The on-device redaction alternative to Adobe Acrobat.
Silo Redact is a 100% on-device PDF redaction tool for macOS — a one-time-purchase alternative to subscription PDF suites like Adobe Acrobat that burns redactions into the pixels, purges the text layer and metadata, and then independently re-checks its own output and refuses to certify a file that still contains the data.
Silo Redact vs Adobe Acrobat.
on-device · vs cloud| Dimension | Silo Redact | PDF suites (Adobe Acrobat) |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | On your Mac (offline, loopback only) | Desktop app + Adobe cloud services |
| Pricing | One-time $39.99 | Monthly subscription |
| Verification report | Independent re-check + SHA-256 hashes | None — you trust the tool |
| On a leaky result | Quarantined as -FAILED-DO-NOT-SEND | Handed back to you |
| Detection | On-device SSNs, PII, OCR, names | Manual mark-up |
| Metadata purge | Audited every export | Separate sanitize step |
| Account | None required | Adobe ID |
| Works without internet | Yes | Cloud features need a connection |
Cloud column reflects the typical architecture of Adobe Acrobat and similar hosted tools. Names are trademarks of their owners; not affiliated.
Adobe Acrobat alternative, answered.
Silo Redact · on-deviceThe big difference is proof. High-profile leaks keep happening when text is merely covered or when metadata survives the export. Silo Redact rebuilds each page from redacted pixels and then independently re-checks the output — two extraction engines, a re-OCR sweep, and a metadata audit — and refuses to certify a file that still contains the data.
No. A Swift host launches a bundled backend on 127.0.0.1 and all processing stays on loopback — detection, burn-in, and verification run entirely on your Mac, with no account and no data collected.
No. Silo Redact is a one-time $39.99 purchase. Adobe Acrobat Pro, which includes its redaction tools, is a recurring monthly subscription.
On-device detection surfaces SSNs, card and routing numbers, EINs, emails, phones, dates, PDF form-field values, OCR'd text from scans, and names — plus an optional local model for context. You review every suggestion before anything is burned in.
Keep your work on your Mac.
Silo Redact is coming soon to the Mac App Store. No subscription, no account, nothing uploaded — a private, on-device alternative to Adobe Acrobat.