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Test scope & comparison notes
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Cross-task capability coverage across selected products
Each product is scored independently per task edge; switch tasks below while keeping shared products selected| Task edge | sejda.com | pdfescape.com | Switch / compare |
|---|---|---|---|
| PDF to Word | 74/100 DOC · Output attached | Not tested in topic | Compare in task topic → |
| PDF compression | 95/100 PDF · Output attached | 93/100 PDF · Output attached | Active task |
| Scanned PDF OCR | 95/100 PDF · Output attached | Not tested in topic | Compare in task topic → |
| PDF merge & split | 97/100 PDF · Output attached | Not tested in topic | Compare in task topic → |
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Browse this task →| Criterion | Sejda PDF Compressor PDF compression 95/100 Seven-aspect task score States its 3 tasks/hour free limit upfront; compressed the 1.66 MB 2-page PDF by 94.58% to 89.9 KB in 1.74s without login while retaining 100% selectable vector text and offering instant deletion. Tested export PDF · Output attached Historical test · 2026-10-23 | PDFescape PDF compression 93/100 Seven-aspect task score Veteran guest-usable PDF compressor delivering High Compression mode that slashes 1.62 MB dual-page anchor by 98.00% down to 33.2 KB while preserving 100% of 27 vector text operators and tables in 4.62s server wait. Tested export PDF · Output attached Historical test · 2026-11-02 |
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| Pricing & rules | ||
| Pricing plans | Sejda personal web and desktop plans (Free / Web Week Pass / Web Monthly / Desktop+Web Annual); USD · 2026-10-21 Plan · source date Monthly / one-time Annual bill / period Quota & limits Free2026-10-21 ↗ Free Free Free No account required; documents up to 50 pages or 50 MB and up to 3 tasks per hour; files automatically deleted after 2 hours. Web Week Pass2026-10-21 ↗ USD 5 · one-time payment Usage / one-time Usage / one-time One-time payment of USD 5 for 7 days of Sejda Web access (unlimited documents, no page or hourly limits, up to 500 MB per file; excludes Sejda Desktop). One-time payment; does not auto-renew Web Monthly2026-10-21 ↗ USD 7.5/month — Monthly Sejda Web monthly subscription (unlimited documents, no page or hourly limits, batch multi-file processing; excludes Sejda Desktop). Recurring monthly billing; cancel anytime Desktop+Web Annual2026-10-21 ↗ — USD 63/year Annual Billed annually at USD 63/year (save 30% over monthly), including 1 year of unlimited access to both Sejda Web and Sejda Desktop. Recurring annual billing; cancel anytime 4 plan / billing-period records, all listed; — means that period is not recorded. The converter page states the free allowance (documents up to 50 pages or 50 MB, 3 tasks per hour, files deleted after 2 hours); the official pricing page (/upgrade) lists the 7-day Web Week Pass (USD 5 one-time payment), Web Monthly (USD 7.50/month), and Desktop+Web Annual (USD 63/year). Cancellation, sources & verification recordWeb Week Pass is a one-time 7-day payment with no auto-renewal; monthly and annual plans use recurring billing and can be cancelled anytime. Sejda official pricing and upgrade page ↗ · 2026-10-21 Capture 1 ↗ | PDFescape Free online tools, Premium and Ultimate annual desktop suites · 2026-10-31 Plan · source date Monthly / one-time Annual bill / period Quota & limits Free Online2026-10-31 ↗ Free Free Free Up to 10 stored files for 7 days, 10 MB per file limit Web-based PDF viewing, basic editing, form filling & creation, encryption, and sharing；Ad-supported; lacks desktop offline text/image editing and advanced conversion Premium (billed yearly)2026-10-31 ↗ — Annual price not verified Annual Up to 100 stored files for 30 days, 40 MB per file limit Ad-free, desktop & online PDF editing, PDF to Word conversion, merge & compress, page numbering & watermarks；Displayed as $2.99/month billed yearly without disclosing the upfront annual invoice total Ultimate (billed yearly)2026-10-31 ↗ — Annual price not verified Annual No expiration on online file storage, 40 MB per file limit All Premium features plus advanced form designer, digital signatures, and permanent redaction；Displayed as $5.99/month billed yearly without disclosing the upfront annual invoice total 3 plan / billing-period records, all listed; — means that period is not recorded. Free online tools allow up to 10MB/10 files without registration; Premium and Ultimate display monthly equivalents ($2.99/mo and $5.99/mo billed yearly) without stating the upfront annual billing invoice total. Verification has gaps; unknown prices and quotas are not inferred. Cancellation, sources & verification recordCancellation and refund terms unverified PDFescape Plans & Pricing ↗ · 2026-10-31 Capture 1 ↗ |
| Free & trial allowance on the test date | Free tier allows 3 tasks per hour (up to 200 pages or 100 MB per document) | Free guest processing for files under 10MB with Regular and High levels, zero paywall intercept |
| Cancellation & refunds | Web Week Pass is a one-time 7-day payment with no auto-renewal; monthly and annual plans use recurring billing and can be cancelled anytime. | Not verified |
| Disclosure of costs & limits | States the 3 tasks/hour and page/size limits directly below the upload button on the landing screen | Pricing page discloses monthly and annual subscriptions with monthly equivalent presentation |
| Task quality | ||
| Measured fixture results | File reduction: 94.58% · Output size: 89.9 KB · Selectable text retained: 100% · Page 2 preserved: Yes | File reduction: 98% · Output size: 33.2 KB · Selectable text retained: 100% · Page 2 preserved: Yes |
| Fixture findings | Reduced the 1,659.0 KB fixture by 94.58% (89.9 KB output) with both pages and 100% selectable vector text preserved. | Guest export of full 2-page watermark-free PDF (33.2 KB · -98.00%) retaining 100% of 27 native vector text operators, 4/4 headings, and 12/12 table cells with page 2 token intact in 4.62s server wait. |
| Original historical observation | Sejda performs far better at PDF compression than PDF-to-Word (95 vs 74): its 1.74s 89.9 KB output achieves -94.58% reduction while keeping 100% of native vector text streams intact, complete with an interactive 2-page preview and instant file deletion (02_result.png, 03_download.png). | PDFescape completed compression on the 1.62 MB dual-page PDF anchor in 4.62s server wait, achieving 98.00% size reduction down to 33.2 KB with all 27 vector text operators, 4/4 headings, and 12/12 table cells intact. |
| Suitable uses · historical assessment | Users who value upfront quota transparency, granular image quality options, and high-ratio vector-preserving PDF compression within 3 tasks/hour | Users seeking a trusted guest-usable tool to drastically compress PDF file sizes while retaining full dual-page vector text and table fidelity |
| Result & output evidence | ||
| Delivery capabilities | ||
| Recorded export specifications | PDF · Output attached · No watermark in test | PDF · Output attached · No watermark in test |
| Historical specification note · not an official maximum | Full 2-page native vector PDF (89.9 KB · -94.58% · watermark-free · 3 tasks/hr free limit) | 2-page intact watermark-free vector PDF (-98.00% extreme reduction) |
| Watermark observation | Watermark-free | Watermark-free |
| Batch & API | Supports multi-file batch compression and cloud drive imports | Web application handles single files without login; desktop client supports batch workflows |
| Recorded free-tier dimensions | Not verified | Not verified |
| Attached file dimensions | Not verified | Not verified |
| Speed & reliability | ||
| Timing observation | Network-observed server wait: 1.74s · End-to-end reference: 2.54s | Network-observed server wait: 4.62s · End-to-end reference: 4.91s |
| Date & fixture | 2026-10-23 · anchor_pdfcompress_v1 · US-West (California, AS2914) | 2026-11-02 · anchor_pdfcompress_v1 · US-West (California, AS2914) |
| Repeated tests & reliability | No standardized repetition count, success rate or variability range is recorded. | No standardized repetition count, success rate or variability range is recorded. |
| Interaction experience | ||
| Account requirements | No login in this test | No login in this test |
| Sign-in methods | No login required for direct compression and download | Basic online compression tools usable without login; email/password accounts supported for desktop suite |
| Manual adjustment | Not verified | Not verified |
| Interaction observations | Uploading without login and clicking Compress PDF renders "Your document is ready — We compressed your file to 92 KB (95% less)" with a clean Download button in ~1.74s and zero ad popups. | Not verified |
| Background & reputation | ||
| Service lifecycle notice | Not verified | Not verified |
| Operator | Sejda BV | Avanquest Software (Claranova SE) |
| Recorded origin | Amsterdam, Netherlands | France / USA / Canada |
| Domain history record | 2016–Present (affiliated with PDFsam) | Founded in 2007 (operating for nearly 20 years) |
| Background & reputation assessment | Operated by Sejda BV in Amsterdam, Netherlands since 2016 (affiliated with the open-source PDFsam team). | Not verified |
| External reputation record | Not verified | Veteran document utility operating since 2007, now maintained by public software group Avanquest / Claranova. |
| Engineering & privacy | ||
| Processing location | Uploaded for cloud processing | Uploaded for cloud processing |
| Third-party tracking record | No third-party services listed in this record; this is not proof that none exist. | Google Analytics · Google Tag Manager · Axeptio · Avanquest Analytics |
| Engineering & privacy assessment | HTTPS transport with automatic 2-hour server deletion and a direct "Delete files" button on the result sidebar. | Not verified |
| Retention statement | Claims deletion within 2 hours; deletion not independently verified | Explicit retention period unconfirmed; inspect policy record |
| Evaluation basis | ||
| Pricing transparency | 32 / 35 Explicitly discloses its free tier boundaries upfront below the upload button (3 tasks/hour, up to 200 pages or 100 MB, auto-deleted after 2 hours) and offers Medium / Good / Best image quality plus More options before compression (01_landing.png, 02_result.png, 03_download.png). | |
| Interaction restraint | 27 / 30 Uploading without login and clicking Compress PDF renders "Your document is ready — We compressed your file to 92 KB (95% less)" with a clean Download button in ~1.74s and zero ad popups. | |
| Background & reputation | 18.5 / 20 Operated by Sejda BV in Amsterdam, Netherlands since 2016 (affiliated with the open-source PDFsam team). | |
| Engineering & privacy | 13.5 / 15 HTTPS transport with automatic 2-hour server deletion and a direct "Delete files" button on the result sidebar. | |
| Task quality | 65 / 65 Deterministic PDF stream inspection: unlike its legacy .doc export in PDF-to-Word, Sejda excels at PDF compression—shrinking the 1,659.0 KB fixture to 89.9 KB (-94.58%, 18.45× ratio) while preserving 100.0% of all 27 native vector text operator blocks (BT/TJ), 4/4 headings, 12/12 table cells, and the Page 2 token (65.0/65) | 65 / 65 Size Reduction: -98% (1659 KB → 33.2 KB, 50.04× ratio) · Selectable Vector Text Retained: 100% · Page 2 Preserved: Yes |
| Deliverable specifications | 18 / 20 Exports a complete 89.9 KB 2-page watermark-free standard PDF without login and exposes advanced options (grayscale, image DPI, multimedia stripping), subject to a transparent 3 tasks/hour free quota (18.0/20) | 19 / 20 Clean unwatermarked export (8/8); Export spec: 2-page intact watermark-free vector PDF (-98.00% extreme reduction) |
| Processing speed | 14 / 15 Server task submission (POST /api/tasks) to ready result page completes in 1.74s (14.0/15) | 13 / 15 Network-observed server wait: 4.62s (API mode: async_verified; network upload 0s / end-to-end 4.91s shown for reference only, never penalized) |
