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50 PDF Compressor Tools to Optimize File Size: The 2024 Guide

May 9, 2025 17 min read

Ever tried sharing a PDF that's so large it practically breaks the internet? Large PDF files can be a real headache. They're cumbersome to email, slow to upload, and eat up precious storage space. That’s where PDF compression comes to the rescue, making your digital documents more manageable and shareable.

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PDF compression is the process of reducing the file size of a PDF document. This makes it easier to share, upload, and store, all while maintaining the document's readability. In this guide, we'll explore 50 PDF compressors tailored to various needs and preferences. And because we believe in providing simple, fast solutions, we'll also highlight how BreezePDF can help you compress your PDFs quickly and securely right in your browser.

Understanding PDF Compression

Why Compress PDFs? (The Benefits)

  • Easier Sharing: Smaller file sizes make it a breeze to email PDFs without hitting attachment limits.
  • Faster Uploads and Downloads: Reduced file sizes mean quicker uploads to cloud storage and faster downloads for recipients.
  • Reduced Storage: Compress those bulky PDFs to free up valuable space on your hard drive or in the cloud.
  • Improved Website Performance: Hosting compressed PDFs on your website results in faster loading times and a better user experience.

Compressing PDFs is a practical solution for anyone who frequently works with digital documents. Think about how often you encounter PDFs in your daily workflow. Compressing them enhances efficiency and reduces storage overhead.

Lossy vs. Lossless Compression: A Brief Explanation

PDF compression comes in two main flavors: lossy and lossless. Each method employs a different approach to reducing file size, and understanding the distinction is key. You will achieve the desired balance between file size and quality.

  • Lossy Compression: This method achieves significant size reductions by discarding some image data. While effective, it can result in a noticeable reduction in image quality.
  • Lossless Compression: This technique reduces file size without sacrificing any data. The original quality is preserved, but the size reduction is typically less dramatic than with lossy compression.

Lossy compression is best suited for PDFs where image quality is not paramount. For example, this works well when sending drafts or internal documents. Lossless compression is preferred for PDFs that require pristine image quality, such as archival documents or professional presentations.

Factors Affecting PDF Compression Effectiveness

Several factors influence how effectively a PDF can be compressed. Understanding these factors helps you anticipate the level of compression you can achieve. Also, this helps you optimize your PDF content before compression.

  • Image Resolution: High-resolution images contribute significantly to PDF file size. Lowering the resolution of images before compression can dramatically reduce the overall file size.
  • Fonts: Embedded fonts can add bulk to a PDF. Consider using common fonts that don't need to be embedded or subsetting fonts to include only the characters used in the document.
  • Embedded Objects: Embedded objects such as videos or interactive elements increase PDF size. Removing unnecessary objects can lead to a leaner, more compressed file.

Top 50 PDF Compressors (Categorized)

Now, let's dive into our comprehensive list of 50 PDF compressors, organized by platform. This will help you find the perfect tool. No matter how or where you prefer to work.

Online PDF Compressors (Web-Based)

  1. BreezePDF:
    • Key Features: BreezePDF runs entirely in your browser, ensuring 100% privacy. There's no need to sign up, and it’s completely free. You can choose the level of compression you desire before clicking the compress button. BreezePDF also supports typing, signing, image insertion, password protection, and PDF merging. The PDF editing tools in BreezePDF are quick and easy to use.
    • Pros: Secure, fast, user-friendly, no sign-up required, completely free, offers various editing features.
    • Cons: Relies on a stable internet connection.
    • Pricing: Free
  2. Smallpdf:
    • Key Features: Offers basic PDF compression along with other PDF tools.
    • Pros: Easy to use, provides a suite of PDF tools.
    • Cons: Limited free usage, requires a subscription for full access.
    • Pricing: Free with limitations, subscription required for full access.
  3. iLovePDF:
    • Key Features: Provides PDF compression and various other PDF manipulation tools.
    • Pros: User-friendly interface, offers a wide range of PDF tools.
    • Cons: Free version has limitations, ad-supported.
    • Pricing: Free with limitations, premium subscription available.
  4. Online2PDF:
    • Key Features: Compression with options for image quality and resolution settings.
    • Pros: Offers multiple compression settings, supports batch processing.
    • Cons: Interface can be confusing, may have file size limits.
    • Pricing: Free
  5. PDF2Go:
    • Key Features: Offers PDF compression and other PDF editing tools.
    • Pros: Easy to use, provides multiple PDF tools.
    • Cons: Limited free usage, requires a subscription for full access.
    • Pricing: Free with limitations, subscription required for full access.
  6. Soda PDF Online:
    • Key Features: Compression with options for image quality and resolution settings.
    • Pros: Offers multiple compression settings, supports batch processing.
    • Cons: Interface can be confusing, may have file size limits.
    • Pricing: Free with limitations, premium subscription available.
  7. PDFSmaller:
    • Key Features: Simple compression tool with an easy-to-use interface.
    • Pros: Very straightforward, quick compression.
    • Cons: Limited features, lacks advanced options.
    • Pricing: Free
  8. LightPDF:
    • Key Features: Offers PDF compression alongside other PDF tools.
    • Pros: Easy to use, provides a suite of PDF tools.
    • Cons: Limited free usage, requires subscription for full access.
    • Pricing: Free with limitations, subscription required for full access.
  9. HiPDF:
    • Key Features: Provides PDF compression with various editing tools.
    • Pros: Wide range of PDF tools, user-friendly interface.
    • Cons: Free version has limitations, ad-supported.
    • Pricing: Free with limitations, premium subscription available.
  10. PDFChef:
    • Key Features: Compression with basic PDF editing features.
    • Pros: Easy to use, good for simple tasks.
    • Cons: Limited features, not suitable for complex PDFs.
    • Pricing: Free trial, paid version available.
  11. PDFCandy:
    • Key Features: Compression with a suite of PDF tools in a desktop and web environment.
    • Pros: A large collection of useful utilities.
    • Cons: Desktop requires installation.
    • Pricing: Free, paid subscription available.
  12. DocuPub:
    • Key Features: Compresses a PDF.
    • Pros: Simple interface.
    • Cons: Very limited features.
    • Pricing: Free.
  13. OnlinePDFConverter:
    • Key Features: Basic PDF compression and document conversion.
    • Pros: Fast and basic features.
    • Cons: Limited features.
    • Pricing: Free
  14. FreeConvert:
    • Key Features: Multi file convertor of all files, including PDFs.
    • Pros: Wide Variety of options
    • Cons: Too many options can be confusing.
    • Pricing: Free
  15. WeCompress:
    • Key Features: Quickly compresses a PDF, among other features.
    • Pros: Batch file compression.
    • Cons: Limited Features.
    • Pricing: Free
  16. CleverPDF:
    • Key Features: Easy to use online compressor tool.
    • Pros: Free version has many features.
    • Cons: Some features are limited.
    • Pricing: Free, paid subscription available.
  17. CompressPDF:
    • Key Features: Basic compressor tool.
    • Pros: Free.
    • Cons: Very limited features.
    • Pricing: Free
  18. Aspose PDF Compressor:
    • Key Features: Compress a PDF.
    • Pros: Lots of different features.
    • Cons: Can be confusing for end user.
    • Pricing: Free
  19. FreePDFConvert:
    • Key Features: Simple online compressor tool.
    • Pros: Easy To Use.
    • Cons: Not too many features.
    • Pricing: Free
  20. PDFResize:
    • Key Features: Lets you pick different size options to compress your PDF.
    • Pros: Different sizing options.
    • Cons: Limited other features.
    • Pricing: Free

Desktop PDF Compressors (Software)

  1. Adobe Acrobat Pro DC:
    • Key Features: Industry-standard PDF software with advanced compression and editing capabilities.
    • Pros: Powerful features, integrates with other Adobe products.
    • Cons: Expensive, complex interface for basic tasks.
    • Pricing: Subscription-based.
  2. Nitro PDF Pro:
    • Key Features: Offers PDF compression, editing, and conversion tools.
    • Pros: User-friendly interface, robust features.
    • Cons: Paid software, can be resource-intensive.
    • Pricing: Paid, one-time purchase.
  3. Foxit PDF Editor Pro:
    • Key Features: Provides PDF compression and a range of editing capabilities.
    • Pros: Affordable, feature-rich alternative to Adobe Acrobat.
    • Cons: Interface can be clunky at times.
    • Pricing: Paid, one-time purchase.
  4. PDFelement:
    • Key Features: Offers PDF compression, editing, and OCR capabilities.
    • Pros: User-friendly, versatile PDF tool.
    • Cons: Free version has limitations, watermark on output.
    • Pricing: Paid, subscription or one-time purchase.
  5. PDF Architect:
    • Key Features: Modular PDF software with compression and editing tools.
    • Pros: Customizable modules, pay-as-you-go approach.
    • Cons: Can be expensive depending on the modules chosen.
    • Pricing: Modular, pay-per-feature.
  6. Smallpdf Desktop:
    • Key Features: Provides desktop access to the online tools you would get from Smallpdf.
    • Pros: Desktop option for Smallpdf Tools.
    • Cons: Paywall for most tools.
    • Pricing: Paid.
  7. PDFSam Basic:
    • Key Features: An open source Desktop tool to manipulate PDFs, offering both a basic and pro version.
    • Pros: Open Source.
    • Cons: Limited tools in basic version.
    • Pricing: Free, paid Pro version available.
  8. PDFCompress:
    • Key Features: Quickly Compress a PDF.
    • Pros: Open Source.
    • Cons: VERY limited features.
    • Pricing: Free.
  9. Icecream PDF Compressor:
    • Key Features: Batch compress tool for Desktops.
    • Pros: Offers batch compressing
    • Cons: Limited features.
    • Pricing: Free, with paid option
  10. Free PDF Compressor:
    • Key Features: Compresses PDF for desktop for free.
    • Pros: Free.
    • Cons: Ad driven.
    • Pricing: Free.
  11. NXPowerLite Desktop:
    • Key Features: A PDF Compressor tool for desktop.
    • Pros: Reduces file size
    • Cons: Limited features outside of compression.
    • Pricing: Trial and paid license.
  12. ORPALIS PDF Reducer Free:
    • Key Features: Compress a PDF.
    • Pros: Provides many options.
    • Cons: Can be confusing for user.
    • Pricing: Free, paid license.
  13. doPDF:
    • Key Features: A free PDF creator, offering compression.
    • Pros: Simple and Easy to use.
    • Cons: Limited functions.
    • Pricing: Free.
  14. PrimoPDF:
    • Key Features: Free desktop application that converts to PDF and compresses.
    • Pros: Easy to create PDF.
    • Cons: Limited options.
    • Pricing: Free.
  15. PDFCreator:
    • Key Features: An Open Source application that has a compression tool.
    • Pros: Free.
    • Cons: The free version is ad-driven.
    • Pricing: Free.

Mobile PDF Compressors (Apps)

  1. iLovePDF Mobile App (iOS & Android):
    • Key Features: Mobile version of iLovePDF with PDF compression and other tools.
    • Pros: Convenient mobile access, wide range of tools.
    • Cons: Free version has limitations, ad-supported.
    • Pricing: Free with limitations, premium subscription available.
  2. Smallpdf Mobile App (iOS & Android):
    • Key Features: Mobile access to Smallpdf's PDF compression and other tools.
    • Pros: Easy to use on mobile, provides a suite of PDF tools.
    • Cons: Limited free usage, requires a subscription for full access.
    • Pricing: Free with limitations, subscription required for full access.
  3. PDF Compressor (Android):
    • Key Features: Dedicated PDF compression app for Android devices.
    • Pros: Simple and focused on compression, easy to use.
    • Cons: Limited features, may contain ads.
    • Pricing: Free with ads, paid ad-free version available.
  4. PDF Expert (iOS):
    • Key Features: Powerful PDF editor for iOS with compression capabilities.
    • Pros: Feature-rich PDF editor, good compression options.
    • Cons: Paid app, can be expensive.
    • Pricing: Paid, one-time purchase.
  5. PDFelement (iOS & Android):
    • Key Features: Mobile version of PDFelement with PDF compression, editing, and OCR.
    • Pros: Versatile PDF tool, user-friendly interface.
    • Cons: Free version has limitations, watermark on output.
    • Pricing: Free with limitations, paid subscription.
  6. Compress PDF (Android):
    • Key Features: Simple Android PDF compressor.
    • Pros: Free to use.
    • Cons: Limited features.
    • Pricing: Free.
  7. PDF Utils (Android):
    • Key Features: A suite of utils to maninpulate PDFs.
    • Pros: Very popular Android APP
    • Cons: User may need to learn the tools.
    • Pricing: Free.
  8. PDF Converter (Android):
    • Key Features: Simple Android PDF converter.
    • Pros: Lots of tools.
    • Cons: Simple interface, but it needs to be learned.
    • Pricing: Free.
  9. PDF Maker (Android):
    • Key Features: Quickly make PDFs on Android and has a compression tool.
    • Pros: Easy to use.
    • Cons: Limited features.
    • Pricing: Free.
  10. PDF Creator & Editor (Android):
    • Key Features: Create and edit PDFs and compress.
    • Pros: Tools for PDF creation and editing.
    • Cons: Some users may need more features.
    • Pricing: Free.

Command-Line PDF Compressors (Advanced Users)

  1. Ghostscript:
    • Key Features: Powerful command-line tool for PDF and PostScript processing, including compression.
    • Pros: Highly configurable, supports batch processing.
    • Cons: Requires technical expertise, command-line interface.
    • Pricing: Free (Open Source).
    • Example command line use case: gs -sDEVICE=pdfwrite -dCompatibilityLevel=1.4 -dPDFSETTINGS=/ebook -dNOPAUSE -dQUIET -dBATCH -sOutputFile=output.pdf input.pdf
  2. PDFtk Server:
    • Key Features: Command-line tool for manipulating PDF documents, including compression.
    • Pros: Fast and efficient, supports various PDF operations.
    • Cons: Requires command-line knowledge, can be complex to use.
    • Pricing: Free (Open Source).
  3. ImageMagick:
    • Key Features: Command-line tool for image processing and PDF manipulation, including compression.
    • Pros: Versatile image processing capabilities, supports batch processing.
    • Cons: Requires technical expertise, command-line interface.
    • Pricing: Free (Open Source).
  4. cpdf (Coherent PDF):
    • Key Features: Command line tool to compress, edit, and manipulate PDFs.
    • Pros: Very versatile command line tool.
    • Cons: May be too difficult for casual end user.
    • Pricing: Free.
    • Example command line use case: cpdf -compress input.pdf -o output.pdf
  5. Mutool:
    • Key Features: Command line tool that is part of the MuPDF suite, compress, edit, and manipulate PDFs.
    • Pros: Lightweight and fast.
    • Cons: Basic tool, can be confusing for end user.
    • Pricing: Free.
    • Example command line use case: mutool clean -d compress input.pdf output.pdf

Open Source PDF Compressors

  1. Ghostscript:
    • Key Features: Command-line tool for PDF and PostScript processing, including compression.
    • Pros: Highly configurable, supports batch processing.
    • Cons: Requires technical expertise, command-line interface.
    • Pricing: Free (Open Source).
  2. PDFtk Server:
    • Key Features: Command-line tool for manipulating PDF documents, including compression.
    • Pros: Fast and efficient, supports various PDF operations.
    • Cons: Requires command-line knowledge, can be complex to use.
    • Pricing: Free (Open Source).
  3. LibreOffice Draw:
    • Key Features: LibreOffice Draw provides an option to compress PDF when exporting.
    • Pros: A suite of tools, and easy to compress.
    • Cons: Draw needs to be used.
    • Pricing: Free.
  4. PDFSam Basic:
    • Key Features: Manipulate PDFs.
    • Pros: Manipulate PDFs and can compress.
    • Cons: Can be too many options for basic users.
    • Pricing: Free.
  5. PDFCompress:
    • Key Features: Quickly Compress a PDF.
    • Pros: Open Source.
    • Cons: VERY limited features.
    • Pricing: Free.

Choosing the Right PDF Compressor: Factors to Consider

Selecting the ideal PDF compressor involves weighing several factors. These factors will ensure the chosen tool aligns with your specific requirements. The goal is to optimize file size without compromising quality or security.

  • Compression Level Needs: Determine whether you need minimal size reduction or a significant decrease. This will guide your choice between lossy and lossless compression methods.
  • Security Requirements: If your PDF contains sensitive information, prioritize compressors with robust security features. Look for options with password protection and data encryption.
  • Platform Compatibility: Consider whether you need an online tool, desktop software, or a mobile app. Choose a platform that fits your workflow and accessibility needs.
  • Ease of Use: Opt for a compressor with a user-friendly interface, especially if you're not technically inclined. Batch processing capabilities can also save time when compressing multiple files.
  • Budget: Decide whether you're willing to pay for a premium compressor or prefer a free option. Keep in mind that free compressors may have limitations or include ads.
  • File Size Limits: Be aware of any file size limits imposed by online tools. If you frequently work with large PDFs, consider desktop software that doesn't have these restrictions.

How to Compress PDFs with breezepdf.com

Compressing PDFs with BreezePDF is quick, easy, and secure. BreezePDF runs entirely in your browser. This ensures your documents never leave your computer, and protecting your privacy. In addition, BreezePDF is completely free and doesn't require any sign-up.

  1. Upload the PDF: Simply drag and drop your PDF file onto the BreezePDF interface. The tool will automatically load the document, ready for compression.
  2. Select the Desired Compression Level: Click the compress icon on the right side, select the level of compression, click "Compress".
  3. Download the Compressed PDF: Once the compression is complete, simply click the download button to save the smaller PDF to your device.

That's it! With just a few clicks, you've successfully compressed your PDF using BreezePDF.

Advanced PDF Compression Techniques (Optional)

For those seeking even greater size reductions, consider these advanced techniques. These strategies involve optimizing PDF content before compression. This ensures a smaller file size without compromising quality.

  • Removing Unnecessary Elements: Delete any unnecessary comments, annotations, or form fields from the PDF. These elements add to the file size and can be safely removed if they're not needed.
  • Optimizing Images: Reduce the resolution of images within the PDF to the lowest acceptable level. Consider converting color images to grayscale if color fidelity is not critical.
  • Using PDF/A Format: Convert the PDF to PDF/A format, which is designed for long-term archiving. This format embeds all necessary fonts and resources, ensuring the document remains accessible in the future, while also optimizing file size.

Conclusion

PDF compression is an essential technique for managing digital documents effectively. Smaller file sizes make sharing, uploading, and storing PDFs much easier. The wide array of PDF compressors available, ranging from online tools to desktop software, caters to diverse needs and preferences.

For a fast, reliable, and secure solution, consider BreezePDF. BreezePDF offers a seamless PDF compression experience right in your browser, ensuring your documents never leave your device. With its user-friendly interface and commitment to privacy, BreezePDF is an excellent choice for anyone seeking hassle-free PDF compression. In addition, if you need to make edits to your PDF, such as https://breezepdf.com/blog/delete-pages-from-pdf, you can do that easily.

Give BreezePDF a try today and experience the convenience of streamlined PDF compression. It's time to reclaim your storage space and simplify your digital document workflow.

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