Sejda is one of the few online editors that has long let you change existing text in a PDF for free, and it has a large set of other tools and a desktop app. PencoPDF does fewer things and concentrates on one: making a text change that does not show.
The short answer
- For a broad free toolset, including a desktop app, Sejda is excellent.
- For changes that must match the original exactly, and for scans, use PencoPDF.
Changing existing text
Both let you click the words on the page and change them.
Sejda's editor lets you set the font family, size, colour, bold and italic of the text you edit. Its help notes a common catch: "The original font is missing some of the characters you typed", in which case you choose a replacement font yourself.
PencoPDF does not give you a font menu for existing text. It reuses the font stored in the file and, when a letter is not there, picks the closest face it has by name and letter width, then keeps the line's size, colour, baseline and word spacing. The aim is that you never have to choose. See how to change text in a PDF and keep the same font.
Scanned documents
On PencoPDF a scan is read as it opens, and you can retype a line on the scan itself: the old letters are lifted out of the picture and the paper behind them rebuilt, patterns included. See how to edit a scanned PDF.
Free limits
Sejda's editor page states free limits of 3 tasks per hour and 50 MB per file, with page limits as well. PencoPDF lets you open 20 documents an hour, and the edits you make inside a document are not counted. Its free limit per document is currently 10 MB and 30 pages, which is smaller than Sejda's.
Both change over time. Check sejda.com/pricing for Sejda's current limits and prices.
Side by side
| PencoPDF | Sejda | |
|---|---|---|
| Change existing text | Free | Free, within limits |
| Font choice for edited text | Automatic match to the original | You choose, when the original lacks a letter |
| Retype a line on a scan in place | Yes | Not found on its editor page |
| Free use per hour | 20 documents, edits not counted | 3 tasks |
| Largest free file | 10 MB, 30 pages | 50 MB |
| Desktop app | No | Yes |
| Account needed | No | No, for free tasks |
Where Sejda is the better choice
- Large files, or documents with many pages.
- Jobs PencoPDF does not do, such as creating form fields or Bates numbering.
- Working offline with a desktop app.
Where PencoPDF is the better choice
- Many edits in a row: changes inside a document are not counted against any limit.
- An edit that has to be invisible, without choosing fonts by hand.
- Changing the words on a scan.
Privacy
PencoPDF processes files on servers in Germany and deletes them 24 hours after your last edit. Details are in the privacy policy.