Lumin vs Smallpdf

Previously, Lumin has taken on DocHub, Adobe and others in our quest to find the best PDF editor on the planet.

But how will it stack up against Smallpdf, a Swiss-based document-editing software with 21 separate PDF tools?

Lumin and Smallpdf side-by-side

Lumin and Smallpdf, at their core, essentially do the same thing: help you edit PDF documents.

However, these platforms have some unique features that make them fundamentally different.  

Lumin features

Let's start with Lumin. It's a digital toolkit that eliminates the need for paper documents, making it scarily simple to edit, split, compress and merge PDF files.  

Say you want to send a PDF contract to someone really important. You can add fillable fields, edit the doc however you like and send it to them via Gmail, or via the “Secure sign” button in the toolbar. Your very important person can even sign your paperwork and return it to you, meaning there's no need for snail mail.

Don't have a contract ready to send to that VIP? Lumin has an entire library of pre-built templates, so you can take one and run with it.

Smallpdf features

Smallpdf has 21 tools for editing all kinds of PDF files. You can merge, split, rotate, flatten, compress, delete, sign and – thanks to AI technology – even "talk" to your PDFs without breaking a sweat.

File conversion is a big bonus for Smallpdf: while Lumin can convert files to PDF, Smallpdf has the added feature of converting PDFs back to images, Excel or Word files.

On the flip side, Smallpdf falls short when it comes to collaboration. For example, Lumin lets you create secure spaces for your team to share and edit documents – known as Circles.

UX

A good user experience is just as important as fancy features, and both Lumin and Smallpdf excel in this regard. Take Lumin, for example. Its minimalist and super smooth interface means you won't want to pull your hair out when editing docs. Things are similar with Smallpdf.

You can access both platforms on your computer or mobile device, which is awesome for editing PDFs in the office or on the go.

Security

We know what you're thinking – what do Lumin and Smallpdf do with all your data? Don't worry, your information is in safe hands:

• Lumin complies with PCI-DSS, GDPR, CCPA and other security frameworks. It also maintains a SOC 2 report and is working toward an ISO/IEC 27001 certification.
• Smallpdf uses 256-bit TLS encryption for data transfers and complies with GDPR, CCPA and nFADP. It also has an ISO/IEC 27001 certification.

It's a little unclear whether Smallpdf stores your data on its own servers or elsewhere. Lumin, on the other hand, uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) based in the U.S. to take care of your sensitive information, which might provide peace of mind.

Pricing

The great news is that Lumin and Smallpdf both offer free versions of their software. However, depending on your use case, there will likely be limits on what you can do. Smallpdf's free plan features adverts, which might frustrate you.

For more features, you could upgrade to a paid plan. Lumin's most popular plan, Pro, costs $19 per month per team and lets you annotate 30 documents per month team-wide, edit PDF text, split documents, retain document access and more.

Smallpdf's team plan is more expensive at $10 per month per user. If your team has 10 people, you'll be paying over five times more for a PDF editor than you would with Lumin – something to think about!

Taking into account cost, Lumin might seem like the ultimate winner in this battle. However, your choice will probably depend on what you want your PDF editor to do.

If you haver a strong focus on file conversion, Smallpdf might be the best option. But if you want more collaboration features and world-class security, Lumin is a good pick.