill never leaves your device. That is a stronger privacy position than any server-side service, ours included.
- Free for individuals with no limits, no watermark and no account.
- An embeddable editor businesses can drop into their own product, with white-labelling and bring-your-own storage, and an open-source embed SDK.
- An EU company with its service database in Frankfurt.
- Small, focused and honest about being both.
Where PDFRaw is strong
- Coverage. SimplePDF fills, signs, annotates and merges; PDFRaw also compresses, converts between dozens of formats, runs OCR, edits existing PDF text, and handles images, audio, video and ebooks.
- Text editing that changes the words already in the PDF, not just layers on top of them.
- AI summarizing and translation free for everyone, not a paid-plan feature.
- A free library of tax and government form templates with guided filling.
- One place for the whole job: fill the form, compress the result, convert the copy.
Local processing, taken seriously
SimplePDF's central claim is that your document never leaves your device, and for the free editor that claim is real: parsing and editing run in browser code, not on a server. If your rule for a document is that it must not be uploaded anywhere, at all, that beats every server-side service on this page, including us.
The claim has honest edges, which SimplePDF itself acknowledges: form submissions collected through its business product are stored somewhere by design, and its AI form-filling feature talks to a server. But for the individual filling and signing a PDF, the local-only description holds.
PDFRaw processes files on our own servers, deletes them two hours after upload with three independent enforcement mechanisms, and sends nothing to third-party services outside the disclosed AI tools. That is a strong server-side answer, and still a different answer than never uploading.
What each one actually covers
SimplePDF does the things most people need most often: open a PDF, fill its fields, add text, checkboxes, images and a signature, merge, rotate, delete pages. Its founder is explicit about stopping there, and the product is better for the honesty.
It also means the stop comes early. There is no compression when a portal rejects your file for size, no conversion when someone needs a Word copy, no OCR when the document is a scan, and no editing of existing text when there is a typo in the original. Each of those is a tool on PDFRaw, free, next to the form filler.
Who each product is really for
SimplePDF's paid plans, from $99 to $899 a month, are aimed at companies that want a PDF editor inside their own product, with their own branding and their own storage. That is a business we are simply not in, and if embedding is your need, they are the obvious call.
For an individual, the choice is easier: SimplePDF if your work is filling and signing and you value the file never being uploaded; PDFRaw if your work spills beyond that into converting, compressing, OCR, or other file types entirely.
Try it on a real file
No account, no watermark, and the file is deleted two hours after you upload it.
Which one should you use?
Choose SimplePDF if
- Your document must never be uploaded anywhere, and filling, signing or annotating is the whole job.
- You want to embed a PDF editor into your own product.
- You prefer a small tool from an indie maker over a large toolbox.
Choose PDFRaw if
- You need anything beyond filling and signing: compression, conversion, OCR, or editing the existing text.
- You work with images, audio, video or ebooks too.
- You want AI summarizing and translation without a business plan.
- You want form templates ready to fill, not just an editor for files you already have.
Frequently asked questions
Is SimplePDF really free?
For individuals, yes: the editor is free without limits, watermarks or an account. The paid plans, starting at $99 per month, are for businesses embedding the editor into their own products and collecting form submissions.
Does SimplePDF upload my file?
The free editor does not; documents are processed in your browser and stay on your device. Form submissions made through its business product, and its AI form-filling feature, do involve servers by design.
Can SimplePDF edit the text in my PDF?
No. It adds text, images, checkboxes and signatures on top of the document, but does not change words already in it. PDFRaw's editor edits existing text and matches the document's fonts.
Which should I use for a sensitive document?
If filling or signing is the whole task, SimplePDF's never-uploaded model is the most private option available. If the task needs conversion, compression or OCR, PDFRaw processes on our own servers and deletes the file after two hours, which is the strongest version of the server-side answer.