Browser & desktop PDF toolkits
Looking for a Smallpdf alternative?
Smallpdf is a browser PDF toolkit — compress, convert, merge, split — with a Sign tool alongside the rest.
Signed is a different shape of product, so this is a comparison rather than a pitch — which is why the table starts with what Smallpdf does better, and why there is a whole section below on what Signed does not do at all.
Smallpdf vs Signed, side by side
| Smallpdf | Signed | |
|---|---|---|
| Genuinely better at | Everything that is not signing: converting Word to PDF, merging, compressing and splitting files quickly in a browser on any computer. | Signed does not upload your document to process it. For a document with anything personal on it — a W-9, a medical form, a lease — that difference is the whole point. |
| Known for | Smallpdf is a browser PDF toolkit — compress, convert, merge, split — with a Sign tool alongside the rest. | An iPhone app for signing the document in front of you: create a signature by drawing it, typing it in a real handwriting style or generating one with AI, then place the signature, initials, date, text and checkmarks on any PDF and export a flattened copy. |
| Day to day it feels like | A page of PDF utilities where signing is one tool among compress, convert and merge. The file is usually uploaded to their servers to be processed. | Open the PDF on your phone, tap where things go, share it back. No account to create, no recipients to invite, no email round-trip. |
| Where your document lives | Uploaded to the service so it can be processed, stored or routed to other signers. | Local-first: documents, signatures and initials are stored only on the iPhone. Nothing is uploaded and there is no cloud copy on any server. |
Stay with Smallpdf if…
…you mostly need conversion and compression tools, and signing is the occasional extra.
We would rather you kept the tool that fits than switched and found the feature you depended on missing. Half the people searching for a Smallpdf alternative should actually stay put.
What Signed does not do
Read this before you switch. These are real gaps, not modesty — if one of them is why you use Smallpdf, Signed is not a replacement.
- Multi-party routing. There is no sending a document to three people in a set order, no reminder emails, no dashboard showing who has signed. Signed signs the copy in your hand.
- Audit trails and certificates of completion. Enterprise platforms record IP addresses, timestamps and identity checks into a tamper-evident certificate. Signed does not produce one.
- Signer identity verification. No SMS codes, no ID checks, no national eID (BankID, itsme, eIDAS-qualified certificates). If your counterparty requires verified identity, you need a platform that provides it.
- Teams, templates and integrations. No shared team plans, no CRM or Google Drive connectors, no API. It is a single-person app on a single device.
- A desktop or web app. Signed is iPhone-only. Our free web signature generator makes a signature image, but the document signing happens on the phone.
What you get if you do switch
- No account, ever. Nothing to create, nothing to log into, no email round-trip. Open the PDF, sign it, send it back.
- The document stays on your iPhone. Signatures, initials and files are stored on the device — nothing is uploaded, and there is no cloud copy on any server. Optional Face ID lock on top.
- Three ways to make the signature. Draw it with a fingertip, type your name in a real handwriting style, or let AI generate one that looks handwritten rather than like a font.
- The boring fields are the fast part. Saved initials, an auto-filled date, text boxes and checkmarks — so a form that wants initials on every page stops being a chore.
- A flattened export. The signature and every field become part of the page, so the PDF you send back looks the same everywhere it is opened.
More e-sign alternatives
Or start from the document you actually have
All 73 document types → · or make a signature first with the free signature generator.
Worth reading before you decide
Signed is a signing tool, not legal advice — whether an electronically signed document is accepted depends on the document, the counterparty and where you are. Smallpdf and other product names belong to their respective owners; this comparison reflects each product's publicly described focus and our own honest read of it. We deliberately quote no ratings, review counts, plan limits or prices for other products, because those change — check the vendor for current details.