Sejda is a capable PDF tool, but its free tier enforces a strict 3-tasks-per-hour cap and a 200-page / 50 MB limit per file. For a single merge that might be fine. For anyone working through a batch of documents, the wall hits fast.
PDFMerger.io has no such limits because the processing happens on your device, not on a server we pay to run. Here is how the two compare.
| Feature | PDFMerger.io | Sejda Free | Sejda Paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free forever | Free (limited) | $7.50/wk · $63/yr |
| Files uploaded to a server | Never | Every file | Every file |
| Signup required | No | No (but tracked) | Yes |
| File size limit | Your device RAM | 50 MB · 200 pages | No limit |
| Hourly task limit | Unlimited | 3 tasks/hour | Unlimited |
| Works offline after load | Yes | No | Desktop app |
| Ads | Minimal | Shown | None |
| Watermarks | None | None | None |
| Merge / split / rotate / compress | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PDF ↔ Word / JPG / PNG | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Markdown to PDF | Yes | No | No |
| PDF Malware Scanner | Yes | No | No |
| Edit text in existing PDF | No | Limited | Yes |
| OCR on scans | Not yet | Paid only | Yes |
| E-signatures | No | Basic | Yes |
Being honest — PDFMerger.io does not try to replace every feature. Sejda wins on:
For everything else — merge, split, compress, rotate, unlock, convert — browser-local is faster and more private.
Splitting a 40-page PDF into individual pages:
| Tool | Upload | Process | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| PDFMerger.io | — | 0.9s | 0.9s |
| Sejda | 1.4s | 1.1s | 2.5s |
Sejda is fast server-side, but every task counts toward your 3-per-hour quota. PDFMerger.io does not track or limit tasks.
Sejda enforces the hourly cap per IP address. If you need to process a batch of contracts, student papers, or scanned receipts, you will hit the wall and be blocked for 60 minutes — or pushed to sign up for a paid plan. PDFMerger.io has no task counter because nothing runs on our servers.
Sejda uploads your files to process them and, per their policy, deletes them within 5 hours. For most tasks this is fine. For sensitive documents — tax returns, medical forms, contracts — a browser-based tool that never uploads is the safer option.
If you need to edit text in an existing PDF, run proper OCR on scanned documents, or prefer a native desktop application, Sejda Pro is a solid product. For everyday merge, split, rotate, compress, and convert tasks, PDFMerger.io is faster and has no rate limit.
PDFMerger.io is a free Sejda alternative with no task-per-hour limit. It runs entirely in your browser, so there is nothing to meter. Merge, split, compress, rotate, and convert as many PDFs as you want.
Sejda meters free-tier usage to drive paid conversions. The limit is enforced server-side. PDFMerger.io has no limit because processing happens in your browser, not on our servers.
Yes. Sejda processes files on their servers and deletes them within a few hours. PDFMerger.io never uploads files — the entire engine runs in your browser via WebAssembly.
Yes. Sejda free caps files at 50 MB and 200 pages. PDFMerger.io is limited only by your device memory. We routinely handle 500 MB merges on a laptop.
No separate app needed. Once the page loads in your browser, you can disconnect from the internet and keep using every tool offline.
Drop your PDFs. They never leave your browser.
Open PDFMerger.io