TokPDF vs iLovePDF vs Smallpdf: An Honest Comparison (October 2026)

iLovePDF and Smallpdf both upload your file to their servers, process it there and delete it after a short time: iLovePDF says it keeps files for a maximum of two hours, and Smallpdf says it deletes them after one hour, with transfers encrypted using TLS. Both hold ISO/IEC 27001 certification. For most documents this is a reasonable model run by established companies.

TokPDF works differently. Its browser tools load the processing engines (PDF libraries, LibreOffice, Tesseract OCR and others compiled to WebAssembly) into the page, so the file never leaves your computer or phone. That removes the question of what happens to an uploaded copy. The exceptions are explicit: the AI tools send the extracted text, not the file, to TokPDF’s server and Cloudflare Workers AI, and the optional cloud drive and share links upload files because that is what they are for.

Local processing has costs too. The first use of a heavy tool downloads its engine, which can be tens of megabytes for Office conversion, and large jobs depend on your device’s memory and speed. On an older phone, a server-based service will often finish a big conversion faster.

iLovePDF publishes its free limits per task. You can merge 25 files of up to 100 MB, compress 2 files of up to 200 MB, and convert 1 file of up to 15 MB to Word at a time. Using OCR inside PDF to Word requires Premium, although the separate OCR PDF tool is free within the 1 file / 15 MB limit. Free users see ads.

Smallpdf limits free use by a daily download allowance, without stating the number on its pricing page. Strong compression, batch processing and OCR when converting to Office formats are Pro features. Smallpdf shows no ads.

TokPDF sets no file count, size or daily limits on its browser tools at the time of writing; the practical limit is your device. Its AI tools have daily allowances because every request costs money: 5 chat questions, 2 summaries and 10 translated pages per day on the free tier, with up to 300,000 characters of text per request. Smallpdf’s free AI tools also have limits, which its pricing page describes as limited use and a 25,000–35,000-word document cap.

If any of these matter to you, one of the established services is likely the better choice today:

Choose TokPDF if privacy matters, if you regularly hit free limits elsewhere, or if you need an unusual tool. Choose iLovePDF if you want low-cost Premium with signature requests, desktop apps or an API. Choose Smallpdf if you want a polished all-in-one workspace with cloud storage across Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive, and are happy to pay for Pro.

Many people use more than one. A sensible split is TokPDF for sensitive files and everyday tasks, and a paid service where you need its specific workflow. Our guides on compressing, converting to Word and the AI tools explain what TokPDF’s tools can and cannot do in detail.