There is a free tier with no signup, limited by pages, hourly usage and file size. Beyond that, a £5 week pass or a £63 annual plan covering desktop and web.

Does the Sejda desktop app upload my file?

No — the desktop application processes files locally. The web version uploads them. PDFpad works in the browser without uploading, which is the same guarantee without an install.

PDFpad vs Sejda

Prices and features checked 20 September 2026

Sejda is the quiet, sensible one: no sign-up for the free tier, a desktop app that keeps files on your own machine, and a one-week pass at £5 for people who have one job to do.

The limits are usage-based — page and hourly caps, restricted uploads — and the web version does upload your file. The desktop and web annual plan is £63 per user per year.

PDFpad and Sejda, feature by feature
Feature	PDFpad	Sejda
Type on a flat (non-form) PDF	Yes	Yes
Fill existing form fields	Yes	Yes
Typed signature	Yes	Yes
Drawn signature (touch/mouse)	Yes	Yes
Upload signature image	Yes	Yes
Save and reuse signature	Yes	Yes
Date and tick fields	Yes	Yes
Flatten so fills can't be moved	Yes	Yes
Save as PDF	Yes	Yes
Save as Word (DOCX)	Paid only	Paid only
Reorder / delete / merge pages	No	Yes
Works on a phone browser	Yes	Partly
File never uploaded	Yes	Partly
No watermark on free tier	No	Yes
No account needed to start	Yes	Yes

Pricing, as published by each vendor
Tool	Free tier	Paid	Billing
PDFpadChecked 20 Sept 2026	Unlimited filling and signing; 3 PDF exports per 30 days, each with a small footer line	£6 a month, £39 a year, or £2 to unlock one document for 24 hours	Monthly or annualOne click from the account page, any time
SejdaChecked 20 Sept 2026	"No signup required. Limited usage and features" — with "Page and hourly limits", "Limited file uploads" and tool-specific caps	Web Week Pass "£5 per user for 7 days"; Desktop+Web Annual "£63 per user per year"; a monthly web plan is also listed	Monthly or annual

Choose Sejda if…

You want a desktop app that keeps files off the internet and does page operations too
You need it for a week and would rather not start a subscription

Choose PDFpad if…

You would rather not install anything
You want a phone-first editor with a saved signature
You need a Word export of the finished document

What each vendor says

Sejda

Sejda is the only paid tool here that sells a one-week pass — £5 for seven days — which suits a single urgent document. [source]
The desktop application processes files on your own machine; the web version uploads them. The annual plan covers both. [source]
The monthly web price is rendered in a way we could not read reliably on the last check, so it is not quoted here. [source]

Questions

Is Sejda free?: There is a free tier with no signup, limited by pages, hourly usage and file size. Beyond that, a £5 week pass or a £63 annual plan covering desktop and web.
Does the Sejda desktop app upload my file?: No — the desktop application processes files locally. The web version uploads them. PDFpad works in the browser without uploading, which is the same guarantee without an install.

Try it on your PDF

Open your document, fill it in, sign it and save. Nothing is uploaded, and you don’t need an account to start.

or drop a file here · nothing is uploaded

Competitor names are used descriptively to identify their products. Every price and feature above was read from the vendor's own page on the date shown and is re-checked quarterly. If something here is out of date or wrong, tell us and we will correct it.