PDF24's desktop application is a genuinely private offline PDF tool — we recommend it for people who want a native app. But their popular online toolbox at tools.pdf24.org is upload-based, which contradicts the privacy story their app earned.
PDFToolBench is the equivalent of PDF24's desktop app, but in a browser. No install, no upload, no admin rights.
Feature-by-feature
| Feature | PDF24 (online) | PDFToolBench |
|---|---|---|
| Files uploaded | Yes | No |
| Install required | No (desktop app: yes) | No |
| Works on mac/Linux | Browser yes; desktop Windows-only | Yes |
| Free | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | No | Built on OSS (pdf-lib, pdf.js, Tesseract) |
Bottom line
If you're a Windows-only desktop user happy to install software, PDF24's app is great. If you're on a Mac or Linux, on a locked-down work laptop, or just don't want another desktop install, PDFToolBench is the matching no-upload toolkit.