getPDF and iLovePDF: limits, prices and where your files go

We make getPDF, so read this knowing who wrote it. Every claim about iLovePDF below was checked on 11 October 2026 on iLovePDF’s own pages, listed under the article. For the whole field on one page, see the best free PDF tools, compared, and for the other comparisons, Compare.

Side by side

Where iLovePDF is the better pick

• Office files to PDF. iLovePDF converts Word, PowerPoint and Excel to PDF, and PDF to PowerPoint. getPDF has no Word to PDF yet, and none of the others.
• More kinds of jobs. PDF/A, repairing a damaged file, comparing 2 versions, translating and summarising are all on iLovePDF’s tool list. getPDF has none of these live yet.
• Getting other people to sign. iLovePDF sends documents for signature and, on Premium, adds an audit trail, reminders and 5 advanced electronic signatures. getPDF signs on your own device and cannot send anything to anyone, by design.
• A weak or full device. Because iLovePDF’s servers do the work, a phone with little memory can compress a 200 MB file there. On getPDF your own device does the work, so a very large file needs the memory to match.
• Teams. Premium covers 1 to 25 users, with workflows, volume discounts and a choice of 7 processing regions. getPDF has no team features.
• Installed apps. iLovePDF has apps for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android. getPDF is a website only.

Where getPDF is the better pick

• No caps per task. On iLovePDF’s free plan, PDF to Word, OCR and editing take 1 file, and conversions stop at 15 MB. getPDF has no file count, no size cap beyond your device and no daily count, so a 40 MB scan goes through OCR, and a folder of 30 invoices through compression, each in 1 run.
• Confidential files. A lease, a payslip or an ID scan never leaves your device on getPDF. iLovePDF’s 2-hour deletion is a fair policy, but it is a promise about a copy on someone else’s server.
• OCR into an editable file. OCR inside PDF to Word and Excel is a Premium option on iLovePDF. On getPDF you run OCR PDF, then PDF to Word, both free; the OCR result shows a confidence figure for each page.
• No ads and no account. Nothing to sign up for, nothing to dismiss.
• Offline in the browser. Use a tool once, turn Wi-Fi off, and it keeps working. iLovePDF offers offline work through its paid desktop tools.

Where your files go

iLovePDF. Your file is uploaded to iLovePDF’s servers, processed there, and kept as long as the download link is available. Its terms and privacy policy say files are deleted within 2 hours of processing; files in its signing service follow that service’s own terms. Its privacy policy says personal data is processed within the European Economic Area as a general rule, with users elsewhere possibly served closer to them under transfer safeguards. The company is ILOVEPDF S.L. in Barcelona, and its privacy policy includes a data processing agreement for files users upload, which matters if you handle other people’s data at work; GDPR and online PDF tools explains why.

getPDF. Nothing is uploaded. The engine (PDFium) loads in your browser with your first file, and the work happens in your tab. The site’s content security policy lets the page connect only to getPDF’s own address, and nothing there accepts files; the only message the site sends after a job is an anonymous counter with the tool id, success or failure and 2 rough buckets for time and size. The privacy page lists it all.

You do not have to take that on trust. Use a tool once on a test file, turn Wi-Fi off, and run it on another file. If it finishes, the work happened on your device. The Wi-Fi off test shows how to read the browser’s network panel as well. Run the same test on any tool you use, iLovePDF included; for when uploading is fine and when it is not, see Is it safe to upload a PDF to an online converter?.

Moving from iLovePDF to getPDF

The iLovePDF tools people use most, and where the same job is on getPDF:

No equivalent yet: Word, PowerPoint, Excel and HTML to PDF, PDF to PowerPoint, PDF to PDF/A, Repair PDF, Compare PDF, translation and summaries, and sending documents for signature. For those, iLovePDF or an installed app is the honest answer today.

One difference to expect: getPDF’s PDF to Word rebuilds text, headings, lists and tables for editing; it does not copy the page layout, and it says so before you start. PDF to Word, Excel and text explains the difference.

Try the job people most often switch for

Compression is where the free caps bite first: 2 files per task on iLovePDF’s free plan. Here it takes as many as you drop, and shows each file’s size before and after: