Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

HackUtils VS KeptPDF

Compare HackUtils VS KeptPDF and see what are their differences

HackUtils logo HackUtils

Browser-based cybersecurity and dev tools - free & fast”

KeptPDF logo KeptPDF

Redact, edit, OCR, and sign PDFs entirely in your browser. The file never leaves your device. Free, no account needed.
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  • KeptPDF Landing page
    Landing page //
    2026-08-22

KeptPDF is a PDF toolkit that runs entirely in your browser. Nothing uploads: every tool runs on your own device, so the document never touches a server.

What it does:

  • Redaction that auto-detects names, SSNs, phone numbers, addresses, and dates, then removes the underlying text instead of drawing a box over it. Every redacted file gets an audit certificate that anyone can verify.
  • OCR that makes scanned PDFs searchable, with on-device processing.
  • Sign, annotate, compare, organize, split, merge, compress, convert, watermark, Bates numbering, exhibit stamps, and more. About 25 tools in total.
  • A command line version runs the same redaction engine on your own servers for bulk work: scanning bureaus, litigation support teams, and records departments process thousands of PDFs in one pass.

Who it is for: law firms, accounting practices, clinics, and anyone who shares documents they cannot afford to leak.

The core tools are free with no sign-up. Works offline as an installable app.

KeptPDF

$ Details
freemium $29 / Monthly (Pro, 1 user)
Release Date
2026 May
Startup details
Country
United States
State
Tennessee
Founder(s)
John Whitworth

HackUtils features and specs

  • Comprehensive Toolset
    HackUtils provides a wide collection of utility tools in one place, making it convenient for developers and security enthusiasts who need quick access to various encoding, decoding, hashing, and conversion tools without installing separate software.
  • Web-Based Accessibility
    Being a web-based platform, HackUtils can be accessed from any device with a browser without requiring installation, making it portable and easy to use on the go.
  • Free to Use
    HackUtils offers its tools for free, making it accessible to students, hobbyists, and professionals who need quick utility functions without paying for premium software.
  • Simple User Interface
    The platform features a straightforward and clean interface that allows users to quickly find and use the tools they need without a steep learning curve.
  • Time-Saving
    Having multiple utilities consolidated in one website saves users time by eliminating the need to search for individual tools or write custom scripts for common operations like encoding, hashing, or formatting.

Possible disadvantages of HackUtils

  • Privacy Concerns
    Using an online tool for encoding, decoding, or hashing potentially sensitive data means that information is being transmitted over the internet, which may pose privacy and security risks for sensitive or confidential data.
  • Limited Advanced Features
    Web-based utility tools like HackUtils may lack the advanced features and customization options available in dedicated desktop applications or command-line tools used by professionals.
  • Internet Dependency
    As a web-based tool, HackUtils requires an active internet connection to function, making it unusable in offline environments or situations with limited connectivity.
  • Limited Documentation
    The platform may lack comprehensive documentation or tutorials explaining the underlying algorithms and use cases for each tool, which could be challenging for beginners trying to understand what each tool does.
  • Reliability and Availability
    Being dependent on a third-party website means users have no control over uptime, availability, or potential changes to the service, which could be problematic for those who rely on it regularly in their workflow.

KeptPDF features and specs

  • Simple PDF Editing
    KeptPDF offers straightforward tools for editing, merging, splitting, and converting PDF files, making it accessible for users who need quick document management without a steep learning curve.
  • Web-Based Accessibility
    Being a web-based tool, KeptPDF can be accessed from any device with an internet connection, eliminating the need for software installation and allowing use across different operating systems.
  • Multiple File Format Support
    The platform supports conversion between PDF and various other file formats, offering flexibility for users who work with documents in different formats.
  • No Installation Required
    Since it operates in a browser, users can save storage space on their devices and avoid compatibility issues that sometimes arise with desktop software installations.
  • Quick Processing
    KeptPDF is designed to process PDF tasks efficiently, allowing users to complete common document tasks like compression or conversion in a relatively short amount of time.

Analysis of HackUtils

Overall verdict

  • I don't have reliable, verified information about HackUtils (hackutils.com), so I cannot confidently confirm whether it is a legitimate or trustworthy product. Given the name suggests hacking-related utilities, exercise caution and do your own due diligence before using or trusting it.

Why this product is good

  • The service is not widely documented or independently reviewed in sources I can verify, making its reputation unclear
  • Tools branded around 'hacking' can range from legitimate security/penetration-testing utilities to malicious or scam software, so verification is essential
  • Without confirmed information on ownership, security practices, or user reviews, its reliability and safety cannot be established

Recommended for

  • Users who first independently verify the site's legitimacy through trusted reviews and security scans
  • Security professionals seeking legitimate, well-documented penetration-testing tools who can vet the software themselves
  • Anyone who avoids entering sensitive credentials or personal data until the service's trustworthiness is confirmed

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to HackUtils and KeptPDF)
Security & Privacy
64 64%
36% 36
PDF
0 0%
100% 100
Productivity
100 100%
0% 0
PDF Readers And Editors
0 0%
100% 100

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing HackUtils and KeptPDF.

What makes your product unique?

KeptPDF's answer:

KeptPDF runs entirely in your browser. Your file, and the text inside it, never leaves your device. Not to an AI, not even to us. You can open your browser's network tab and watch: the document bytes never go out.

Most online PDF tools upload your file to a server first, and some "AI redaction" services quietly send your document text to a third-party model. That is the exact risk people are trying to avoid when they redact something.

KeptPDF also does true redaction. The text is removed from the file, not covered with a black box you can copy out later. Every redaction produces a verification certificate you can share with the file.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

KeptPDF's answer:

Three reasons.

Privacy you can verify, not just a promise. Processing happens locally in the browser, so there is no upload step to trust. We do send anonymous usage counts for quota, and we say so plainly, but never your document.

Real redaction with proof. Removed text is permanently gone, and you get a certificate showing the file was checked for leftover extractable text. Automated detection cannot catch everything, so a final human review is still your job, and the tool says that too.

It works on a phone. Most PDF suites assume a desktop. KeptPDF was built and used on a phone first, so redacting a document while you are standing in a hallway actually works.

How would you describe the primary audience of your product?

KeptPDF's answer:

Anyone who has to hand a document to someone else and needs the sensitive parts gone first.

In practice that is solo attorneys and small law firms, accountants and tax preparers, healthcare and records staff handling requests, HR teams, and individuals dealing with their own medical, legal, or financial paperwork.

The common thread is not an industry. It is a person who cannot upload a confidential file to a random website, and who does not have an enterprise IT budget to solve it.

What's the story behind your product?

KeptPDF's answer:

A family member got seriously ill. We spent most days at the hospital, and straight answers were hard to come by, so we leaned on AI tools to make sense of the records, notes, and lab results.

But you cannot paste a medical record into an AI chat. You have to strip the names, the ID numbers, the diagnoses first. And almost every tool we found either wanted to upload the whole file to a server, or "auto-redacted" by sending the document text to an online AI. That was the exact thing we were trying to avoid.

Most of this was happening on a phone, at a bedside. So I built the tool I needed: redaction that runs on the device, works on mobile, and never sends the file anywhere. That turned into KeptPDF, which is now a full PDF suite with over 20 tools, all local-first.

Which are the primary technologies used for building your product?

KeptPDF's answer:

The app is plain JavaScript with no front-end framework, which keeps it fast and keeps the code auditable.

PDF work happens in the browser using pdf.js for rendering and pdf-lib for writing. Text recognition uses Tesseract running as WebAssembly. Password and encryption handling uses a WebAssembly build of qpdf. It is a Progressive Web App, so it installs and works offline.

The thin server side is Node on Vercel, with Postgres for accounts, Stripe for billing, and Resend for email. None of those ever see a document.

Who are some of the biggest customers of your product?

KeptPDF's answer:

KeptPDF is early and independent, and we do not publish customer names. The product is privacy-first by design: we never see your documents, and we do not track who our users are or what they work on. Publishing a client list would sit badly next to that.

The user base today is mostly solo attorneys, small firms, accountants, and individuals handling their own records.

User comments

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What are some alternatives?

When comparing HackUtils and KeptPDF, you can also consider the following products

Cloaked - Cloaked can help anonymise screenshots and photos, blurring faces and text before sharing with others online.

Smallpdf - PDF document management and conversion suite

Passgen - Easy one-click password generator

iLovePDF - Premium online PDF tool set

DvTools - One tab for All the dev tools

Sejda - Split, merge and other powerful PDF tools.