Blog
Notes from the team behind nopa — how we build it, what is new, and why it works the way it does.
LatestOctober 8, 20265 min read
How we build nopa, part 2
In part one I promised to go under the hood. Here it is: why nopa has no backend, how heavy work fits into a browser tab, where your work lives — and how to check every word of this yourself in about a minute.
Read →October 7, 20264 min read
The book that won’t open
An EPUB that Windows will not open, an FB2 that turns into question marks, a store book that says DRM. What is inside these files and what our reader does.
Read →October 7, 20263 min read
A whiteboard that starts with a sticky note
Most online whiteboards open with an email field and a team invite. Ours opens with an empty board. What we put on it, and what we left out on purpose.
Read →September 6, 20265 min read
What a tool downloads before you press anything
We measured our own tool pages and found up to 1.4 MB of JavaScript loading before a single click. Here is what it was, and how to check any tool yourself.
Read →July 23, 20265 min read
iLovePDF alternatives (2026)
Looking for an alternative to iLovePDF? We compare six free PDF tools on signup, watermarks, limits and where your files are processed.
Read →July 23, 20266 min read
Best free PDF tools 2026 (tested)
We tested seven free PDF tools for signup walls, watermarks, limits and where your files are processed. Our verdicts — and who each one is for.
Read →July 11, 20264 min read
How we build nopa, part 1
Part one of the nopa story: the goals, the practices, and the tech — fast, simple browser tools that never upload your files to a server.
Read →What you will find here
Two kinds of writing. Comparisons we ran ourselves — the same file through each tool, noting where it stops being free — and build notes on how nopa itself is put together: why the tools run in the browser instead of on a server, what that costs us, and what it buys you.
Who writes it
The nopa team, part of N1. There is no content desk and no publishing schedule: a post goes up when we have something specific to say, which is why the archive is short and stays that way. Nothing here is sponsored, and no tool gets a mention for paying for one.
How the comparisons are tested
The same four questions, every time: can you get the result without an account, is the free output clean with no watermark, how strict is the free limit, and where is your file processed. We run the same real jobs — merge, split, compress — through each tool before writing a word, and we say so when nopa itself is not the right fit for what you need, like handwriting, a table that has to stay a table, or a certified e-signature. Limits and plans move, so a comparison gets rechecked and updated rather than left to go stale.