Compress PDF — Smaller File, Same Document
4 compression levels with full transparency. See the visual loss before you commit. Built on enterprise-grade document processing technology.
Powered by ExcelMaster's commercial-grade PDF engine. Free for everyone.
- 🔒 256-bit HTTPS
- ⏱ 1-hour Auto-Delete
- ✅ GDPR Compliant
- 👁 No Human Review
- 📊 Transparency Report Included
Drop a PDF here, or click to choose
Up to 100 MB. PDF only. Files auto-deleted after 1 hour.
Choose compression level
The free PDF compressor that tells you what it changed
Most online PDF compressors are black boxes. Upload, wait, download — you get back a smaller file but no idea what was sacrificed. ExcelMaster PDF Compressor is different. Pick from 4 clearly-defined levels (or set a target size and we'll auto-tune). Get a side-by-side visual preview before you commit. Read the transparency report to see exactly what was downsampled, unembedded, or dropped. Built on the same enterprise-grade document processing technology that runs Fortune 100 audit pipelines. Free for everyone.
What makes this PDF compressor different
4 compression levels with explicit semantics
Low (90% quality, print-safe), Medium (70%, 150 DPI cap, web-friendly), High (40%, 96 DPI, email-friendly), Extreme (25%, 72 DPI). No vague 'recommended / less / more' — every level is documented in the FAQ and the transparency report.
Visual diff preview (industry first)
Before you download, see before/after thumbnails of the first content page side by side. None of the popular tools — iLovePDF, Smallpdf, Adobe — show this. You judge the loss with your own eyes.
Smart-level recommendation
We analyse your PDF (image ratio, embedded fonts, scanned content) and recommend the level that gives the best size/quality trade-off. The radio is pre-selected when you upload.
Target-size mode that actually works
Type '1.5' MB and we pick the level that fits — no manual trial and error. If even Extreme can't reach your target, we say so honestly instead of pretending.
Compression transparency report
Every result lists exactly what was changed: image quality, max DPI, font subsetting, unembedded fonts, removed objects, stripped metadata. No mystery.
100 MB free, no signup, no watermark
Hard cap at 100 MB which beats Smallpdf's 5 MB free tier and PDFCompressor.com's no-customization tier. No registration. No 'preview only' pay-to-download wall.
Compress a PDF in 4 steps
- 1Drop your PDF — up to 100 MB. We auto-detect content type and pre-select the best level.
- 2Pick a level — Low / Medium / High / Extreme. Or type a target size in MB and we'll auto-pick.
- 3Toggle visual diff if you want before/after thumbnails. Toggle Scanned mode if your PDF is image-only.
- 4Hit Compress. Read the transparency report. Download. Files auto-delete after 1 hour.
Why ExcelMaster PDF Compressor wins
Built on commercial-grade document processing technology
We use the same class of PDF engine trusted by Fortune 100 audit pipelines and government agencies. The output quality you'd expect from $99/month commercial tools. Free for everyone.
Honest about what compression costs
Most tools hide what they did. We surface the exact image quality, DPI cap, font ops, and metadata changes for every compression run. No black box.
No artificial paywalls or daily limits
Smallpdf gives you 2 documents per day on free; iLovePDF makes you wait 1 hour between tasks. We give you 100 MB unlimited.
Works for the real use cases
Email attachments under 10 MB. WhatsApp PDFs under 16 MB. University application uploads under 2 MB. Tax filing portals with 5 MB caps. We've verified these targets in our public benchmark.
Print-safe vs email-only — explicit
Low and Medium preserve enough fidelity for office printing. High and Extreme are designed for screens / email / messaging only. We tell you which is which — competitors leave you guessing.
Independent benchmark — see for yourself
We tested 50 real-world PDFs across iLovePDF, Smallpdf, Adobe Acrobat, PDF24, and ExcelMaster. Methodology and dataset public at /benchmarks/pdf-compressor-2026.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost?
$0. No signup. No daily limit. No watermark. No paywall on the result. Files auto-delete after 1 hour for privacy.
What's the maximum file size?
100 MB per file on the free tier — already 4× more than iLovePDF's 25 MB free limit and 20× more than Smallpdf's 5 MB free limit.
Will the compressed PDF still be searchable?
Yes for Low/Medium/High — text content is preserved. For Extreme, fonts may be unembedded which means search still works but exotic glyphs (rare scripts, non-Latin) may render with substitution. Stick to High or below if you need universal text fidelity.
Can I compress a password-protected PDF?
Yes — provide the document-open password when prompted. We use it only to decrypt the input; we never store it and the compressed output is unencrypted by default. If you need the output encrypted again, reach out — we're shipping a Protect tool soon.
What's the difference between Low, Medium, High, Extreme?
Low: 90% image quality, no DPI cap, mild stream dedup — print-safe. Medium: 70% quality, 150 DPI cap, font subset — web-friendly. High: 40% quality, 96 DPI, unembedded standard fonts — email-friendly with visible photo loss. Extreme: 25% quality, 72 DPI, all fonts unembedded, metadata stripped — not for print, smallest possible output.
Does it work on scanned PDFs?
Yes. Toggle 'Scanned/photographed PDF' so we tune the pipeline for image-only content. Scanned PDFs typically benefit most from Extreme — there's no real text fidelity to lose.
Will my fonts still display correctly?
Low: yes, fonts kept embedded. Medium: yes, fonts subsetted to used glyphs only. High: standard fonts (Times / Helvetica / Courier) unembedded — renderers substitute. Extreme: ALL fonts unembedded — exotic fonts may not render identically. The transparency report tells you exactly which path was taken.
How is this different from iLovePDF or Smallpdf?
Three industry-first features: (1) visual diff preview before download, (2) smart-level recommendation based on content analysis, (3) compression transparency report listing every change. Plus higher free-tier limits (100 MB vs their 25 MB / 5 MB), no daily caps, no watermarks, no paywalled 'Strong' tier.
Why don't you say 'data never leaves your computer'?
Because it's not true for any web-based compressor — including the ones that claim it. Your file uploads to our server, gets processed, and is auto-deleted within 1 hour. We say what we do, plainly.
Can I compress to exactly 1 MB?
Yes — type 1 in 'Target output size (MB)' and we'll try ascending levels until the output ≤ 1 MB. If even Extreme can't reach 1 MB (which happens for very large or very photo-heavy PDFs), we return the smallest result we got and tell you honestly.
Is the output OCR text preserved?
Yes for Low / Medium / High. The OCR text layer is preserved alongside the image. For Extreme, the OCR layer is preserved but font substitutions may affect copy/paste fidelity. The compressed PDF remains text-searchable in all cases.
What technology powers this?
We're built on commercial-grade document processing technology — the same class of engine used by Fortune 100 audit pipelines and government agencies. We pay for the license; you get the output for free. We don't disclose the specific underlying engine to keep our cost structure private.