Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Basin VS Smallpdf

Compare Basin VS Smallpdf and see what are their differences

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Basin logo Basin

Collect form submissions, filter spam, and automate workflows โ€” no backend required.

Smallpdf logo Smallpdf

PDF document management and conversion suite
  • Basin Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-02-02

Basin automagically collects form submissions, blocks spam, sends email notifications, and triggers integrations with connected apps โ€” saving you the hassle of building and maintaining your own form backend API.

  • Smallpdf Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-21

Basin

$ Details
freemium $7.0 / Monthly (Basic plan - 1 project, 3 forms, 250 submissions, 250MB storage)
Platforms
Web
Release Date
2017 October
Startup details
Country
Canada
State
BC
City
Abbotsford

Smallpdf

$ Details
-
Platforms
-
Release Date
-

Basin features and specs

  • Custom Redirects
    Redirect users to any URL after successful form submission.
  • File Uploads
    Allow visitors to upload files and attachments directly through your forms.
  • Projects / Workspaces
    Organize forms and submissions into projects for easier management.
  • Form Sharing
    Share forms with teammates or collaborators for review and management.
  • Webhooks
    Send form submissions instantly to external services and APIs.
  • Custom Templates
    Create reusable templates to quickly deploy new forms.
  • Custom Domains
    Send emails from your own domain for a seamless branded experience.
  • API Access
    Access submissions and manage forms programmatically via Basinโ€™s API.
  • Advanced Spam Protection
    Automatically detect and block spam submissions using multiple filtering techniques.
  • Integrations
    Connect Basin with tools like Zapier, Slack, Google Sheets, and more.
  • CSV Data Exporting
    Export form submissions to CSV for reporting, backups, or analysis.
  • Domain Restrictions
    Limit which websites can submit data to your forms.
  • Autoresponder Emails
    Automatically send confirmation or follow-up emails to users after submission.
  • Partial Form Submission Capture
    Capture leads even if users abandon the form before completing it.
  • Submission Analytics
    Track form activity and performance through built-in analytics.
  • Team Collaboration
    Invite teammates and manage access to projects and submissions.
  • Email Notifications
    Receive instant email alerts whenever a new form submission is received.
  • Custom Success Messages
    Display personalized confirmation messages after submissions.

Smallpdf features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Smallpdf provides a clean, intuitive, and easy-to-navigate interface, making it accessible for users of all technical levels.
  • Wide Range of Tools
    Offers a variety of tools for PDF editing, including compressing, merging, splitting, and converting PDFs to other formats.
  • Cloud Integration
    Seamlessly integrates with cloud storage services like Google Drive and Dropbox, allowing users to work directly with their files stored online.
  • Security
    Utilizes strong encryption and deletes files from their servers after one hour, ensuring user data is kept secure and private.
  • Cross-Platform Availability
    Accessible from various devices including desktops, tablets, and smartphones with responsive web design.
  • Free Tier
    Provides a free tier with limited features, which is suitable for occasional or basic users.

Possible disadvantages of Smallpdf

  • Limited Free Features
    The free version only allows for two tasks per day and places restrictions on larger files and advanced features, leading to potential inconvenience for frequent users.
  • Subscription Cost
    The premium subscription can be considered expensive for some users, particularly those who only need occasional PDF edits.
  • File Size Limit
    Even with a premium subscription, there are restrictions on the maximum file size that can be uploaded and processed.
  • Internet Dependence
    Requires an active internet connection to use most of its features, which can be a limitation for users with unreliable or slow connectivity.
  • Privacy Concerns
    Despite strong encryption, some users may still have reservations about uploading sensitive documents to an online service.
  • Limited Customization
    The range of customization options for certain tools may be limited compared to more specialized PDF software.

Analysis of Basin

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Basin is generally regarded as a reliable and effective service for managing form submissions.

Why this product is good

  • Basin (usebasin.com) is considered a good option because it provides a seamless and code-free way to handle form submissions. It allows users to quickly set up serverless form backends, manage submissions efficiently, and integrate with other tools such as Zapier, Slack, and email. Basin is known for its user-friendly interface and reliability, which appeal to developers and non-developers alike.

Recommended for

    Basin is recommended for web developers, designers, and anyone building websites or web applications who need a straightforward solution for handling form submissions without the hassle of setting up a server.

Analysis of Smallpdf

Overall verdict

  • Smallpdf is a reliable and efficient tool for managing PDF documents, suitable for both casual users and professionals. Its combination of versatility, ease of use, and security features makes it a strong contender in the realm of online PDF services.

Why this product is good

  • Smallpdf is considered good because it offers a wide range of PDF tools that are easy to use and accessible online. It provides functionalities such as PDF conversion, compression, editing, and signing, all within a user-friendly interface. This makes it an ideal choice for both individuals and businesses looking for efficient document management solutions. Additionally, it emphasizes security by ensuring encrypted file transfers, which is crucial for handling sensitive information.

Recommended for

  • Individuals who frequently work with PDFs and need a straightforward tool for conversions, compressions, or edits.
  • Students who need to annotate and organize their study materials in a PDF format.
  • Professionals who require a reliable tool for signing documents and collaborating with team members remotely.
  • Businesses looking for secure document management solutions with the flexibility of online access.

Basin videos

Send emails from an HTML Contact Form in 2 minutes

More videos:

  • Tutorial - HTML Form Submissions to your Slack Channel

Smallpdf videos

smallpdf tutorial video

More videos:

  • Review - Smallpdf Review
  • Tutorial - Smallpdf | How to do Unlimited Free Conversions ? | Hack for Smallpdf | Bypass limit of 2 conversion

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Basin and Smallpdf)
Form Builder
100 100%
0% 0
PDF Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Forms And Surveys
100 100%
0% 0
PDF Converter
0 0%
100% 100

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing Basin and Smallpdf.

What makes your product unique?

Basin's answer

Basin combines the simplicity of a form backend with powerful lead intelligence and automation tools. In addition to collecting form submissions and blocking spam, Basin helps businesses qualify and enrich leads automatically.

Features like Lead Agent use AI to analyze incoming submissions and help teams prioritize high-quality leads. Basin also includes email verification and phone verification to ensure contact details are valid, reducing fake or low-quality submissions.

Beyond basic form handling, Basin offers partial submission capture, advanced spam protection, integrations, and built-in analytics, allowing teams to turn website forms into a reliable lead generation and automation pipeline โ€” without building or maintaining their own backend infrastructure.

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Basin and Smallpdf

Basin Reviews

We have no reviews of Basin yet.
Be the first one to post

Smallpdf Reviews

Best Free Alternatives to Adobe Acrobat in 2026
Smallpdf is a well-known online PDF platform with a clean interface. It works entirely in the browser and integrates with Google Drive and Dropbox, making it convenient if you store files in the cloud. The free tier limits you to two tasks per hour and adds a watermark on some output files. Files are uploaded to Smallpdf's servers for processing.
Best Online Image Converters in 2026: Docpose.cloud Leads the Pack
Users highlight Docpose.cloudโ€™s reliabilityโ€”no failed conversions even on rare formats. CloudConvert gets praise for quality tweaks but frustrates with daily resets. iLoveIMG is loved for extras like AI, but free limits irk. Smallpdf suits PDF-image hybrids, less pure images. Convertio is straightforward but caps freebies quick.
Source: fileproinfo.com
Ever wondered why bank statements are always in PDF?
Platforms like iLovePDF and Smallpdf are among the most popular choices. They do a decent job for simple PDFs, but I quickly realized a few issues:
Source: medium.com
Top 10 PDF Converters for converting to or from PDF effortlessly
Smallpdf is one of the most well-known PDF converter tools online. Offering a simple, user-friendly interface, it allows users to convert files to and from PDF without any hassle. Smallpdf supports over 18 file types and integrates with Google Drive and Dropbox for easy cloud storage access.
The 13 Best Free PDF Editors (February 2024)
One of the quickest ways to add images, text, shapes, or your signature to a PDF is with Smallpdf. I find it extremely easy to use for those things, but I opt for one of the editors that top this list if I need to edit the text because this one won't do it for free.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Smallpdf seems to be a lot more popular than Basin. While we know about 38 links to Smallpdf, we've tracked only 3 mentions of Basin. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Basin mentions (3)

  • RudderStack's Data Stack: Deep Dive
    Another tool we use on the marketing site is Basin, which acts as a back-end form submission handler that isn't susceptible to client-side browser blockers or JavaScript errors, meaning we capture leads no matter what. Basin routes data to a RudderStack Webhook Source. - Source: dev.to / over 4 years ago
  • What do you usually do when you need a fast and simple way to capture some simple data? I have a static website with a signup form, and using a database just to save some emails would be an overkill.
    I just use Basin https://usebasin.com. Source: almost 5 years ago
  • How to send your html form to Google Sheets for free
    Usebasin.com (https://usebasin.com) The free tier on this Service only allows for 1 form and it also uses integrations with Zapier or Integromat to submit forms to Google Sheets. The third-party integration makes the setup more complex, because you also need an account at the integration partner and configure the integration to get your form to end up in Google Sheets. You can export all submissions to Excel or... - Source: dev.to / about 5 years ago

Smallpdf mentions (38)

  • OpenDataLoader: Safe, Open, High-Performance โ€” PDF for AI
    According to statistics from smallpdf.com, by 2025, there will be a massive 2.5 trillion PDF documents stored worldwide, and 290 billion new PDF documents will be created every year. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • Stirling-PDF: local web application to perform various operations on PDFs
    Smallpdf [1] probably deserves a mention here. Not OSS and not self-hosted, but Iโ€˜ve used it occasionally and it has always worked really well. When I was running an agency, we inherited their first office โ€“ very cool folks. [1] https://smallpdf.com/. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Looking fore college ruled template to print
    And use this one to merge two single-page pdf to make a double side page. Source: over 2 years ago
  • PDF to Excel without O365/Adobe Acrobat?
    I don't have Office 365 for the "Get Data" option, nor do I have Adobe Acrobat. I've tried the smallpdf website but it came out a mess, possibly because my original spreadsheet had highlighted rows and lots of text in some of the cells. Source: about 3 years ago
  • 5 tips to improve your SaaS user onboarding
    Examples of companies doing this well: - SmallPDF users can convert or compress a limited number of files without an account โ€” turning users into advocates and customers once paid use cases comes along; - Freshline uses interactive product demos to help users self-educate and understand the value of their features, without a paywall or registration;. Source: about 3 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Basin and Smallpdf, you can also consider the following products

Formspree.io - Just send your form to our URL and we'll forward it to your email.

iLovePDF - Premium online PDF tool set

Forminit - The complete headless backend API for your </form>

Adobe Acrobat DC - Make your job easier with Adobe Acrobat DC, the trusted PDF creator. Use Acrobat to convert, edit and sign PDF files at your desk or on the go.

Typeform - Create beautiful, next-generation online forms with Typeform, the form & survey builder that makes asking questions easy & human on any device. Try it FREE!

Sejda - Split, merge and other powerful PDF tools.