Convertora vs iLovePDF vs Smallpdf
Verdict in three lines:
Convertora if you want unlimited free use and files that never leave your device — it's the only one of the three that processes in your browser and works offline for free.
iLovePDF if you need the broadest ecosystem: digital signatures, mobile apps, and cheap premium ($4/mo annual) that lifts its per-task caps.
Smallpdf if you want the most polished UX and server-grade OCR, and 2 free tasks a day is enough — otherwise Pro starts at $9/mo.
| Service | Files uploaded? | Free-tier limits | File retention | Sign-up | Offline use | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Convertora | No — runs in your browser | None | N/A — nothing is uploaded | No | Yes, after the page loads | Free |
| iLovePDF | Yes — cloud servers | Per-task caps (e.g. merge 25 files / 100 MB; Office & OCR 15 MB) | Deleted within 2 hours | Optional | Desktop app — full offline use is paid | Free tier; Premium from $4/mo billed annually |
| Smallpdf | Yes — cloud servers | 2 tasks per day; OCR, strong compression & editing are Pro-only | Deleted after 1 hour (most tools) | Optional | Desktop app is a Pro benefit | Free tier; Pro from $9/mo billed annually |
Competitor details are taken from each service's own pricing, privacy, help, and tool pages as of July 2026. Prices and policies change — check each service for current terms.
None of the services listed publishes watermarking as a free-tier restriction; statements about watermarks reflect the absence of such a restriction on their official pages, not a published guarantee.
“Files uploaded?” describes each service's web tools. PDF24 Creator (Windows) and Sejda Desktop also process files locally without uploading; iLovePDF's and Smallpdf's desktop apps require a paid plan for full offline processing.
Convertora's row reflects our own product behavior: processing runs in your browser and files are never transmitted — you can verify this in your browser's developer tools.
The architectural difference
iLovePDF and Smallpdf are cloud services: your file is uploaded, processed on their servers, and deleted afterwards — within 2 hours at iLovePDF, and after about 1 hour for most Smallpdf tools. Both document this honestly, and both encrypt the transfer. Convertora skips the transfer entirely: the processing code runs in your browser tab, so the document never exists anywhere but your device. That one architectural choice explains every row of the table — no server costs means no task caps, no premium tier, and nothing to retain.
Where each one honestly wins
iLovePDF has the most complete ecosystem of the three: legally oriented e-signatures (iLoveSign), solid mobile apps, OCR, and a desktop app for paid offline processing. Its free per-task caps (merge 25 files / 100 MB, Office and OCR conversions 15 MB) are workable for casual use.
Smallpdf is the most refined product — clean UX, reliable output, team features, AI document tools — but the tightest free tier: 2 tasks per day, with OCR, strong compression and text editing behind Pro.
Convertora wins on privacy and limits: no upload ever, no quotas, no sign-up, no watermark, free — and because processing is local it keeps working if you go offline after the page loads. The trade-offs are honest too: no server-side OCR of scans yet, and very large jobs are bounded by your device's memory rather than a data center.
How to check any of this yourself
Open your browser's developer tools (F12), watch the Network tab, and run the same task on each service. You'll see your file leave in a request on the cloud services and no such request on Convertora. Sixty seconds, no trust required.