How to compress a PDF on your Mac
Compress a PDF on a Mac without uploading it: Preview's Reduce File Size, a Shortcuts Quick Action, Ghostscript, or Koi's Shift wheel. Plus why some stay big.
Start here
Smallpdf uploads your file, and its Mac app is gone
Smallpdf is a website with tools to compress, merge, split, rotate, convert, edit, sign, redact and read scanned PDFs. Every one of them works on its servers: your PDF is uploaded, processed and sent back. Its tool pages say files travel over TLS and are deleted automatically after one hour, for most tools, and it says it's ISO 27001 certified and GDPR compliant, per its compress page.
Smallpdf used to have a desktop app that worked offline. It still does on Windows, but its Mac download page says the Mac app has not been supported since October 1, 2021. So on a Mac, using Smallpdf means uploading. The free plan has daily limits, and Pro has a 7-day trial.
We make Koi, so read this with that in mind. Koi is first below because it does Smallpdf's most-used jobs, compress, merge, split, reorder and convert, on your Mac, with nothing uploaded. It doesn't edit, sign or annotate, and the picks say who does. Every fact about another app comes from its own site, help pages or Mac App Store listing, checked October 21, 2026. We didn't run tests or benchmarks.
Why switch
Why people want a Smallpdf alternative that doesn't upload
- The PDF is private: a contract, a payslip, a medical letter, a passport scan.
- Your work doesn't allow uploading company files to outside sites.
- The daily limits on the free plan run out mid-task.
- You're offline, on a plane or on bad Wi-Fi, and a 40 MB file won't upload.
- There's no Smallpdf app for Mac anymore.
Deleted after an hour is better than kept forever, but it still means your file sat on someone else's server. Every pick below works on your Mac for the core jobs, and each one says where it doesn't.
The picks
The best Smallpdf alternatives that don't upload your file
1. Koi
Best for: Compress, merge, split and convert PDFs on your Mac from a drag
Start dragging a PDF and hold Shift, and a wheel of six opens round your pointer: Compress, Organize, Metadata, Split, Merge and Convert. Compress has Light, Balanced and Strong and shows the size before and after; its words, links and pages stay. Merge puts several PDFs in order and saves one. Split makes a file per page or per range. Organize reorders, turns, copies and removes pages.
Convert saves a copy as Word, Pages, PowerPoint, Excel, JPG, PNG, text or Markdown. Word gets the PDF's words, with bigger lines as headings, not its layout or fonts. Excel puts each page on a sheet in columns. The same wheels turn Word files, slides and spreadsheets into PDFs. All of it runs on your Mac with Apple's PDFKit and Quartz, nothing is uploaded, and a copy lands beside the original.
Koi needs a plan: Pro is $20 a month or $192 a year after a 3-day trial that needs a card, or Lifetime, paid once, from $59. The Shift wheel uses no AI, so it never counts against Koi's usage. Weakness: no editing, signing, annotating or forms, no scanned PDF to Word, and a password-locked PDF doesn't open.
2. Preview (built in)
Best for: Merging, signing and shrinking for free
Preview is on every Mac and works offline. It combines PDFs by dragging thumbnails, moves and deletes pages, fills and signs forms, and File, Export with the Reduce File Size filter makes a PDF smaller. Export can also lock it with a password.
Weakness: it can't edit a PDF's words, and Apple's guide lists no way to turn a PDF into Word.
3. PDFgear
Best for: A free editor that does most of Smallpdf's tools
PDFgear is a free PDF editor for Mac with no sign-up. It edits text and pictures, converts to 30+ formats, compresses, reorders pages, signs, fills forms, redacts and reads scans. Its Mac page says most editing tools work locally, and that AI features and online services need the internet. It runs on macOS 10.14 or later.
Weakness: the AI and online parts are mixed in with the local ones, so for a private file, stick to the tools that run on the Mac.
4. Sejda Desktop
Best for: The same kind of web-style tools, in an app that works offline
Sejda Desktop runs on Intel and Apple silicon Macs, and its page says files are processed on your computer, not uploaded. Free is 3 tasks a day, with limits like 50 MB and 200 pages per document. Desktop and Web together is $63 a year, on its pricing.
Weakness: no one-time license; Sejda says it no longer sells them.
5. Stirling PDF
Best for: Open source PDF tools you can run yourself
6. PDF Squeezer
Best for: Only compressing, paid once
PDF Squeezer compresses PDFs entirely on your Mac with no internet needed, per its site. It's $19.99, runs on macOS 11 or later, and is on the Mac App Store and Setapp. Weakness: its page doesn't mention merging, splitting or converting.
With Koi
Compress or merge a PDF without uploading it
- Start dragging the PDF in Finder or on your desktop. To merge, drag all of them.
- While you hold it, press Shift. The PDF wheel opens round your pointer, its size in the middle.
- Drop it on Compress and pick Light, Balanced or Strong, or drop several on Merge and put them in order.
- Save. A copy like “Report compressed.pdf” lands beside the original and shows in Finder.
Your file never leaves the Mac, and there's no daily limit. Full guides: compress a PDF on a Mac and merge PDFs on a Mac.
Do it free
Compress a PDF in Preview
- Open the PDF in Preview.
- Choose File, Export.
- Click the Quartz Filter menu and choose Reduce File Size.
- Save it under a new name, so you keep the original.
Comparison
Smallpdf vs offline alternatives
From each app's own site, help pages or Apple's guides.
| Uploads | Compress | Merge and split | PDF to Word | Edit and sign | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smallpdf | Yes, deleted after an hour | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Free with daily limits, or Pro |
| Koi | No | Light, Balanced, Strong | Yes | Words and headings, not layout | No | $20 a month, or Lifetime, $59 for the first 25 buyers, rising to $199 |
| Preview | No | Reduce File Size | Merge, move pages | Not listed | Sign, no text edits | Free |
| PDFgear | Only AI and online services | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Free |
| Sejda Desktop | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 3 tasks a day free, or $63 a year |
| Stirling PDF | No, if you run it | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not listed | Free for individuals |
| PDF Squeezer | No | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | No | $19.99 |
Head to head
Smallpdf vs Koi
Smallpdf does more: it edits, signs, redacts, reads scans into Word and works on any computer with a browser. If you need those, or you're on someone else's laptop, it's the easier tool.
Koi is better when the file is private or the limits get in the way. Compress, merge, split, reorder and convert happen on your Mac, from a drag, as many times as you want, with the original left as it was. And Koi is more than a PDF tool: the same Shift wheel edits photos and videos and opens archives, and Koi itself types what you say in any app with dictation, records calls, and helps you study from a PDF.
Stay on Smallpdf if
- You edit, sign or redact PDFs. Koi doesn't.
- You turn scanned PDFs into editable Word files.
- You work across Windows, Chromebooks and phones, not one Mac.
- You open password-protected PDFs, or add passwords. Koi doesn't open them.
Word to PDF
Turning Word, slides and sheets into PDFs, offline
A lot of PDF jobs go the other way: Word to PDF. Koi does that on your Mac too. Drag a .docx, .doc, RTF or ODT with Shift held and drop it on PDF. A .docx keeps its headings, lists, links, tables and pictures; headers, footers, footnotes and text boxes are left out. Drag a PowerPoint deck and drop it on PDF for the whole deck, its words still text, with no PowerPoint or Keynote needed. Drag an Excel file and drop it on PDF for printable pages.
Each copy is saved beside the original. More in our guide to converting Word to PDF on a Mac.
Choosing
Which Smallpdf alternative should you pick?
- Compress, merge, split and convert on your Mac from a drag? Koi.
- Merge, sign and shrink for free? Preview.
- A free editor with most tools offline? PDFgear.
- Web-style tools in an offline app? Sejda Desktop.
- Open source, self-hosted? Stirling PDF.
Also see iLovePDF alternatives, PDF Expert alternatives and Koi's plans.
Keep exploring
iLovePDF alternatives that work offline on Mac
iLovePDF alternatives that work offline on Mac: Koi, Preview, PDFgear, Sejda Desktop, UPDF and Stirling PDF. Merge, split, compress and convert PDFs locally.
How to convert a PDF to Word on your Mac
Convert a PDF to Word on a Mac without uploading it: copy from Preview, an Automator Quick Action plus Pages, or drag it with Shift held onto Koi's DOCX.
How to merge PDFs on your Mac
Merge PDFs on a Mac without a website: Finder's Create PDF, Preview's sidebar, a Shortcuts Quick Action, or Koi's Shift wheel. Plus fixing the wrong order.
Support
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Smallpdf's tools run on its servers, so your PDF is uploaded over TLS and, its tool pages say, deleted after one hour for most tools.
No. Smallpdf's download page says the Mac desktop app hasn't been supported since October 1, 2021. Its offline desktop app is Windows only.
Smallpdf says it's ISO 27001 certified, GDPR compliant, uses TLS and deletes files after an hour for most tools. It still means the file leaves your computer, so for private PDFs use a tool that works on your Mac.
Use Preview's File, Export with the Reduce File Size filter, or drag the PDF with Shift held onto Koi's Compress and pick Light, Balanced or Strong. Both work on your Mac.
No. Koi compresses, reorders, splits, merges and converts PDFs on your Mac, but doesn't edit text, sign or annotate. Preview signs PDFs for free.