Should You Use Sejda PDF? Pros and Cons of Using the Web-Based PDF Editor

What is Sejda PDF?

Made by the Netherlands-based Sejda BV (no Chinese developers this time around), Sejda PDF gives users a comprehensive set of tools to tackle any Portable Document Format (PDF) tasks. According to their official web page, the app caters to organizations of all sizes – from fledgling startups to established corporations – offering a little bit of something for everyone.

The web tools

The web tools of Sejda PDF provide a convenient and accessible way to edit PDF documents without signing up or installing dedicated software. Upon visiting the website, users are greeted with a clean and intuitive interface, with the web tools being broadly split into the following categories:

• PDF editing: Sejda allows users to easily edit text, images, links, and even metadata within PDF documents. The editing interface is straightforward, enabling you to make both small and big adjustments with equal ease.
  

• PDF conversion: with Sejda, users can convert PDF files to and from various formats, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more. The conversion process is quick and efficient, preserving the formatting of the original document.
  

• PDF compression: Sejda PDF can compress PDF files without compromising quality – great for when you want to reduce file size for sharing or archival purposes.
  

• PDF merging and splitting: Sejda gives users the ability to merge multiple PDF documents into a single file or split a PDF into separate pages.
  

• Fill & sign PDFs: Sejda offers all the tools you would expect here. You can also create custom forms if needed.
  

• OCR: you can easily make scanned PDF files searchable and also deskew them, meaning that Sejda will automatically straighten PDF pages for you.
  

• PDF automation tool: more recently, the Sejda team implemented an automation tool that lets you chain several of their tools into a repeatable workflow, for instance you could flatten PDFs and then compress them in a single click.

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• You can only perform 3 tasks per day

• You can upload documents no bigger than 50MB or 200 pages

• You can compress files no bigger than 100MB

• You can OCR up to 10 pages

• You can upload Images no bigger than 5MB

• You can combine up to 30 files and 50 pages

• You can only convert one PDF at a time
  

All of this clearly shows Sejda BV’s intent on keeping users engaged with their web-based workflow for analytics purposes – something that is not possible with the offline desktop editor.

What is the cost of Sejda PDF?

Sejda PDF is probably one of the lowest-priced products in this segment, but there’s a catch (more on that later). As of the time of writing this article, there are two main pricing plans available for Sejda PDF:

• Personal licenses: you can get a one-week pass for Sejda Web at €5.50* ($5.99) and a monthly pass for €8.50 ($9.26). Sejda PDF Desktop only has a one-week pass priced at €8.94 ($9.74), while both versions can also be bought as a bundle for the annual price of €71 ($77.32).
  

• Teams & Volume discounts: receive a custom pricing quote depending on your team’s size and the number of licenses you wish to buy. The more licenses you buy, the bigger the discount gets (up to 60% for purchasing 50 or more licenses).
  

NOTE: Of all the pricing plans, only the week-based options are non-renewable, meaning that it will automatically cancel your subscription upon expiration. For all other pricing plans (monthly and annual), you will need to manually cancel your subscription if you don’t want to be automatically billed once the subscription period is over.

*Note that all prices exclude VAT.

What languages are supported by Sejda PDF?

The website supports a decent variety of languages. Here is the complete list:

• Indonesian

• German

• English

• Spanish

• French

• Italian

• Japanese

• Korean

• Hungarian

• Dutch

• Norwegian

• Polish

• Portuguese

• Romanian

• Finnish

• Swedish

• Thai

• Vietnamese

• Turkish
  

NOTE: If you’re planning on using the desktop version, the language support is severely more limited as you can only choose between:

• English

• German

• Spanish

• French

• Italian

• Portuguese

• Romanian

With that said, support for more languages is likely coming in the future, so make sure to check out the Sejda desktop client periodically for updates.

Does Sejda PDF sync across devices?

The software currently does not offer a synchronization feature across devices in the same way a cloud-based PDF service like Adobe Acrobat does. Instead, the Netherlands developer’s main focus is on providing a range of PDF tools both online and offline, with an emphasis on security and privacy at the cost of convenient cloud functionalities.

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10. You have successfully activated your Sejda PDF Desktop license.

Pros and cons of Sejda PDF

While priced affordably, Sejda PDF’s main focus seems to be on quantity over quality, with many of its tools lacking basic options that have become standard in so many modern PDF solutions. Let’s look at what Sejda does well and where it falls flat so you can better decide if the app’s for you or if you’ll need to look into other Adobe alternatives on the market.

Sejda PDF – the good

• User-friendly Interface: the minimalist design helps you get from point A to point B without wasting any more time than needed.
  

• Freemium model: Sejda PDF offers a generous selection of free-to-use web and desktop tools, perfect for basic PDF editing tasks like merging, splitting, and compressing files. This allows users to try out the platform without commitments.
  

• Cross-platform compatibility: Sejda PDF is available on Windows, macOS, Linux, and all modern browsers with virtually no differences between the web and desktop versions.
  

• Offline mode & batch processing (Sejda PDF Desktop): the desktop application empowers users to work on their PDFs without an internet connection and allows them to apply the same action to multiple PDFs simultaneously, streamlining repetitive tasks like compressing or merging large batches of documents.
  

Sejda PDF – the bad

• Limited free version: The web version has certain restrictions on the number of tasks per day and the file size it can handle, while the desktop client is even more limited in scope.
  

• Not ideal for complex editing: While Sejda is great for basic tasks like compression and page deletion, it may not be the best choice for more complex PDF editing needs.
  

• Weak collaboration options: Sejda PDF is primarily designed for individual users or small teams and it shows. It lacks features like real-time document collaboration or cloud storage integration of any kind, which could make Sejda an instant no-deal for larger teams that are considering investing in the software.
  

• Limited OCR and security features: Beyond going offline or using passwords, there’s not enough that Sejda PDF can offer its users to be considered a serious PDF security solution. Similarly, its OCR functionality might not be suitable for highly complex layouts or poorly scanned documents.

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