PDF Candy alternative
The PDF Candy alternative for documents you would rather not upload.
PDF Candy has one of the largest tool catalogues on the web — its home page advertises 98 online PDF tools — and it is clear about what happens to your file: it is uploaded to a server in the EU or USA and deleted within two hours. Filozy is smaller, 39 tools, and takes the other route entirely: the document is never uploaded in the first place. Here is where each one wins, in their words and ours.
What PDF Candy says about your files
These summaries link to PDF Candy's published information. Plans, features and wording change; check the linked sources before choosing a service.
- PDF Candy processes files on its servers. Its privacy policy states that "all the files that are being uploaded to our Site for the further processing and the newly generated output files are kept on our servers for as long as 2 hours", that "we do not make any backups of the files uploaded and processed", and that "within 2 hours of the files being kept on our server, they will be permanently deleted". PDF Candy privacy policy, section 2.7
- Its security page says PDF Candy runs on ISO 27001-certified infrastructure with "servers based in the EU and USA", that transfers use HTTPS with TLS, that documents are "encrypted using 256-bit AES both in transit and at rest", and that you "can request early removal anytime". PDF Candy security page
- There is a free tier that works without registering. The pricing page describes a "Forever free plan" that gives you "access to most features without signup with limited usage options", listing "Page and hourly restrictions", "No batch processing", "Limited file size", "No ads" and "No account needed". PDF Candy pricing
- Paid plans lift those restrictions: the pricing page lists "No hourly limits", "Increase file size per task up to 500 MB" and "High priority processing (No queue)", with the higher tiers also bundling access to PDF Candy Desktop. PDF Candy pricing
- An account becomes necessary only past the free allowance — the security page says "creating an account or sharing personal information is only required if you sign up after the free usage limit", and that when you register your data is "never shared or sold for commercial purposes". PDF Candy security page
What Filozy does instead
Filozy's document tools process the files on your device and save the results locally, without uploading your document to our server. Multi-step workflows can temporarily store a result in your browser to carry it to the next tool; see the privacy policy for cleanup details. The website and supporting engine files still require ordinary web requests.
Tools for similar tasks
Each row pairs a task, not identical features or output. Check the tool's limits and your exported file.
| On PDF Candy | On Filozy |
|---|---|
| Merge PDF | Merge PDF |
| Split PDF | Split PDF |
| Compress PDF | Compress PDF |
| Edit PDF | Edit PDF |
| PDF OCR | OCR PDF |
| PDF to Word | PDF to Word |
| Word to PDF | Word to PDF |
| PDF to Excel | PDF to Excel |
| PDF to JPG | PDF to JPG |
| JPG to PDF | JPG to PDF |
| Protect PDF | Protect PDF |
| Unlock PDF | Unlock PDF |
| Sign PDF | Sign PDF |
| Crop PDF | Crop PDF |
| Organize pages | Organize PDF pages |
| Add watermark | Watermark PDF |
| Edit metadata | Edit PDF metadata |
| Header and footer | Add PDF header footer Bates numbers |
| Repair PDF | Repair PDF |
| PDF Filler | Fill PDF forms |
| PDF Summarizer | Not offered |
| Chat with PDF | Not offered |
| PDF Translator | Not offered |
| EPUB to PDF | Not offered |
When PDF Candy is the better choice
- Their catalogue is much larger and covers formats we simply do not. PDF Candy's home page advertises 98 online PDF tools; Filozy has 39. If you need EPUB, DjVu, HEIC, DWG, CBR or PDF-to-PowerPoint, PDF Candy has a tool for it and we have nothing to point you at.
- You want the AI features. PDF Candy lists a PDF Summarizer, Chat with PDF and a PDF Translator. Those need a language model running on a server, which is incompatible with how Filozy works — we have no equivalent and no plan for one.
- You do not read English. PDF Candy's interface is offered in many languages through a language switcher in the site header. Filozy's interface is English only, and our OCR reads English only.
- You want an installed offline app. PDF Candy's pricing page says the Windows desktop version has "35 tools" and "operates entirely offline, so you don't need an internet connection". Filozy has no native app for any platform — it is a website.
- Your file is very large and your device is not. PDF Candy's paid tier raises the per-task file size up to 500 MB and does the work on their hardware. Filozy is bound by whatever memory your device has, and a phone can run out on a very large scan where a server would finish.
Questions people ask
Does PDF Candy upload my files?
Yes. Its privacy policy says files uploaded for processing, and the output files generated from them, "are kept on our servers for as long as 2 hours" and are then "permanently deleted", with no backups made and no access given to third parties. Its security page adds that servers sit in the EU and USA and that documents are encrypted in transit and at rest, and that you can request early removal. That is a clearly documented handling policy — it is just a different model from ours. On Filozy the document is never sent anywhere: the work happens in a Web Worker on your own machine, and each job prints a receipt like "3 pages · 412ms · 0 document bytes sent". Loading any web page fetches that page's own files, Filozy included; the claim is about your document, not about network traffic in general.
Is PDF Candy free, and do I need an account?
PDF Candy's pricing page describes a "Forever free plan" giving "access to most features without signup", with "Page and hourly restrictions", "No batch processing" and "Limited file size"; its security page says an account "is only required if you sign up after the free usage limit". Paid plans remove the hourly limits and raise the per-task size to 500 MB. Filozy is free with no account, no daily limit, no watermark and no size cap beyond your device's memory — because there is no server doing the work, there is no server cost to ration.
Which PDF Candy tools does Filozy not have?
Quite a few, and this is the honest part of the comparison. Filozy has 39 tools against the 98 PDF Candy advertises, so we do not match the catalogue. Specifically we have no AI summarising, chat or translation; no PDF-to-PowerPoint; and none of the long tail of format converters such as EPUB, DjVu, HEIC, DWG or CBR. We also have no certified or digital signatures, no non-English interface, no OCR in any language but English, no native apps, no cloud storage and no team features. Our PDF-to-Word is weak on multi-column layouts.
Is Filozy better for large files?
On a desktop, usually — there is no upload step and no imposed size cap, so a laptop with plenty of RAM will often handle a file bigger than a free upload tier accepts. On a phone, often not. Everything runs in your browser's memory, so a very large scan can exhaust a handset and fail, where PDF Candy's paid tier would take it up to 500 MB and process it on their hardware. If you are on a phone with a huge document, a server-side tool is the more reliable choice.
How can I verify Filozy isn't uploading my file?
Open your browser's developer tools, switch to the Network tab, and run a job — you will see Filozy's own page and code files load, and no request carrying your document. Every tool also prints a receipt showing page count, duration and the document bytes sent, which is zero. As of 17 September 2026 the site loads no third-party script at all. Filozy is closed source, so this is something you check in your own browser rather than something you read in our source code.