Free PDF redactor that runs client-side
I recently needed to verify past employment and to do so I was going to upload paystubs from a previous employer, however I didn't want to share my salary in that role. I did a quick search online and most sites required sign-up or weren't clear about document privacy. I conceded and signed up for a free trial of Adobe Acrobat so I could use their PDF redaction feature. I figured there should be a dead simple way of doing this that's private, so I decided to create it myself. What this does is rasterize each page to an image with your redactions burned in, then it rebuilds the PDF so the…
Free PDF redactor that runs client-side launched on April 19, 2026 with 5 votes, #1,846 of 21,248 launches that month and more than 75% of that year's launches.
What it does
Redact sensitive information from PDFs for free. Your file never leaves your device — no upload, no account, no subscription. True permanent redaction in your browser.
In the maker’s words, at launch
I recently needed to verify past employment and to do so I was going to upload paystubs from a previous employer, however I didn't want to share my salary in that role. I did a quick search online and most sites required sign-up or weren't clear about document privacy. I conceded and signed up for a free trial of…
Does a similar job
all alternatives →
I built a free alternative to Adobe Acrobat PDF viewer2025 · github.com · ▲357I built EmbedPDF: an MIT-licensed, open-source PDF viewer that aims to match all of Adobe Acrobat’s paid features… for free. Already working: - Annotations (highlight, sticky notes, free text, ink) - True redaction (content actually removed) - Search, text selection, zoom, rotation - Runs fully in the browser, no server needed - Drop-in SDK for React, Vue, Preact, vanilla JS Why? Acrobat is heavy, closed, and pricey. I wanted something lightweight, hackable, and embeddable anywhere. Demo: https://app.embedpdf.com/ Website: https://www.embedpdf.com/ GitHub:…
I built a free and open source pdf redaction tool2025 · magicredact.com · ▲5Hey everyone, I recently built a free and open-source tool that lets you manually redact PDFs and images right in your browser—no sign-ups, no watermarks. I also added an AI-powered auto-redaction feature to detect and remove sensitive info. Since this part uses external processing (OCR + AI), there are usage limits: you can auto-redact up to 3 single-page PDFs or images for free each day. Higher usage and multi-page support require a paid account. Right now, it works great for removing sensitive details like names, addresses, and emails, but I’d love to get your thoughts: • What redaction…


PDF Barber2025 · pdfbarber.com · ▲5I built this because I didn't want to upload personal documents to random websites just to split or sign a PDF. So I made PDF Barber (https://pdfbarber.com). Everything runs 100% in the browser, with no server involved. The only server call is for the contact form. It is free to use, and I also offer a Chrome extension for convenience. I have already gotten a few paying users and lots of helpful feedback, which has pushed me to improve it further. Would love to hear your thoughts or feedback. Thanks!
PDFly – 56 free PDF tools that run in the browserJul 2026 · pdfly.uk · ▲10Hi HN! I built PDFly — a PDF toolkit that runs entirely client-side. No file uploads, no server processing, no account needed. It has 56 tools including merge, split, compress, convert, redact, compare, and an AI chat feature to ask questions about your PDF content. Everything runs in your browser using [mention your tech stack if relevant, e.g., WASM/JS libraries]. Would love feedback on the tools, UX, or anything else!
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