Alternatives to PDF Squeezer
A Mac app that shrinks large PDF files by dragging them onto its window. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
PDF Squeezer
A Mac app that shrinks large PDF files by dragging them onto its window.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as PDF Squeezer.
Ghostscript
PostScript and PDF interpreter behind a great deal of other software.
Ghostscript is a free AGPL command-line interpreter for Windows, macOS and Linux widely used for PDF compression, with a cryptic option set and no interface.
PDF24 Creator
A free Windows PDF toolbox with a printer driver and dozens of tools for merging, converting, compressing and editing PDFs.
PDF24 Creator is free ad-financed Windows software that compresses offline alongside merging, OCR and a PDF printer, but it has no macOS or iOS version.
Smallpdf
Browser PDF tools for compressing, converting, editing and signing.
Smallpdf is freemium in the browser and on Windows and mobile, covering compression plus conversion and signing, with files processed on its servers.
iLovePDF Desktop
Desktop version of the iLovePDF toolset for offline batch work.
iLovePDF Desktop compresses and batch-processes PDFs locally on Windows and macOS, but most tools need a premium subscription.
PDF24 Tools
Free online PDF tools for merging, compressing, creating, editing and converting PDF files in a browser.
PDF24 Tools is free in any browser without registration or watermarks, but files are uploaded to PDF24's servers and the site shows advertising.
iLovePDF
Browser PDF toolkit for merging, splitting, compressing and converting.
iLovePDF is a freemium browser toolkit with mobile apps that compresses on its servers, with free use limited by file size and daily tasks.
Stirling PDF
A self-hosted web PDF toolkit for merging, splitting, converting, signing and editing PDFs on your own server.
Stirling PDF is an open-source self-hosted or desktop toolkit with compression among 55+ tools, processing files on your own instance.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
qpdf
Command-line tool for content-preserving PDF transformations.
PDF Expert
Polished PDF reader and editor for macOS and iOS.
pdfcpu
Go library and command line for validating and transforming PDFs.
PDF Candy
An online toolkit of more than 90 tools for converting, merging, splitting, compressing and editing PDF files.
PDF2Go
An online PDF editor and converter for editing, compressing, merging, splitting and converting PDF files.
