What is it?
A free suite of 15 browser-based PDF tools. Merge, split, compress, and convert PDFs without uploading files to any server. Everything runs client-side using pdf-lib.js.
Why it exists: iLovePDF gets 226 million monthly visits. Competitors upload your files to their servers and bombard you with ads. Parchment keeps everything in your browser. Perfect for anyone handling sensitive documents — legal, medical, financial.
Why AI can’t replace it: ChatGPT cannot merge your PDF files. Period. This is a tool problem, not a knowledge problem.
Tools (15)
- Merge PDF — combine multiple PDFs with drag-and-drop reordering
- Split PDF — extract pages with visual thumbnails and page range selection
- Image to PDF — convert JPG/PNG/WebP with page size and orientation options
- PDF to Image — convert PDF pages to PNG or JPEG
- Compress PDF — reduce PDF file size
- Rotate PDF — rotate individual pages with thumbnail preview
- Protect PDF — add password protection
- Unlock PDF — remove PDF passwords
- Watermark — add text watermarks to PDF pages
- Page Numbers — add page numbers with customizable position
- Flatten PDF — flatten form fields and annotations
- PDF to Text — extract text content from PDFs
- Extract Pages — extract specific pages from a PDF
- Sign PDF — draw or type signatures onto PDFs
- Best PDF Editor Comparison — 6-editor head-to-head guide (affiliate revenue page)
Tech Stack
HTML/CSS/JS with pdf-lib.js and PDF.js. Zero server dependencies. GitHub Pages.
Monetisation Plan
| Phase | Strategy | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Donations — Buy Me a Coffee | LIVE |
| 2 | Affiliate links — 6-editor comparison page with Adobe ($19.54/conv), Foxit, Nitro, Smallpdf, PDF-XChange | Page LIVE, affiliate signups pending |
| 3 | Pro tier — Batch processing, OCR, larger file support ($3-5 one-time) | Planned |
Market Opportunity
iLovePDF: 226M monthly visits. SmallPDF: 100M+ monthly visits. Even capturing 0.001% of that market = 226 daily visitors. The privacy angle is our edge — every competitor uploads your files to their servers.