Who We Are
Redactly is an independent software product built by a small team focused on data privacy. We saw a gap in the market: most redaction tools only handle PDFs, charge high fees, and require software installation. We built Redactly to be the tool we wished existed — free, browser-based, and capable of handling the three document formats professionals use most: PDF, Word, and Excel.
Our goal is simple: help legal teams, finance professionals, HR departments, healthcare providers, and individuals remove sensitive information from documents before sharing them — without paying for expensive software or compromising on privacy.
What Redactly Supports
Visual redaction with black overlays. Free tier.
Text replacement in document XML. Free tier.
Cell value replacement. Pro plan.
Redactly is the only free online redaction tool that supports PDF, Word, and Excel natively — no conversion needed.
How We Handle Your Data
Privacy is not a feature we bolted on — it is the foundation of how Redactly works.
Files are parsed in your browser. PDF.js, mammoth.js, and SheetJS run client-side. Your documents are not uploaded to our servers for parsing.
Extracted text is sent to AI for PII detection. Only the text content — not the file itself — is sent securely to our AI provider. This text is used only for detection and is not stored, logged, or used for model training.
Redaction happens in your browser. After you review and approve detections, the redaction is applied client-side. The redacted file is generated locally and offered for download.
Files are cleared after download. Document data is held in browser memory only during the active session and is not persisted to disk or any server.
For a detailed breakdown, see our Security & Privacy page.
What Makes Redactly Different
AI-powered, not regex-based
Redactly uses Claude AI for contextual detection. It understands that “John Smith” is a name and “555 Main Street” is an address — something regex patterns often miss or get wrong.
Three formats, one tool
Most redaction tools only support PDF. Redactly handles PDF, Word, and Excel natively without requiring format conversion. PDF and Word are free; Excel is available on Pro.
Review before redacting
Every detection is highlighted on your document. You keep or reject each item before applying redactions — no black-box processing.
Important Limitations
Redactly is a tool to assist with document redaction, not a guarantee of complete PII removal. Please be aware of the following:
- •AI detection may miss some sensitive information or flag non-sensitive content. Always review the redacted document before sharing.
- •PDF redaction applies visual overlays. For highly sensitive documents, the underlying text in the content stream may still be extractable by advanced tools.
- •Scanned PDFs and images are not currently supported. OCR support is planned for a future release.
- •Redactly is not a substitute for professional legal or compliance advice regarding data protection requirements.
Get in Touch
Have questions, feedback, or need enterprise support? We'd love to hear from you.