Comparison
Smallpdf vs iLovePDF
They look interchangeable and they are not. The two meter their free tiers in completely different ways, which is what decides the question for most people long before the feature list does.
The short version
iLovePDF has the more generous free tier and the lower headline price, plus a developer API. Smallpdf is the more polished product with stronger e-signature and team features. Both do OCR only on paid tiers, both upload your files to EU servers, and both are perfectly reasonable choices.
If the deciding factor is that your document must not be uploaded at all, neither works, and that is the case for a browser-based tool instead.
The free tiers work in different ways
This is the part that actually decides it, and a feature table hides it.
Smallpdf meters by the day. You get a small number of tasks and then you are asked to upgrade, regardless of how small the files were. Two quick merges can use up the allowance before you get to the thing you actually opened the site for.
iLovePDF meters by the job. There is no daily counter. Instead each tool has a ceiling: how many files one merge accepts, how large a file compression will take, how large an image conversion can be. You can run tools all day as long as each individual job stays under the line, and OCR, PDF/A and the AI tools sit behind Premium entirely.
Which is more annoying depends entirely on you. Occasional heavy jobs bump into iLovePDF's ceilings. Frequent small jobs bump into Smallpdf's counter. Frequent small jobs are much more common, which is why iLovePDF's free tier has the better reputation.
At a glance
| Smallpdf | iLovePDF | |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier metered by | Tasks per day | Size and batch per job |
| Free OCR | No | No |
| Paid tier name | Pro | Premium |
| Indicative price | Roughly 9 to 15 US dollars a month depending on billing cycle | Shown as 500 rupees a month or 3,400 a year in September 2026; varies by region |
| Team or business tier | Pro for Teams, per user | Business, custom priced, 25 or more users |
| Where files are processed | Their servers, EU-hosted | Their servers, EU-hosted |
| Automatic deletion | About an hour for most free tasks; longer for eSign and sharing | Within about two hours |
| E-signature | Strong, with audit trail | Yes, on paid tiers |
| Office conversion | Yes | Yes |
| PDF/A | Yes | Yes, Premium |
| Desktop and mobile apps | Yes | Yes, paid tiers |
| Developer API | Limited | iLoveAPI, priced separately |
| Cloud storage | Yes, on Pro | Yes |
| SSO and named processing region | Business plans | Business, 11 regional options |
| Ad-free | On Pro | On Premium |
Where each one wins
Choose Smallpdf if signatures are a real part of your workflow and you need an audit trail, you are buying for a team and want the smoother administration, or you simply prefer the interface. It is the more finished product and it shows.
Choose iLovePDF if you are staying on the free tier, you want the lower price when you do upgrade, you need a developer API, or your organisation needs to name the region its files are processed in.
When neither is the answer
Both services share an assumption: that uploading the file is fine. Usually it is. Sometimes it is not, and no deletion policy fixes it, because the constraint is a contract or a company policy rather than a risk assessment.
For everyday PDF work there is a third option that removes the question. YoursTools runs 22 PDF tools entirely inside your browser tab using pdf.js, pdf-lib and qpdf compiled to WebAssembly. Your file is read by the browser and never put on the network, because the site is static files with no server to receive it. There is no account, no daily counter and no batch ceiling.
The honest limits: no OCR, no e-signature, no Office conversion, and the work is done by your own device, so a very large scanned document may be slow or may not fit in memory at all. For merging, splitting, compressing, rotating, cropping, page numbers, watermarks, passwords and image conversion, none of that gets in the way.
| Smallpdf | iLovePDF | YoursTools | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost for unlimited everyday use | Subscription | Subscription | Free |
| Upload required | Yes | Yes | No |
| Account required | Yes for full use | Yes for Premium | No |
| Task or batch limits | Daily cap | Per-job caps | None |
| OCR | Paid | Premium | No |
| Office conversion | Yes | Yes | No |
| E-signature | Yes | Yes | No |
| Password protect and unlock | Yes | Yes | Yes, free |
| Works offline once loaded | Desktop app | Desktop app | Yes |
| Limited by | Your plan | Your plan | Your device's memory |
Longer write-ups of each: the Smallpdf comparison and the iLovePDF comparison.
Common questions
Which has the better free tier, Smallpdf or iLovePDF?
iLovePDF, for most people. Smallpdf meters free use by the day, so a small number of tasks and then a paywall. iLovePDF meters by the job, capping the size and batch of each task but not how many you run. If you use PDF tools in bursts, the daily cap is the one that will interrupt you.
Which is cheaper?
iLovePDF Premium is generally the lower headline price, and both discount an annual commitment heavily. Prices are region-specific and change, so check both pricing pages rather than trusting a figure in an article.
Do both do OCR?
Both offer OCR on their paid tiers. Neither includes it free. If your documents are scans, budget for a subscription with either service.
Are they safe for confidential documents?
Both upload your file over an encrypted connection to EU-hosted infrastructure, process it there, delete it automatically within a published window, and state they do not analyse your content. That is a reasonable standard. Whether it clears your own NDA or data policy is a separate question, and if the answer is no then neither service works and you want a tool that never uploads at all.
Is there a good option that is free with no limits?
For everyday PDF work, yes: tools that run in your browser have no per-task cost to the operator, so they have no reason to meter you. The trade is no OCR, no Office conversion and a ceiling set by your own device’s memory.
Competitor features, limits and prices on this page were checked against each vendor's own site on 10 September 2026. Plans change: follow the links above to confirm current terms before you decide. If something here is out of date or wrong, tell us and we will correct it.