iLovePDF
A browser toolkit for merging, splitting, compressing, converting, rotating and unlocking PDFs.
Cost
Free to start, paid to go further
Free tier covers most tasks, with limits on file size, number of files per batch and how many tasks you can run in a row. Paid removes the limits.
Open source
No
The code is private. You depend on the company that makes it.
Your data
Goes to their servers
Your files and text are sent to the company running the service.
Use it for this
The everyday PDF jobs everyone eventually needs — shrinking a CV under an upload limit, merging documents into one file, converting a PDF to Word. Nothing to install, works on a phone.
Do not use it for this
Anything confidential. Files are uploaded to their servers to be processed. Use Stirling PDF or LibreOffice for salary slips, contracts, ID documents or client material.
A moment where you would reach for it
Compressing a 12 MB CV down to under the 2 MB limit on a job application form.
How hard is it to pick up?
Anyone can use this on day one.
Worth knowing before you use it
Your file is uploaded to their servers. They state that files are deleted after a couple of hours. That is a promise you are trusting, not a guarantee you control — which is the whole reason a local option matters for sensitive documents.
Other things that do this job
No tool is best at everything. These solve a similar problem, with different trade-offs.
- Stirling PDFOpen sourceFreeA self-hostable toolkit for merging, splitting, converting, compressing and signing PDFs.
- SmallpdfBrowser-based PDF conversion, compression, merging, splitting and e-signing.
- LibreOfficeOpen sourceFreeA free, open-source office suite: documents, spreadsheets, presentations.
- PDF ArrangerOpen sourceFreeA small tool for reordering, rotating, splitting and merging PDF pages.
About this entry
Checked on 1 Sept 2026. Prices and free limits change without warning, and often quietly. Treat everything above as a starting point and confirm on the official site before you rely on it.
Nothing here is sponsored. A tool appears because it solves a real problem, not because someone paid for it to be listed.