pdfviz

pdfviz vs CleverPDF

CleverPDF advertises forty four permanently free online PDF tools. Its privacy page confirms the files you open there are uploaded and processed on its servers, then deleted thirty minutes after processing. pdfviz states the opposite for every tool: none of them upload anything.

The claim and the missing detail

CleverPDF's front page describes forty four powerful and permanently free online PDF tools. Checked 10 September 2026. Free and plentiful is the whole pitch, and on that pitch it delivers more tools than this site has.

What its privacy page does publish is the general rule: uploaded and output files sit on its servers until thirty minutes after processing, with an instant delete link. What it does not publish is a per-tool statement, so this page claims nothing beyond that general rule.

Why the distinction matters

A tool that runs in the tab and a tool that posts your file to a server look identical from the outside. Same page, same button, same download. The difference only shows up in what happened to the document, and by then it has happened.

So the rule is simple: read what the vendor wrote down. CleverPDF wrote down server processing with thirty minute deletion, which is a clear answer, and for sensitive documents that answer is the whole decision.

What pdfviz states and why it can

Every tool on this site runs inside the browser tab. There is no upload endpoint for document bytes, so the claim is structural rather than a policy that could change. How it works describes the boundary in detail.

The usage data are the only thing that leaves, and they carry route names, event names, outcomes and counts. Never document bytes, file names, text, metadata, previews or the values you type. The privacy page lists the whole set.

Tool count against tool depth

Forty four against forty-one is closer than the headline suggests, and what is missing here is real: broad conversion in both directions, text recognition and form handling. The desktop version is capped too: three conversion pages and ten utility pages free. If you need those, CleverPDF has them and pdfviz does not.

The forty-one go deeper on file handling. Page work with zero-padded split names, rotation and crop boxes that hide rather than delete, redaction that destroys content and then checks it is gone, and a compressor that takes an exact byte target instead of a quality preset.

Deciding

A format conversion on a document you would not mind a stranger reading: CleverPDF, and any of the other free suites. A document where the answer to who else has a copy needs to be nobody: a tool that states its boundary, which means pdfviz here or a desktop application.

PDF Candy publishes a two hour retention window, which is at least an answer, and the converter roundup covers the format work properly.

CleverPDF and pdfviz, side by side
CleverPDFpdfviz
Tools CleverPDF 44 Advertised as permanently free. pdfviz 41 File handling only.
Says where each tool runs CleverPDF Server, per privacy page Files deleted thirty minutes after processing. pdfviz Stated per tool Every one runs in the browser tab.
Cost CleverPDF Free pdfviz Free No account needed.
Not available CleverPDF A statement of what leaves pdfviz The long tail of niche tools

The short answer

CleverPDF says the work happens on its servers, with files deleted thirty minutes after processing. For a public document that is fine. For anything you would not email, it is the whole decision.

Questions people ask

Do CleverPDF tools run in my browser?
No. Its privacy page says uploaded files are processed on its servers and deleted thirty minutes after processing, with an instant delete link. Checked 10 September 2026.
How can I tell whether a PDF tool uploads my file?
Look for a per-tool statement from the vendor, not a general privacy paragraph. Absent that, a progress bar that depends on your connection speed and a queue message are both signs of a server. When in doubt, assume upload.
How many tools does pdfviz have?
Forty-one, all running in the browser tab with no upload. The set covers compression to an exact byte target, merging, splitting, conversion both ways and document repair.
What does pdfviz send to its usage data?
Route names, event names, outcomes and counts, through one boundary. Never document bytes, file names, document text, metadata values, previews or anything you type into a field. The privacy page lists the whole set.

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