PDF24 gives more tools; the tab keeps your file

Who should open which

A teacher preparing handouts needs three different jobs before lunch: convert a Word file to PDF, squeeze a scanned worksheet, and read text out of last year's photographed test. PDF24 handles all three in one place at no cost, and the files are classroom materials nobody would miss. Breadth wins that morning.

A solicitor finalising a settlement memo needs one job: strip hidden metadata from draft-final-v2.pdf before it goes to the other side. That file must not sit on any server, ad-funded or not. The metadata tool runs that job in the tab and the document never leaves the office machine. Count the tools when the files are ordinary; count the uploads when they are not.

PDF24 and PDFGym compared

Its site states all tools are free of charge without restrictions, achieved via advertising on the pages, and that there are no artificial limits. It also states the online tools process files on its servers, with encrypted transfer and removal after a short time. Checked 2 November 2026. The side by side:

Where PDF24 wins

Scope first: text reading, formatted conversion, full editing, certificate signing and dozens of utilities PDFGym does not ship, because several of them need a server by nature. All of it free, with no registration and no artificial limits, which its site states directly. Checked 2 November 2026. For ordinary files that is hard to argue with.

Its compressor deserves a closer look for tinkerers. The page exposes DPI, image quality percentage, grayscale conversion and a long list of strip options for metadata, attachments, annotations and more, plus encrypted transfer and automatic deletion of files from its servers after one hour. Checked 2 November 2026. When you want to tune quality by hand rather than name a byte target, those dials beat any single input box. And on Windows, installing PDF24 Creator removes the upload question for daily use.

Where PDFGym fits

Wherever the document outranks the tool count. Every tool in the list runs locally: size targets, page work, rotation, images both directions, passwords, stamps, redaction, metadata and repair. No upload means no retention window to read and no server location to consider.

Two more differences matter daily. There are no adverts and no third-party scripts watching the work, while PDF24's own site says advertising funds the free service. And the compressor takes the recipient's size as its input and reads the result back before download, instead of asking you to tune dials and retry. Whether it lands the exact number depends on the file: scanned pages usually have the most room to save, and text-heavy files that are already small have the least.

How we checked

We read the PDF24 Tools home page and its compressor page on the vendor's own site for the free, limits, server, deletion and compressor claims quoted above, checked 2 November 2026, and matched the PDFGym side against the tool pages and code in this repository. We created no accounts, uploaded no documents and ran no timed tests.