sejda.com

February 13, 2026

What Sejda.com is and what it’s built for

Sejda.com is a PDF toolset that’s basically aimed at “I have a PDF problem right now and I want it fixed without installing a whole suite.” It runs in the browser for the web version and also offers a separate desktop app for people who prefer local processing. The site groups common PDF jobs—editing, compressing, merging, splitting, converting, protecting, and a bunch of smaller utilities—behind simple pages where you upload a file, apply a task, and download the result.

There are two big ways to use it:

  • Sejda Web (in your browser): you upload documents and processing happens on Sejda’s servers.
  • Sejda Desktop (installed on Windows/macOS/Linux): processing happens locally on your computer, so files don’t need to be uploaded to Sejda for the core tasks.

That split matters because a lot of people only care about features until they hit a privacy constraint, like “this PDF contains client info and I can’t upload it anywhere.” Sejda is pretty explicit about offering the desktop route for that scenario.

The toolset: editing is only one part of it

Most people first find Sejda through the online PDF editor. It covers the typical “light-to-medium editing” stuff: add text, edit existing text, add images, create and edit links, annotate, whiteout/redact visually, add shapes, and fill & sign. It also supports form-related actions like adding fields and filling forms, which is where a lot of “PDF editors” fall down if they’re too basic.

But Sejda is more like a toolkit than a single editor. On the site’s navigation, you’ll see categories like:

  • Organize / split / extract pages (split by ranges, by bookmarks, in half for scans, etc.)
  • Merge PDFs and images into one file
  • Compress to reduce file size
  • Convert to and from formats like Word, JPG, PowerPoint, Excel/CSV, and text extraction
  • Security tools like encrypt (password protect) and unlock
  • Smaller utilities like headers/footers, Bates numbering, grayscale, rotate, resize, crop, and metadata editing

One feature that’s easy to overlook is Workflows. Sejda lets you chain multiple steps (like flatten → compress → rename) so you don’t have to manually run separate tools in sequence. It’s basically a lightweight “automation” layer inside the product.

Web version limits: what “free” actually means in practice

Sejda’s free tier is usable, but it’s intentionally throttled. On the editor page, Sejda states free usage as 3 tasks per hour, and it also mentions document limits like up to 200 pages or 50 MB (that wording appears on the editor and workflow pages).

In the interface text itself, Sejda also shows very specific caps that people often bump into, depending on the tool:

  • 50 MB per file (free)
  • 50 pages in some contexts (free)
  • 20 pages per conversion for certain converters
  • 10 pages per OCR task (free)
  • “Free users are limited to a single file per task” for multi-file operations
  • Limits on links per task, rename batch sizes, and number of workflows

So “free” is best understood as “free for occasional tasks, not free for high-throughput work.” If you’re processing lots of PDFs in a short window, the hourly cap is the main friction point.

Desktop vs web: the real difference is where processing happens

Feature-wise, Sejda positions Desktop as having the same capabilities as the web service, but with local processing. The desktop page is blunt about the value prop: files are processed on your computer, not in the cloud, which is pitched as a privacy and business-friendly angle.

That doesn’t mean Desktop is magically “more powerful” in every scenario, but it changes the risk calculation. If you’re working with sensitive contracts, medical records, or internal company docs, the ability to keep files local is often the deciding factor.

One more practical point: Sejda’s help content highlights that Desktop can use your locally installed fonts, which matters when you’re editing PDFs and trying to match the original typography.

Privacy and data handling: what Sejda says it does

Sejda’s site repeats a couple of simple promises in the tool pages: files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, and files are deleted after processing or within a short time window (the editor pages mention automatic deletion after 2 hours).

The more detailed story is in the Privacy Policy, which is especially relevant right now because it shows an effective date of Jan 6, 2026.

A few policy points that stand out when you’re evaluating whether to trust a PDF service:

  • Sejda says it stores uploaded files and processed outputs only long enough for you to process and download them, and says no backups are made of those user files.
  • It also states it doesn’t access your files without explicit permission.
  • For “sharing” features (public link sharing), it describes storing a copy for the lifetime of the link and auto-deleting shared links/files after 7 days.
  • It describes technical data collection like web logs and, for Desktop, optional error reporting and licensing/update checks.
  • It names key third parties involved (for example, it notes orders placed through FastSpring as merchant of record, and lists subprocessors like Cloudflare, DigitalOcean, Fastly, Google, and email providers).

None of this is unique in SaaS, but it’s helpful that it’s spelled out. The part you should still think about is your own threat model: if your docs are extremely sensitive, local processing via Desktop may be the safer default.

Pricing and plans: what’s visible from Sejda’s own pages

Sejda has multiple plan types across Web and Desktop. The upgrade page explains the model: Monthly and Annual plans are recurring subscriptions and auto-renew until you cancel, and it clarifies what “Sejda Web” and “Sejda Desktop” mean in terms of server vs local processing.

The Desktop page shows examples of plan packaging, including options like a short “week pass” and an annual Desktop+Web bundle (pricing can change, so treat the exact numbers as time-specific).

Key takeaways

  • Sejda.com is a broad PDF toolkit: edit, merge, split, convert, compress, secure, and more.
  • The web app is convenient, but the free tier is capped (notably 3 tasks per hour and size/page limits).
  • Sejda Desktop exists mainly to keep processing local, which is the big privacy and compliance lever.
  • Sejda’s Privacy Policy (effective Jan 6, 2026) gives concrete details on file retention, sharing links, and subprocessors.
  • If you need repeatable multi-step operations, Workflows can reduce repetitive clicking.

FAQ

Is Sejda free to use?

Yes, there’s a free tier, but it’s limited. Sejda states limits like 3 tasks per hour and caps around 200 pages/50 MB (and tool-specific limits can be tighter).

Does Sejda add watermarks on free exports?

Sejda markets many tools as “free, no watermarks” on certain pages, but in practice the bigger constraint is usually the task/page/file limits. Always expect tool-specific rules to apply depending on what you’re doing.

Are my files stored on Sejda’s servers?

For Sejda Web, files are uploaded and processed on Sejda’s servers. The site indicates automatic deletion after a short window (commonly referenced as 2 hours on tool pages), and the Privacy Policy describes file handling and deletion in more detail.

Is Sejda Desktop fully offline?

Sejda Desktop is designed so documents are processed locally rather than uploaded for processing. Separately, the Privacy Policy notes Desktop may communicate for licensing/updates and optional error reporting, so “offline editing” and “never touches the internet” aren’t identical ideas.

What kinds of tasks does Sejda handle besides editing?

A lot: merge/split/extract, compress, convert (Word/JPG/PPT/Excel/text), encrypt/unlock, and utilities like metadata editing, headers/footers, Bates numbering, rotate, crop, resize, and more.