Private PDF comparison

PDFStay vs Sejda: Browser-Local PDF Work for 60.1% Less

Updated: July 22, 2026

Answer

Choose PDFStay over Sejda when you want everyday PDF compression, merging, or splitting to run locally in your browser without installing a desktop application. Supported ordinary PDF content stays in the current browser session. PDFStay costs $2.99/month versus an observed $7.50/month for Sejda Web, a difference of $4.51 or 60.1%. One PDF up to 25MB is free for compression, and basic small-file tools need no account.

Keep the local workflow inside your browser

Sejda offers two different processing models. Its pricing FAQ says Sejda Web uploads documents and processes them on Sejda servers. Sejda Desktop processes documents on the local computer, but it is a separate application that users download and install.

PDFStay takes a third route for supported ordinary tasks: the work runs in the current browser session, and ordinary PDF content is not sent to PDFStay servers. There is no desktop installer and no remote document-processing queue.

PDFStay is the better fit when the requirement is local processing in a browser, not simply local processing somewhere on the device.

Compress one PDF in your browser, or open the PDFStay tool directory.

Pay $4.51 less per month on the observed plans

On July 22, 2026, PDFStay listed monthly access at $2.99. Sejda's Personal pricing page showed Sejda Web Monthly at $7.50. PDFStay was therefore $4.51, or 60.1%, lower per month.

Published access option	PDFStay	Sejda	Decision note
Short access	$1 for 24 hours	$5 Web Week Pass	PDFStay has the lower entry price; the durations differ.
Monthly	$2.99/month	$7.50/month for Sejda Web	PDFStay is $4.51, or 60.1%, lower.
Long-term option	$12.99 Lifetime	$63/year for Desktop+Web Annual	The terms and included products differ; compare the needed workflow before purchase.

Prices, limits, and plan contents can change. Recheck both live products before paying.

Inspect the PDFStay inputs and outputs before choosing

PDFStay publishes fixed, non-sensitive compression fixtures tested in Chromium 148 on July 12, 2026. The records include input and output bytes, page checks, file hashes, browser environment, and limitations. They show what happened to those files, not what every PDF will do. No file was uploaded to Sejda for this comparison.

Fixture	Mode	Input	Output	Reduction	Pages
text-heavy-pdf-v1	standard	11,762 bytes	6,077 bytes	48.33%	4 → 4
scan-style-pdf-v1	scanned	2,141,091 bytes	187,107 bytes	91.26%	2 → 2
image-heavy-pdf-v1	image	1,845,799 bytes	337,064 bytes	81.74%	2 → 2

The scan-style fixture changed from 2,141,091 bytes to 187,107 bytes while remaining two pages. A different document may produce a different size or visual result.

Read the method, fixture hashes, environment, and limitations.

PDFStay and Sejda on the decisions that matter here

Decision point	PDFStay	Sejda	Why PDFStay wins
Local browser processing	Supported ordinary tasks run in the current browser session without sending PDF content to PDFStay servers.	Sejda Web uploads documents for server processing. Sejda Desktop processes locally after installation.	PDFStay provides the local-processing boundary without requiring a desktop application.
Observed monthly price	$2.99/month.	Sejda Web Monthly at $7.50.	PDFStay is $4.51, or 60.1%, lower on the observed prices.
Non-recurring access	$1 24-hour pass and $12.99 Lifetime option.	$5 Web Week Pass; Desktop+Web Annual was $63/year.	PDFStay publishes a lower-cost short entry point and a non-recurring Lifetime option.
Inspectable first-party proof	Publishes fixed fixture bytes, page checks, hashes, environment, and reductions of 48.33%, 81.74%, and 91.26%.	No same-fixture Sejda result was generated for this page.	PDFStay shows concrete inputs and outputs without presenting them as a cross-product benchmark.

Sejda Web's free limits vary by task

Sejda's official online tool pages showed different free boundaries on July 22, 2026:

Compress PDF: up to 200 pages or 100MB, with three tasks per hour.
Merge PDF: up to 50 pages or 50MB, with three tasks per hour.
Split PDF: up to 200 pages or 50MB, with three tasks per hour.

Each page asks the user to upload files, says transfers use an encrypted connection, and says files are automatically deleted after two hours. Sejda's current Privacy Policy also says user-uploaded and processed files are permanently deleted and are not backed up.

This is a documented remote workflow rather than an undisclosed one. PDFStay's advantage is that supported ordinary PDF content does not need to enter that upload, server-processing, and deletion sequence.

Choose PDFStay for a focused browser task

You want to compress a PDF, merge PDFs, or split a PDF in the browser without installing a desktop application.
You do not want ordinary PDF content sent to PDFStay servers for a supported task.
You want one PDF up to 25MB compressed for free with standard, image, or scanned-PDF mode.
You want to begin a basic small-file task without registration.
You prefer a $1 short pass, $2.99 monthly access, or a $12.99 Lifetime option.
You want published input and output examples before choosing the tool.

Try PDFStay Compress PDF.

PDFStay's current limitations

PDFStay is focused on a smaller set of browser-based PDF jobs:

Fewer tools today: PDFStay covers fewer workflows than Sejda.
A defined free boundary: free compression covers one PDF up to 25MB; larger files and advanced controls require Pro access.
Device-dependent performance: local speed and memory use depend partly on the browser and device.
Document-dependent results: compression ratios and visual outcomes vary with the source PDF.

PDFStay will continue to be updated. This page lists only features that are already live and verified; planned additions are not presented as available, and no release date is promised.

Where Sejda remains a different fit

Sejda publishes a wider set of specialist PDF tools and detailed merge and split controls, including visual split points, every-X-pages splitting, bookmarks, table-of-contents options, and a downloadable desktop application. If one of those exact workflows is required, choose a product that provides it. For supported everyday browser tasks, PDFStay's no-install local workflow, lower observed monthly price, flexible access choices, and published fixtures are the stronger reasons to choose it.

How to compress one PDF with PDFStay

Open Compress PDF.
Choose one PDF from the device. The current free boundary is one file up to 25MB.
Select standard, image, or scanned-PDF compression.
Process the file in the current browser session.
Download the result and inspect readability before using it.

PDFStay does not promise a fixed reduction or visual-quality score.

Frequently asked questions

What is PDFStay's main advantage over Sejda?

PDFStay processes supported ordinary tasks in the current browser session without requiring a separate desktop application or sending ordinary PDF content to PDFStay servers.

How much cheaper is PDFStay than Sejda Web?

On monthly prices observed July 22, 2026, PDFStay was $2.99 and Sejda Web Monthly was $7.50. PDFStay was $4.51, or 60.1%, lower.

Does Sejda upload PDF files?

Sejda Web does. Its official Compress, Merge, and Split pages ask users to upload files for online processing and say files are automatically deleted after two hours. Sejda Desktop is a separate application that processes documents locally.

Can Sejda work offline?

Yes. Sejda's pricing FAQ says its downloaded Desktop application processes documents on the local computer without uploading them to Sejda servers.

Were the same PDFs tested with Sejda?

No. No file was uploaded to Sejda. The published reductions are PDFStay first-party examples, not a same-file comparison.

Sources and review boundary

This is a PDFStay-owned comparison based on current PDFStay records and dated observations of official Sejda pages. It is not an independent review or a same-file product benchmark. Official pages were reviewed July 22, 2026.

Last updated: 2026-07-22