Looking for a free or open-source alternative to SmallPDF? PDFsmith is the closest direct swap — MIT-licensed source on GitHub, or a $29 one-time packaged install. Since you're already auditing what you pay SmallPDF every month, here are four more pay-once tools from the same catalog worth a look while you're at it — different jobs, same idea: buy the software once instead of renting it forever.
1. PDFsmith — replaces SmallPDF
Merge, split, rotate, watermark & convert PDFs offline. No uploads, ever. $29 once vs SmallPDF's $12–15/mo. Free on GitHub, or the packaged installer on Whop.
See PDFsmith → · Source on GitHub
2. Cutaway — Local AI background removal — unlimited images, full resolution, nothing uploaded.
Replaces remove.bg ($9/mo (40 credits)). $24 once. See Cutaway →
3. WhisperDesk — Whisper-powered transcription on your own CPU — unlimited minutes, TXT/SRT/VTT export.
Replaces Otter.ai ($16.99/mo). $39 once. See WhisperDesk →
4. Shrinkray — Batch-compress a thousand photos locally — JPG, PNG, WebP, AVIF — no upload limits.
Replaces TinyPNG Pro (~$39/yr + API fees). $19 once. See Shrinkray →
5. Upwatch — HTTP checks, incident log, alerts and a branded 90-day status page — on your own box.
Replaces UptimeRobot ($8/mo). $39 once. See Upwatch →
Why this list is worth bookmarking
Every app above is a one-time purchase with MIT-licensed source, no accounts with us and no telemetry. None of them are trying to be the next SmallPDF — they're trying to be the last subscription you pay for that specific job.
Try PDFsmith — $29, once
Merge, split, rotate, watermark & convert PDFs offline. No uploads, ever.