FileDial vs PDF Squeezer
By Himanshu Ranjan · Updated 8 November 2026
PDF Squeezer is a dedicated PDF compressor from Witt Software with detailed profiles, Shortcuts and command line support, sold for $19.99 and also on iPhone, iPad and Windows. FileDial is a $20 Mac app with preset and size-target PDF compression among 525 tools. Both work offline. Pick PDF Squeezer for fine compression control, FileDial for compression plus other PDF jobs.
At a glance
| FileDial | PDF Squeezer | |
|---|---|---|
| Where files are processed | On your Mac, files are never uploaded | On your device, no internet needed |
| Platforms | Mac only: macOS 14+, Apple silicon (M1 or newer) | Mac, iPhone and iPad, Windows |
| Price | $20 once, lifetime license for 2 Macs, 14-day refund | $19.99; also in Setapp |
| Compression control | Light, standard, strong (200, 144, 96 dpi images) | Image quality, resolution, color, fonts, metadata |
| Custom profiles | No | Yes, exportable and shareable |
| Compress to a size | Under 10, 20 or 25 MB, or to size, splits if needed | Not listed |
| Preview before saving | Result card with size before and after | Side-by-side comparison of settings |
| Automation | Recipes and watched folders | Shortcuts, Automator, Quick Actions, Folder Actions, CLI |
| Batch | Select many files, one tool on all | Multiple files and folders with subfolders |
| Other PDF tools | 155 PDF tools: merge, split, OCR, redact, sign | Extract images, pages to bitmaps, view metadata |
| Other file types | Photos, video, audio, documents, archives | PDF only |
Details about PDF Squeezer come from its own website and documentation, checked 2026-11-09. Prices and features change; check the source links below.
About PDF Squeezer
A PDF compression app by Daniel Witt that tunes image quality, resolution, color, fonts and metadata through presets or custom profiles.
Platforms: Mac (macOS 11 or later per the developer's site), separate iPhone and iPad and Windows versions. Price: $19.99 on the developer's site and the US Mac App Store, where it is a paid app with no listed in-app purchases; also available through Setapp.. Where files are processed: Processed entirely on your device, no internet connection required, per the developer.
Choose PDF Squeezer if
- You want precise control over image quality, resolution, color and font subsetting.
- You need the same compressor on an iPhone, iPad or Windows PC.
- You build automations in Shortcuts, Automator or the command line.
- You already subscribe to Setapp.
Choose FileDial if
- You need a PDF under an upload limit, like Compress › Gmail-safe (under 25 MB).
- You also merge, split, OCR, redact or sign PDFs.
- You compress photos and video as well as PDFs.
- You want a quick preset rather than tuning settings.
A specialist and a generalist
PDF Squeezer does one thing in depth. Its site describes adjusting image quality, resolution and color profile, removing unused font glyphs, annotations, metadata and redundant resources, and saving predefined or custom profiles that can be exported and shared. Side-by-side previews let you compare settings before committing. It handles PDF versions 1.0 to 2.0, including password-protected files, and processes everything on the device.
FileDial keeps PDF compression to a few named choices. Compress › Compress PDF (light), Compress › Compress PDF and Compress › Compress PDF (strong) resample images to 200, 144 or 96 dpi while text stays selectable. Compress › Email-safe (under 20 MB) and Compress › Compress to size… squeeze images step by step and split the file into parts if the target cannot be reached. On a MacBook a 42 MB PDF was compressed in about 2 seconds.
Beyond compression
If shrinking PDFs is your whole job, PDF Squeezer's control and automation hooks are hard to beat, and it runs on more platforms. FileDial makes sense when compression is one step among many: Combine › Merge PDFs, Organize › Split by file size…, OCR › Make searchable, Sign & Lock › Find and redact personal info… and Convert › PDF to Word sit in the same dial, and recipes can chain them.
The prices are close: PDF Squeezer is $19.99, FileDial is $20 once for 2 Macs after a 1-day trial, with a 14-day refund. FileDial needs macOS 14 and Apple silicon, while PDF Squeezer's site lists macOS 11 or later.
Questions
Does PDF Squeezer work offline?
Yes. Its developer says everything is processed entirely on your device and no internet connection is required. FileDial's tools also all work with Wi-Fi off.
Can PDF Squeezer merge or OCR PDFs?
Its product page lists compression, image extraction, page-to-bitmap conversion and metadata viewing, but not merging or OCR. FileDial has Combine › Merge PDFs and OCR › Make searchable.
Which compresses PDFs better?
We have not run a lab test. PDF Squeezer exposes more settings, so it can be tuned per document. FileDial offers three presets and size targets that split a file if it cannot fit.