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AI detects names, emails, phones, and other PII — then permanently redacts them.
Trusted by 10,000+ users · 2M+files processed · SOC 2 compliant
Smart redact PDF online with PDFPilot4U — automatically detect and redact names, emails, phone numbers, addresses, credit cards, SSNs, dates of birth, and other PII (personally identifiable information) using AI. The smart redact tool uses Claude Sonnet 4.5 to identify sensitive entities contextually — catching variations like "john@example.com" alongside "John Smith's email" — and applies cryptographic-grade black-box redaction that cannot be reversed. Perfect for sharing court documents with PII removed, sending contracts to third parties with confidential terms hidden, or preparing GDPR/HIPAA-compliant document releases. Smart redact handles 15+ PII categories out of the box, with custom regex patterns supported for organization-specific data (employee IDs, internal project codes). The smart redact process produces audit logs showing what was redacted and on which pages. Free for 3 smart redactions per day on guests, 50 on Pro, unlimited on Business.
Drop the PDF with sensitive content. Smart redact supports files up to 500 MB on Business plans.
Select PII types to redact (names, emails, phones, addresses, SSNs, credit cards). Add custom regex patterns for org-specific data.
The redacted PDF downloads with sensitive content permanently blacked out. Audit log shows what was redacted on which pages.
Court clerks use smart redact to remove witness names, addresses, and SSNs before publishing case documents.
Legal teams smart redact pricing and confidential terms before sharing contracts with subprocessors or auditors.
Healthcare and EU companies smart redact patient/customer PII before releasing documents to comply with privacy regulations.
How AI Smart Redact PDF on PDFPilot4U compares to the most common alternatives.
| Feature | PDFPilot4U | iLovePDF | Smallpdf |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI PII detection | Claude Sonnet 4.5, 15+ categories | Manual redact only | Premium manual redact |
| Custom regex patterns | Yes | No | No |
| Audit log included | Yes — per-redaction log | No | No |
| Free daily limit | 30 operations/day (guest), unlimited on Business | ~3 tasks/hour for free, premium starts $7/mo | 2 documents/day free, premium $9/mo |
| Max file size (free) | 5 MB free, 100 MB Pro, 500 MB Business | ~10 MB free | ~5 MB free |
| AI features included | 12 AI tools (Ask PDF, Summarize, Translate, etc.) | Limited — AI add-on only on premium | AI features locked behind premium tier |
| Privacy / data handling | TLS 1.3 + AES-256, auto-delete in 24h, no model training | Files deleted in 2h, standard SSL | Files deleted in 1h, ISO 27001 |
| No watermark on output | Always — free + paid | Free tier may add watermark | Free tier may add watermark |
Smart redact achieves 96-99% accuracy on standard PII (emails, phones, SSNs, credit cards) and 92-96% on contextual entities (names, addresses) using Claude Sonnet 4.5.
Names, emails, phone numbers, addresses, SSNs/national IDs, credit card numbers, dates of birth, IP addresses, passport numbers, bank accounts, vehicle plates, medical record numbers, and 5+ more.
Yes. Define custom regex patterns for org-specific data (employee IDs, internal project codes, custom account numbers). Custom patterns process alongside built-in categories.
No. Smart redact applies cryptographic-grade black-box redaction that cannot be reversed — the original text is permanently destroyed in the output PDF (not just hidden).
Yes. OCR runs first to extract text, then smart redact identifies and blacks out PII in the rendered image, ensuring scanned PII is also permanently removed.
Yes. Each smart redaction job produces a downloadable log showing what category was redacted, how many instances, and on which pages — required for compliance audits.
Smart redact assists with compliance by removing PII permanently. Final compliance certification depends on your organization's overall data handling — consult legal counsel.
3 redactions per day on guest and free accounts. Pro gets 50/day, Business unlimited. No credit card for any tier.
Identifies whether your content was written by AI or a human.
Scans your text and corrects grammatical errors and writing mistakes.
Translates your PDF content into another language while keeping formatting.
Rewrites AI-generated content to sound natural and human.
