smallPDF.us
About Us

We built the PDF tools
we always wished existed

Founded by Manikant Yadav and run by 26 engineers, designers, security experts, and privacy lawyers — united by one belief: essential document tools should be free, fast, and truly private.

100M+
Users Served
30M+
Files Processed
4.6★
Avg Rating
99.98%
Uptime SLA
256-bit
Encryption
2 hrs
Auto-Delete
Our Mission

Democratizing professional document tools

In 2018, Manikant Yadav left a document infrastructure role with one observation: the tools professionals use every day cost hundreds a year — yet the technology isn't expensive to build.

Students couldn't afford them. Small businesses resented monthly fees. Freelancers in emerging markets were locked out entirely.

So we built SmallPDF.us: the same quality, for free, forever — with privacy protections stronger than most paid competitors.

No account required — ever
Files deleted within 2 hours
No ads inside conversion flows
Transparent about how we earn
GDPR & CCPA compliant
Available in 8 languages
privacy_architecture.md
UPLOAD
└─ 256-bit TLS in transit
PROCESS
└─ Isolated sandboxed container
└─ No file content logging
SERVE
└─ Signed download URL (15 min)
AUTO_DELETE → 2 hours
STORED_COPIES → 0
Zero data retention — verified by external audit
ISO 27001
Certified 2022

What we stand for

Six principles guiding every decision — from product features to privacy policy.

Free, Always

Core tools stay free.

Privacy by Design

Files deleted within 2 hours — by architecture, not just policy.

Radical Simplicity

No account. No jargon. If a flow takes 3+ clicks, we redesign it.

Built for Everyone

8 languages, every device. A student in Jakarta or exec in Berlin — it works.

Quality First

Every engine benchmarked against 1,000+ real documents before release.

User-Led Roadmap

Real users vote on features. Your feedback shapes what we ship next.

Leadership Team

The people behind SmallPDF.us

Engineers, designers, and lawyers who believe great software should be open to everyone — not locked behind a paywall.

Manikant Yadav — Founder & CEO, SmallPDF.us
FOUNDER

Manikant Yadav

Founder & CEO
M.S. Computer Science, IIT Delhi
12 yrs · Ex-Google, document infrastructure

Manikant built SmallPDF.us from scratch after spending a decade in Big Tech watching people overpay for tools that should be free. He leads product vision, engineering culture, and long-term company strategy.

PDF ArchitectureScalable SystemsProduct Strategy
Priya Nair — Chief Technology Officer at SmallPDF.us

Priya Nair

Chief Technology Officer
B.Tech CS, IIT Bombay
11 yrs · Cloud infrastructure & security

Priya architected the zero-data-retention pipeline that processes millions of files daily. Her background in privacy engineering means your files are genuinely never kept.

Cloud SecurityDistributed SystemsGDPR
Marcus Webb — Head of Engineering at SmallPDF.us

Marcus Webb

Head of Engineering
B.S. Software Engineering, Carnegie Mellon
9 yrs · Full-stack, file conversion APIs

Marcus leads the 12-person eng team. He championed the zero-account philosophy — believing that asking for a login just to convert a PDF is a betrayal of user trust.

React / Next.jsNode.jsConversion APIs
Amara Johnson — Head of Product & UX at SmallPDF.us

Amara Johnson

Head of Product & UX
B.F.A. Interaction Design, RISD
8 yrs · UX research, product design

Amara runs hundreds of user tests a year. She cut the average upload-to-download time by 62% by removing every unnecessary step from the conversion flow.

UX ResearchInteraction DesignAccessibility
Sophia Chen — Lead Security Engineer at SmallPDF.us

Sophia Chen

Lead Security Engineer
M.S. Cybersecurity, Stanford University
10 yrs · Ex-Cloudflare, application security

Sophia built our multi-layer encryption pipeline and leads bi-annual penetration tests. Previously at Cloudflare protecting infrastructure at internet scale.

CryptographyPen TestingISO 27001
Robert Ellison — Chief Privacy & Legal Officer at SmallPDF.us

Robert Ellison

Chief Privacy & Legal Officer
J.D. Technology Law, Harvard Law School
18 yrs · Data privacy law, GDPR compliance

Robert ensures every policy is airtight under GDPR, CCPA, and international privacy law. He personally mandated the 2-hour auto-delete guarantee into our architecture.

GDPR / CCPAData GovernanceLegal Compliance

26 people across engineering, design, security, legal & support · 11 countries

Our Journey

From 0 to 100M users

18
2018

Founded by Manikant Yadav after leaving Google's document infrastructure team.

19
2019

Launched with 4 tools. Hit 100,000 users in 90 days — zero advertising.

20
2020

Added 8 language localizations and 256-bit file encryption.

21
2021

Crossed 10M users. Launched mobile-optimized interface with a 12-person eng team.

22
2022

ISO 27001 certified. Launched GDPR Compliance Center and 2-hour auto-delete.

23
2023

50M users. Added image compression, WebP conversion, and batch processing.

24
2024

100M+ users worldwide. 99.98% uptime. Zero major security incidents — ever.

As Seen In

TechCrunchProduct HuntForbesWiredLifeHackerMakeUseOf

Why you can trust us

Credentials and certifications — not just words.

ISO 27001 Certified

Independently audited information security management since 2022.

GDPR & CCPA Compliant

Verified by external legal counsel. Full EU & US privacy compliance.

Bi-Annual Pen Tests

Third-party penetration testing — reports available on request.

Zero Security Incidents

No data breaches in 6 years of operation. Ever.

Ready to try the tools we built?

No account. No credit card. No BS. Free, fast, private PDF tools.