What's iLovePDF's actual free tier limit?

iLovePDF caps free users at approximately 200MB per task and limits to 30 conversions per day across most tools. Premium tier removes both limits at $9.99 per month, $79.99 per year.

How many tools does iLovePDF have?

iLovePDF has approximately 25 PDF-related tools as of May 2026, including OCR, electronic signature, and PDF editor. Pickrack has 16 PDF tools plus 21 tools in image, AI, developer, text, and calculator categories.

iLovePDF is generally faster on server-side operations because they have a global CDN edge network. Pickrack runs on a single home server (Cloudflare Tunnel) so it's slower for users far from the server location. For browser-side tools (most of Pickrack), there's no speed difference because nothing uploads.

Can I trust iLovePDF with sensitive PDFs?

iLovePDF's privacy policy states files are deleted within 2 hours. They have ISO 27001 certification. However, files do upload to their servers — for genuinely sensitive content (legal, medical, financial), browser-side tools like Pickrack's offer verifiable privacy by never uploading at all.

Does Pickrack have OCR?

Not yet. OCR is on the roadmap with Tesseract. For now, if you need OCR, iLovePDF or Smallpdf are better choices.

Which has better PDF editor?

iLovePDF has a more developed PDF editor with annotations, text editing, and form fields. Pickrack does not yet have a PDF editor — only individual operations like merge, split, watermark.

Are there hidden costs?

iLovePDF: free tier has soft limits that nudge upgrades. Premium $9.99/mo has no hidden costs. Pickrack: free, no hidden costs, no signup, no upsell. Site sustains itself via display ads (which can be ad-blocked) and affiliate commissions on unrelated tools we review.

Many users do. Pickrack for everyday batch work (no quota, fast for browser-side), iLovePDF for occasional OCR or PDF editing. There's no exclusivity.

Pickrack vs iLovePDF 2026: Free Tier Limits, Privacy, and Honest Comparison

iLovePDF and Pickrack overlap on most basic PDF operations, but they have very different business models. iLovePDF is a venture-backed Spanish startup with a polished cloud product and Premium upgrade pressure. Pickrack is an indie open-source project optimized for privacy and zero quota. This article compares them feature-by-feature and helps you pick.

iLovePDF free-tier quota limit reached message — iLovePDF caps free users at roughly 30 conversions per day and 200 MB per task. Hit either and you see a soft paywall.

Quick comparison

Dimension	iLovePDF Free	iLovePDF Premium ($9.99/mo)	Pickrack
File size per task	200MB	5GB	30-100MB
Daily conversions	~30 (varies by tool)	Unlimited	Unlimited
Tools	~25	~25	37
Watermark on output	None	None	None
Privacy	Cloud upload, 2hr delete	Cloud upload, 2hr delete	Browser-side or zero retention
OCR	Yes (good)	Yes (better)	No
eSign	Yes	Yes	No
PDF Editor	Yes	Yes	No
Mobile app	iOS + Android	iOS + Android	PWA
Source code	Closed	Closed	MIT open
AI tools	Limited	Limited	3 (free)
Image tools	None	None	5

Where iLovePDF wins

1. Polished UX and CDN speed. iLovePDF has invested in mature server infrastructure with a global edge network. For users in Europe and the Americas, server-side operations are faster than Pickrack's single-region home server. The UX has small touches Pickrack lacks — drag interactions, smooth animations, professional onboarding.

2. OCR. iLovePDF's OCR is genuinely good. Pickrack has no OCR yet. If you regularly process scanned PDFs, this matters.

3. PDF Editor. iLovePDF has a real PDF editor — text editing, annotations, form fields. Pickrack offers individual operations (merge, split, watermark) but no integrated editor.

4. eSign. Built-in electronic signature is competitive with DocuSign at much lower price. Pickrack does not offer eSign.

5. Mobile apps. Native iOS and Android apps with offline mode. Pickrack is web-only (PWA install works but feels less native).

Where Pickrack wins

1. No daily quota. iLovePDF Free limits 30 tasks/day across many tools. Pickrack has no equivalent. For batch work (compress 50 invoices, convert 100 photos), this is the difference between "free" and "$9.99/month."

2. Verifiable browser-side privacy. iLovePDF uploads everything. Their 2-hour deletion is on faith. Pickrack's 32 browser-side tools NEVER upload — open DevTools → Network during use to verify zero requests.

3. Open source. github.com/pickrack/pickrack, MIT licensed. iLovePDF is closed-source.

4. Beyond PDF. Pickrack has image compression, background removal, AI translation, grammar checker, JSON formatter, JWT decoder, QR code generator. iLovePDF is PDF-only. If your work spans formats, Pickrack consolidates several tools into one bookmark.

5. AI tools included. Pickrack offers free AI summarizer, translator, and grammar checker (10 req/day each). iLovePDF has AI features but mostly behind Premium.

6. EPUB conversion. Pickrack supports EPUB ↔ PDF (Calibre engine). iLovePDF does not support EPUB.

Real-world scenarios

Scenario 1: Convert 100 contract PDFs for a client onboarding sweep

iLovePDF: hits 30/day limit at item 30, must wait or pay
Pickrack: process all 100, no waiting

Scenario 2: Compress a confidential acquisition memo before emailing partners

iLovePDF: file uploads to their servers (deleted in 2hr per policy)
Pickrack: file is processed on our server too (same as iLovePDF for this server-side operation), but the tool is open source so deletion logic is verifiable

Scenario 3: Merge 5 PDFs of medical records to send to a specialist

iLovePDF: uploads all 5 PDFs to their servers
Pickrack: browser-side merge — files never leave your device

Scenario 4: Convert PDF → editable Word

Both work. Pickrack uses LibreOffice; iLovePDF uses similar engine. Output quality comparable.

Side by side merge result: same 3 input PDFs merged by Pickrack and by iLovePDF — Same three input PDFs, same compression level — output PDFs are bit-for-bit different in metadata but visually identical. Both use pdf-lib-class engines.

Scenario 5: Add legally-binding e-signature to a contract

iLovePDF Premium: built-in eSign
Pickrack: not supported (use DocuSign or Smallpdf for this)

Pricing math

iLovePDF Premium pricing page showing $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year — iLovePDF Premium pricing as captured on the date of writing. Annual save 16%.

iLovePDF Premium: $9.99/month, $79.99/year (16% off annual). Justified if:

More than 30 PDF tasks/day average
OCR for scanned documents
eSign workflows
PDF editor for annotations

If none of these, you're paying $80-120/year for marginal UX polish over Pickrack's free tier.

When NOT to use Pickrack

Be honest:

Need OCR → iLovePDF or Smallpdf
Need eSign → iLovePDF Premium or DocuSign
Need PDF editor with annotations → iLovePDF or Foxit
Need team accounts and shared workspaces → iLovePDF Premium
Latency-sensitive (Asian users far from EU/US) → iLovePDF's CDN may be faster

When Pickrack is the obvious choice

Daily PDF work that hits free-tier quotas
Sensitive documents where browser-side privacy matters
Mixed workflows needing PDF + image + AI tools in one place
Devs who want to verify privacy claims by reading source code
Budget conscious users who'd rather not pay $80/year for occasional PDF tasks

Try Pickrack

PDF tools catalog — 16 free PDF tools
Image tools — 5 tools iLovePDF doesn't offer
AI tools — summarizer, translator, grammar checker
GitHub source — verify our privacy claims

Bottom line

iLovePDF is a polished commercial product with a few essential features (OCR, eSign, editor) that Pickrack does not yet match. Pickrack is a free, open-source alternative that covers 80% of iLovePDF's PDF feature set plus 21 non-PDF tools, with verifiable privacy and no daily quota.

If you hit iLovePDF's free tier limits and don't need OCR/eSign/editor, switching saves $80-120/year for the same basic functionality with better privacy. If you need the missing features, iLovePDF Premium is reasonable. They're not mutually exclusive.