I Built a Free Privacy Focused Tool to Merge and Split PDF Files

ultrondev on 02/06/2025 - 10:38

Hello Ozbargain, I built a product I believe you might like, esp if you are tired of practices of companies like Adobe with the sky high pricing and using your PDF to train their AI.

Introducing the PDF Merge and Split Tool: The Private, FREE, and Secure Alternative to Online PDF Tools!

We built this powerful Chrome extension for users who demand absolute privacy and control over their documents. Here's why our tool is the smart choice for your PDF needs:

  • Your Data Stays On Your Device – Period! This is our unwavering commitment. Every single operation – merging, splitting, organizing – happens directly on your computer. Your sensitive PDF files never leave your device, and absolutely no data is ever sent to our servers, or anyone else's. Enjoy peace of mind knowing your confidential information remains truly private.

  • 100% FREE, Forever: No hidden costs, no premium tiers, no subscriptions. The PDF Merge and Split Tool is genuinely free to use, giving you powerful PDF management capabilities without any financial commitment.

  • Works offline: Once installed this extension will download the required files and work fully offline. Like Magic.

Link:
https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/pdf-merge-and-split…

Free Software/Websites Chrome Extension

Comments

  • o53djz7qTPY4der on 02/06/2025 - 10:41
    +3

    Any plans for a FF extension?

    • ultrondev on 02/06/2025 - 10:52
      +1

      Of course, if there's demand, happy to build one.

  • Protractor on 02/06/2025 - 10:43

    Adobe should make vacuum cleaners

    • ultrondev on 02/06/2025 - 10:52

      Why?

      • MS Paint on 02/06/2025 - 10:55
        +12

        Cos they suck balls?

        • ultrondev on 02/06/2025 - 11:01

          Haha, I'm not a big fan of them too, esp not being able to cancel subscription plus no Australian data centres for PDF. That is what made me build this product as well as adobe charge us a leg but do not have a data centre here.

        • Protractor on 02/06/2025 - 11:11
          +3

          This^
          (A few reasons
          The resource drag, the invasion of privacy,the incessant control to force updates,constant nagging to use addon crap and crashes/freezes etc.)

  • Duckie2hh on 02/06/2025 - 11:15
    +1

    How do you make money OP? AKA, how am I being taken advantaged of?

    • ultrondev on 02/06/2025 - 11:19
      +8

      Some things in life are free haha. I'll add a buymeacoffee link if I have to work on a lot of features and hire someone for this but for now I can work on cool things like this.
      Btw I run ultrondevelopments.com.au if you're really looking to see how I make money.

      • Duckie2hh on 02/06/2025 - 11:33
        +1

        Love it.

      • mrdean on 02/06/2025 - 11:38
        +1

        Second line on your home page, soltions should be solutions. Also DeepSeekv3 not Deekseekv3. Probably others as well.

        • ultrondev on 02/06/2025 - 11:42

          Thanks for that, I've updated it.

        • tenpercent on 02/06/2025 - 16:30

          not Deekseek

          Don't judge. Different strokes for different folks.

      • Bruceflix on 02/06/2025 - 15:01
        +2

        I will buy you a coffee because this is totally useful.

        • ultrondev on 02/06/2025 - 16:16
          +2

          Thanks mate, means alot. I'll add a buymeacoffee link soon.

          • BargainWizard on 03/06/2025 - 03:13

            @ultrondev: "and can help you achieve the best of out low code and no code tools."
            im not sure but should that read low cost and no cost tools rather than low code i mean what does that mean stay free stay healthy :)

            • kiitos on 03/06/2025 - 09:11
              +2

              @BargainWizard: Low code is term for tools that help you build apps without needing to write a lot of code.

        • ultrondev on 03/06/2025 - 10:59

          Created a buymeacoffee link, btw no pressure, I make a good living.
          https://buymeacoffee.com/puskark

  • ultrondev on 02/06/2025 - 11:20
    +1

    Btw happy to take feature requests too, I'm building mini privacy focused apps like this one so feel free to ping me here or comment down and I'll try to add them to the backlog. Also will release the GitHub repo for full auditability in the next couple of weeks.

  • tenpercent on 02/06/2025 - 16:34
    +1

    I remember your phishing email forwarding idea.
    If legit this is a neat way to build reputation.
    I'll wait for the github repo release.

    • ultrondev on 02/06/2025 - 16:51

      Thank you, I did update the IsThisSpam product quite a bit from feedbacks here.
      https://IsThisSpam.org now uses AU data centres and much better privacy features now :)

  • woodg on 02/06/2025 - 17:19
    +1

    Works on Microsoft Edge (as do most Chrome extensions).

    My only comment is that the terms "upload" and "download" are used which implies, at least to me, that there is a transfer from my PC then back to my PC. But you say all processing is done locally so I trust that this is true, and my files are not going anywhere, but you may like to consider different wording.

    • ultrondev on 02/06/2025 - 18:10

      That's a great point, thank you.

  • liquornoodlescabbage on 02/06/2025 - 17:53
    +2

    Personally I use and love Stirling PDF. Its just an all in one pdf tool. I host it on my own server, but it can be used locally as well. Does almost everything you'd do with a paid for Adobe subscription.

    • ultrondev on 02/06/2025 - 18:12

      Amazing product, I really wish companies would see value in using more privacy focused tools like it and supporting them as well.

  • Malik Nasser on 02/06/2025 - 18:31
    +2

    Doesn't something like PDFgear already do this?

    • ultrondev on 02/06/2025 - 18:36

      If you can trust them, yes of course, they do offer much better features.
      But I saw this on the PDFGear Online tools:

      • Your files remain private and will be deleted after Your files remain private and will be deleted after leaving our site.
        which means they send your data to an online location somewhere, compared to this tool which uses on device processing, hence more secure.
        Plus another device of on device processing once you install the extension, you can use it completely offline.
      • Malik Nasser on 02/06/2025 - 19:16
        +1

        Don't use the online version, use the downloaded app, and keep everything on your device.

        • ultrondev on 02/06/2025 - 20:12

          Yeah their apps seem amazing. Will try them out.

      • simplystu on 02/06/2025 - 19:35
        +1

        which means … the end user is putting their trust in you - as the coder.
        yet PDFgear is trusted by 5x major's in the online world (as per their main page).

        just saying … if you want to highlight the differences between you / PDFgear.

        • ultrondev on 02/06/2025 - 20:11

          Fair point. My point may not have come across well as I have nothing against them as they seem to be doing excellent work.
          However I was pointing out they still do send pdfs to their servers in their online version whereas this tool doesn't, and this tool has offline capabilities and better privacy because of that (unless you are using their native apps, where they seem to be doing a lot and really well).

    • Chandler on 02/06/2025 - 21:02
      +1

      Or PDFSam, which has the added benefit of being open source.

      • ultrondev on 03/06/2025 - 02:31
        +1

        This looks quite solid too, the one edge my tool has is it works with ChromOS / Chrome browser and is a much easier install than windows or Mac apps. Plus, a lot less memory footprint with (300kb).
        Also, for organisations to do it in scale, chrome apps are quite easy to do so.

  • simplystu on 02/06/2025 - 19:31
    +1

    what was the reason to do this as a chrome extension?

    does this integrate with email clients too? or only web based email?

    considering sooo many ppl send/open PDF's in email - rather than from a website.
    good on you for designing this (haven't d/l as don't have chrome - nor have a real use case for it).

    what is this built on? Javascript?
    how many years have you been coding for?

    • ultrondev on 02/06/2025 - 20:02
      +1

      I am building a chrome extension for https://IsThisSpam.org, which is quite complex so thought I'd see what a easy win could be, hence this.

      I think you might have a different idea of what this product is, it is a chrome extension (think of it like an application that you can run on your chrome or chrome based browsers) which works offline. I do not intend to integrate it with email systems.

      Yeah it uses your plain old html/CSS/JavaScript combo and uses a library called pdf.js to perform pdf manipulation on your device which it downloads on install hence works offline.

      Been coding for a while haha, don't feel like number is necessary so not including it here. Btw got help from cursor and v0.dev to build this one so my programming experience isn't used that well here ;)

  • simplystu on 02/06/2025 - 20:31

    I get that …
    But Soo many ppl access PDf's VIA email.

    Guessing only small segment click on a PDF link from a website … Unless you can include a hook from windows to your extension?

    Which APPS do very well (sorry, not clued up on chrome extensions).

    I did pickup that you are inexperienced in coding (hence why you don't want to say) …

    At a guess I probably have atleast 15-20 years coding experience more than you - to put things in perspective … Although browser extensions isn't something I ventured into (although JS well versed in).

    • ultrondev on 02/06/2025 - 20:35

      I think I still don't get your point. If you had to put it as a feature request, what would you like the product to do next? Id be happy to put it in the backlog :)

  • Myone888 on 03/06/2025 - 08:42
    +1

    Can your program remove some of the annoying password required to open pdf files? Thanks in advance.

    • ultrondev on 03/06/2025 - 09:39

      Added to the backlog, thanks for the suggestion.

      • tenpercent on 04/06/2025 - 16:59

        If you add features that assist people in violating the security and privacy settings set by the owners of a pdf file, then that works against your trustworthy reputation.

        • ultrondev on 04/06/2025 - 17:19

          Oh on this one, this will not be removing passwords it will be a standard feature to view pdfs and remove the passwords only when you have the password. Brute forcing passwords on pdf is quite unethical I agree but saving it as a normal file after viewing it should be okay.

  • poncho on 03/06/2025 - 09:22
    +1

    just wanted to say thank you so much.
    literally took less than 20seconds to install and then add 20 files to merge!!

    have searched before and not been able to find any non-spam options easily

    • ultrondev on 03/06/2025 - 09:39

      Thank you for the feedback 🙂

  • ultrondev on 03/06/2025 - 11:00

    Thanks all, I've added a page on the main site for this project
    https://ultrondevelopments.com.au/pdfmerge.

    Also, a buymeacoffee link appears at the end of the page for now but please feel no pressure as I make good living already.

  • ZmbHntr on 03/06/2025 - 15:37
    +1

    Thanks, it works very well! Well done!

    • ultrondev on 03/06/2025 - 15:47
      +1

      Thank you so much!!

  • djathome on 03/06/2025 - 17:07
    +1

    Awesome product sir.
    Just fyi I have a chrome book here and it works fine for all functions :D

    • ultrondev on 03/06/2025 - 17:44

      Thank you so much!! Please do let me know if you'd like any function to be added.

  • djathome on 04/06/2025 - 16:06
    +1

    Dare I say Fill n Sign?

    • ultrondev on 04/06/2025 - 16:36
      +1

      You took words out of my mouth. Fill and sign is a bit tricky with authenticity but I guess as the parties are submitting, we can accept that the email in itself is proof. I've already got it in the backlog.

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