ProPDF vs iLovePDF: Free Plans, Apps and File Handling Compared
ProPDF vs iLovePDF comes down to two different models. iLovePDF offers three plans: a free Basic plan, Premium and Business. It lists desktop and mobile apps on Premium and Business. ProPDF is a single free website with 21 PDF tools, no account and no paid tier.
iLovePDF lists features that ProPDF does not have, such as OCR, conversions to Excel and PowerPoint, and signature requests. ProPDF covers everyday tasks at no cost, and 13 of its tools process your file without sending it anywhere.
The iLovePDF facts below come from its pricing and home pages, read in September 2026, and are attributed to iLovePDF. Plans and features change, so check its site before you decide.
| Feature | ProPDF | iLovePDF |
|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free, no subscription | Basic (free), Premium and Business |
| Free use | No account, no daily quota; the chat allows 50 messages per conversation, answers included | "Limited document processing" on Basic |
| File size | Browser tools: your device's memory; server tools: 4 MB | Some file sizes marked "Limited" on Basic |
| Where files are processed | 13 tools in your browser, 8 on a server in Paris, files deleted after processing; the chat keeps the text and the conversation in your tab, not on the server | Premium lists "Regional file processing" |
| OCR for scans | No | "OCR PDF" on all plans; PDF to Word and Excel with OCR not on Basic |
| Office conversions | PDF to Word and Word to PDF | Lists PDF to Excel and PDF to PowerPoint, among others |
| Desktop and mobile apps | No, web only | Mac and Windows, iOS and Android, on Premium and Business |
| Signatures | Visual signature only | iLoveSign: sign yourself or request signatures from others |
| Editing | Existing text only (change or delete), X marks, signatures | Text, images, shapes or freehand annotations, per iLovePDF |
| Forms | No form filling | PDF Forms: create fillable PDFs or fill them in |
| AI tools | Free chat with a PDF, with a summary button | AI Summarizer and Translate PDF among its tools |
| Chained tasks | The "File ready" panel suggests the next tool for the same PDF | "Workflows" listed for Premium |
| Ads | None; analytics cookies only with your consent | "Ad-free experience" listed for Premium |
What iLovePDF Offers
- Desktop apps for Mac and Windows and mobile apps for iOS and Android, on Premium and Business
- OCR PDF is available on every plan, Basic included
- iLoveSign lets you request electronic signatures from others
- Conversions to Excel and PowerPoint, plus HTML to PDF and PDF to Markdown
- Edit PDF adds shapes and freehand annotations, and PDF Forms creates or fills fillable forms
- Crop, repair and translate tools, plus custom workflows
iLovePDF: Limits and Conditions
- The free Basic plan lists "Limited document processing"
- Basic lists "Access to essential iLovePDF tools", while full access to all tools is listed for Premium
- Desktop and mobile apps are marked "No" for Basic
- PDF to Word and PDF to Excel with OCR are marked "No" for Basic
- Digital Signatures and Workflows appear in the Premium list, not in the Basic one
When iLovePDF fits your work
- You receive scanned documents and need searchable text, since ProPDF has no OCR.
- You want a desktop or mobile app rather than a browser tab.
- You send documents to other people for signature through iLoveSign.
- You convert PDFs to Excel or PowerPoint, or HTML to PDF.
- You create interactive forms or fill in their fields.
When ProPDF fits your work
- You merge, split, reorder, rotate or number pages and want the file to stay on your device: those tools run in your browser.
- You want every tool without an account or a daily quota.
- You compress, convert to or from Word, protect, unlock or redact files of up to 4 MB.
- You want to ask questions about a digital PDF, or get a summary, at no cost.
- You sign your own documents with a drawn, typed or imported signature and need no certificate.
Free use on each side
On iLovePDF, the free plan is Basic, and the pricing table marks some tools and file sizes as "Limited" for it. Check that table on iLovePDF's site for the current details.
ProPDF has no plans to compare: every tool is free, with no account and no daily quota. Its limits are technical. Browser tools have no file size cap: only your device's memory matters. Server tools accept files up to 4 MB, and a server task that takes more than 30 seconds fails.
Scans, apps and signatures
OCR is the first difference. iLovePDF lists an OCR PDF tool on every plan, while ProPDF has no OCR: its chat and the Text mode of Compare cannot read a scan, and PDF to Word keeps scanned pages as images.
Apps come next. On Premium and Business, iLovePDF lists desktop and mobile apps, and its home page presents the desktop app as a way to work without an internet connection. ProPDF runs only in a browser and needs a connection, because its pages load on demand and eight tools rely on the server.
Signatures are the third. With iLoveSign, iLovePDF covers signing requests sent to other people. ProPDF places your own visual signature, drawn, typed or imported, as an image on the page, with no certificate, timestamp or audit trail.
Which One to Choose
Choose iLovePDF if you need OCR, apps, signature requests, forms or conversions to Excel and PowerPoint, and check which of them its Basic plan includes. Choose ProPDF if your work is merging, splitting, compressing, converting to and from Word, signing visually or redacting, and you want it free with no account, with 13 tools that keep the file on your device.