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Smallpdf Announces Sale of PDF Tools, Allowing Smallpdf to Deepen Its Focus on PDF Editing Software

PDF Tools finds a natural new home four years after joining the Smallpdf group, as Smallpdf doubles down on its own popular PDF editing software.

Smallpdf TeamPublished: July 14, 2026
You can also read this article in German.

Zurich, Switzerland - July 14, 2026 - Smallpdf AG, the Swiss company behind sign.com and smallpdf.com, one of the world’s most popular PDF software suites, today announced that it has sold its subsidiary PDF Tools to Apryse, a global leader in document processing technology.

Founded in Zurich in 2002, PDF Tools is a provider of high-performance PDF processing software and developer SDKs, trusted by organizations and government entities when quality, accuracy, and consistency are critical for compliance and large-scale document workflows. Smallpdf acquired the company in March 2022. Under Smallpdf’s ownership, PDF Tools has doubled its revenue and continued to expand its product portfolio – most notably with the launch of AI Smart Redact, a self-hosted capability that identifies and securely removes sensitive data from documents with high accuracy.

The sale positions the companies to accelerate on their own paths:

  • PDF Tools becomes part of a larger organization serving enterprise customers around the world. Its customers will now operate within the Apryse ecosystem, gaining access to global support, deep domain expertise, and a larger set of capabilities to add to their applications.

  • Smallpdf can now double down on its PDF software, serving tens of millions of users per month with secure, easy-to-use tools for managing, compressing, converting, signing, merging, and editing PDF documents.

  • Apryse strengthens its high-performance, enterprise-grade document processing offering and expands its footprint in Europe.

"This is a great outcome for both businesses," said Moritz Werner, CEO of the Smallpdf group. "Apryse widens its product offering by adding PDF Tools’ fantastic technology and at the same time expands its global footprint, while Smallpdf can now put its full focus on its consumer and business PDF software platform serving tens of millions of users per month. I am very proud of what the PDF Tools team has built and how the business developed, and I am excited to watch what they do next.”

“PDF Tools brings highly specialized expertise in areas like PDF/A conversion and compression that are critical for our customers. For developers, AI Smart Redaction builds on our success helping teams embed critical AI-powered document workflows directly into their applications,” said Cassidy Smirnow, CEO of Apryse. “By combining that with our platform, we’re not just expanding capabilities - we’re setting a new standard for performance and quality of document processing.”

About Smallpdf AG

Smallpdf AG is the Zurich-based company behind sign.com and smallpdf.com, one of the world’s most popular and trusted PDF editing software suites. Founded in 2013, Smallpdf offers secure and easy-to-use PDF software that over 1 billion users have used to compress, translate, sign, edit, merge and convert PDF documents online, on their computer or mobile devices. Sign.com is an e-signature platform that makes legally binding document signing delightfully simple, fast, and affordable for small businesses and growing teams.

For more information, visit smallpdf.com or sign.com.

About PDF Tools

Founded in 2002 in Zurich, Switzerland, PDF Tools develops software solutions and SDKs for creating, processing, rendering, and archiving PDF and PDF/A documents globally. 

For more information, visit www.pdf-tools.com.

About Apryse

Apryse is a leading provider of document technology, helping organizations get more value from their documents. Its toolkit supports the full document lifecycle, from high-fidelity viewing and editing to conversion, digital signatures, and intelligent data extraction.

Trusted by more than 20,000 companies, including 85% of the Fortune 100, Apryse powers mission-critical workflows where performance, security, and accuracy matter most.

For more information, visit www.apryse.com.

Media Contact

Smallpdf AG

Filip Malypetr, filip.malypetr@smallpdf.com

Smallpdf Team

Smallpdf Team

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