By George Curta · Last updated 2026-05-28
anonym.legal vs Redact PDF AI
Redact PDF AI uploads your documents to Microsoft Azure for processing — meaning their servers can read your plaintext files. anonym.legal uses client-side AES-256-GCM encryption before transmission: your data never leaves your device unencrypted, and our servers are architecturally prevented from decrypting your content.
Learn more about Redact PDF AI
Feature Comparison
| Feature | anonym.legal | Redact PDF AI |
|---|---|---|
| Data Residency | Yes | Microsoft Azure (EU regions available) |
| Encryption Model | Yes | HTTPS in transit only |
| Provider Can Read Plaintext | Yes | Yes — plaintext uploads |
| Data Retention | Yes | 30 days |
| Schrems II Compliant | Yes | No |
| CLOUD Act Exposure | Yes | Yes (Microsoft / US jurisdiction) |
| Pricing | Free to €29/mo | $50–$250+/month |
| Entity Types | 285+ | Not documented |
| Language Support | 48 languages | Not documented |
| Reversible Encryption | AES-256-GCM | No |
| Detection Method | Yes | Proprietary AI (non-deterministic) |
| Audit Trail | Yes | Not found |
| Desktop App | Yes | No |
| ISO 27001 | Yes | Not found |
Comparison based on publicly available information. "Not found" indicates feature not documented on product page. Last updated February 2026.
Why Choose anonym.legal
Hetzner Germany — No CLOUD Act Exposure
All processing runs on ISO 27001-certified servers in Germany. US law cannot compel access. Redact PDF AI uses Azure infrastructure subject to CLOUD Act jurisdiction.
Zero-Knowledge Architecture
Argon2id key derivation + AES-256-GCM encryption happens in your browser or desktop app. anonym.legal servers store only ciphertext they cannot decrypt. Redact PDF AI receives plaintext uploads.
Schrems II Compliant
Transfers to providers who can access plaintext violate GDPR Article 44 under Schrems II. Zero-knowledge encryption with user-held keys resolves this. Plaintext Azure uploads do not.
Zero Data Retention
anonym.legal retains no processed data. Redact PDF AI retains uploaded documents for 30 days on Azure servers.
285+ Entity Types, 48 Languages
Deterministic 3-layer NLP (Presidio + spaCy + XLM-RoBERTa) with per-entity confidence scoring and full audit trail. Not proprietary black-box AI.
Transparent Pricing
Free tier + €3–€29/month. Redact PDF AI charges $50–$250+/month with no free tier.
When anonym.legal is the right choice
anonym.legal is the better fit when:
- You handle documents subject to GDPR, BDSG, NIS2, or HIPAA and need Schrems II-compliant processing
- Your legal team requires a data processor that is architecturally prevented from reading your content
- You need reversible encryption — decrypt anonymized data for audits or court orders
- You process documents in 48 languages, not just English
- Budget matters — transparent pricing up to 10× lower than Redact PDF AI
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Redact PDF AI comply with Schrems II and GDPR Article 44?
Redact PDF AI uploads documents to Microsoft Azure for processing, meaning Azure infrastructure has access to plaintext files. Under Schrems II (ECJ C-311/18), transfers to US providers who can access data in plaintext are incompatible with GDPR Article 44 without additional safeguards. anonym.legal’s zero-knowledge architecture — AES-256-GCM encryption before transmission, user-held keys, Hetzner Germany infrastructure — addresses this directly.
What is the CLOUD Act and why does it matter for PDF redaction?
The US CLOUD Act (2018) allows US law enforcement to compel US cloud providers to disclose data regardless of where it is stored. Data uploaded to Azure (Microsoft, a US company) is subject to CLOUD Act jurisdiction even if stored in EU regions. anonym.legal uses Hetzner, a German company on German infrastructure, and zero-knowledge encryption that prevents any party from accessing plaintext.
How long does Redact PDF AI retain uploaded documents?
Redact PDF AI retains uploaded documents for 30 days on Azure servers. anonym.legal has zero data retention — processed data is not stored on our servers. Users can delete their data at any time via the account dashboard.
Does anonym.legal support reversible redaction that Redact PDF AI lacks?
Yes. anonym.legal replaces PII with encrypted placeholders using AES-256-GCM. The original data can be restored by anyone with the decryption key — useful for legal audits, court-ordered disclosure, or internal review. Redact PDF AI permanently removes detected content with no recovery option.
How does detection accuracy compare?
anonym.legal uses a deterministic 3-layer NLP pipeline: Presidio (rule-based), spaCy/Stanza (statistical NLP), and XLM-RoBERTa (transformer models). Results are reproducible and auditable with per-entity confidence scores. Redact PDF AI uses proprietary AI that produces non-deterministic results. The same document may yield different redactions on successive runs, which is problematic for compliance documentation.
Zero-Knowledge PDF Anonymization
GDPR-compliant. Schrems II-safe. Hetzner Germany. AES-256-GCM. Free to start.
About this page
We update this page when our platform or the law changes.
Read our founder note for how we work.
Each change shows up in the timestamp at the top.
Related reading
- Common questions
- Glossary
- How tokens work
- Security posture
- Where we comply
- What we detect
- Case studies
- Release notes
We follow these rules
- GDPR (EU 2016/679).
- ISO/IEC 27001:2022.
- NIS2 (EU 2022/2555).
- HIPAA safe harbor under 45 CFR § 164.514(b)(2).
Our promise
We do not sell your data.
We do not train models on your text.
We store your files in Germany.
You can delete your account at any time.
You own your work.
Where we run
Our servers live in Falkenstein, Germany.
We use Hetzner. They hold ISO 27001 certification.
All data stays in the EU.
Backups run every day.
Need help?
Email support@anonym.legal.
We reply within one business day.
How we test
We run a full check suite on every release.
Each surface gets its own sweep script and report.
Human reviewers spot-check the output each week.
We track recall and precision on a labelled set.
Bad runs block the deploy.
What we never do
- We never sell your information to third parties.
- We never train models on what you upload.
- We never keep your work after you delete it.
- We never share keys with any outside firm.
- We never run ads inside the product.
Plans in plain words
We sell credits, not seats.
One credit covers one short job.
Long jobs use a few credits each.
You can top up at any time.
Unused credits roll over each month.
Read the plans page for current rates.
Who built this
A small team of engineers and lawyers built this.
We ship from Europe and work in the open.
Our founder note spells out why we started.
Where to start
- Open the web app and try a sample file.
- Learn how credits get counted.
- See current plans and limits.
- Meet the team behind the product.
How the parts fit
A browser add-on cleans text inside Chrome.
A Word plug-in handles drafts in Office.
A small desktop tool works on whole folders.
An agent protocol link feeds large models safely.
All four share one core engine and one rule set.
Words from our team
We started this work after a lunch about cookies.
One friend kept getting odd ads on her phone.
We asked why a court file leaked through a draft.
We sketched the first build on a napkin that week.
By month three we had a tiny demo for a friend.
She used it on her first case the next day.
Common questions we hear
Can the tool read scanned PDFs? Yes, with OCR.
Does it work on long files? Yes, in small chunks.
Can I roll my own rule set? Yes, save it as a preset.
Does it run offline? The desktop build runs offline.
Do you keep my files? No, the cloud build wipes after each run.
Will it learn from my work? No, we never train on inputs.
A short tour of the workflow
Upload a file or paste a snippet of prose.
Pick the entities you want gone from the draft.
Choose a method: replace, mask, hash, encrypt, or redact.
Press run and watch the side panel show each hit.
Skim the result and tweak any rule that misfired.
Save the cleaned file or send it to a teammate.