Online PDF tool alternatives, compared fairly

Most people pick a PDF tool by typing a task into a search engine and clicking the first result. That works until you hit a daily limit, a paywall in the middle of a job, or you realise a contract just left your laptop for a server you know nothing about. We wrote these comparisons to make that choice a little more deliberate.

Each page looks at the same questions: where your files are processed, what the free tier really allows, whether you need an account, how much it costs to go further, and which tools are included. We describe competitors from their public pages at the time of writing, date every review, and avoid numbers we could not check. Plans and limits change often, so always confirm current terms on the provider's own pricing page.

We cover iLovePDF, Smallpdf, Adobe Acrobat online, PDF24, Sejda, PDF2Go, Soda PDF, PDFescape, PDF Candy, PDFgear, LightPDF, HiPDF, Xodo and TinyWow. All of them are capable products, and every page has a section on when the other tool is simply the better choice for you. We also link each comparison to the pdfdots tools that replace the tasks people most often use that service for, so you can try them on a real document straight away.

We are obviously not neutral: pdfdots is our product. It has a free plan with a small daily allowance and optional low-cost paid plans (Bronze, Silver and Gold), needs a free account, shows no ads, and runs most tools directly in your browser. Where that design is weaker, for example advanced editing or team features, we say so plainly.