Honest comparison
Stapl vs Smallpdf
Smallpdf is a web service — your PDF is uploaded, processed, and then deleted from its servers, typically within an hour. Stapl is a Mac app that does the same operations without the file ever leaving your computer. If the documents are contracts, medical records or anything under an NDA, that distinction is the whole decision.
Prices and features checked August 2026. Smallpdf’s own site is the authority on its side of this table.
Side by side
| Stapl | Smallpdf | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free for personal use · $5 one-time for commercial | Pro is around $108/year |
| Where your document is processed | On your Mac — never uploaded | Uploaded to Smallpdf's servers, deleted after about an hour |
| Works offline | Yes | No |
| Merge, split, reorder, extract pages | Yes | Yes |
| Compress with quality tiers | Yes | Yes |
| OCR — searchable text layer | Yes | Yes |
| True redaction | Yes — rasterizes and rebuilds the page | Yes |
| Find and redact emails, phone numbers, SSNs, cards | Yes | No |
| Bates numbering | Yes | No |
| Batch a folder of PDFs | Yes — seven operations | Partly |
| Works on Windows, Linux, phones | No — macOS only | Yes, any browser |
Where Smallpdf is the right choice
Smallpdf works from any browser on any device — a Windows laptop, a Chromebook, a phone on the train — and it has team accounts and e-signature workflows built for people who need to send a document to someone else for signing. Stapl has none of that. It is a single-user Mac app. If your work is collaborative or you are not on a Mac, Smallpdf is doing something Stapl cannot.
Smallpdf states that files are deleted from its servers after about an hour and that staff do not read document contents. The point is not that it is careless — it is that the file still leaves your computer, which for some documents is not allowed at all.
Questions
- Is Stapl really free?
- Personal use is free forever — every tool, no page limits, no watermarks, no account. Commercial use is a one-time $5 per computer.
- Does Stapl upload my PDFs?
- No. Every operation runs on your Mac, and Stapl works with the network turned off.
- Is Stapl's redaction real redaction?
- Yes. It rasterizes and rebuilds the page, so the removed content is gone from the file rather than covered by a black box that can be selected or copied underneath.
Stapl is free for personal use, runs entirely on your Mac, and needs no account.
Get Stapl — Free