Pricing and free limits
Pricing and free limits
iLovePDF Premium is $7 a month, or $4 a month billed annually, for 1 to 25 users; Business is quoted. The free plan caps each task — for example 25 files per merge, 2 per compression, 3 signing tasks and 1 file for most conversions, OCR, editing, redaction and AI — with file-size caps of 15 MB to 200 MB depending on the tool. Students and academics can get a free year of Premium.
PDFBetter's browser tools (merge, split, rotate, images to PDF and similar) run on your device and download free without an account. Downloading a document you edited in the editor needs a free account; the Free plan includes 3 such downloads a month with no watermark, plus 3 signature requests, 1 live form with 50 responses, 20 OCR pages and 20 AI credits. Pro costs $15 a month, or $10 a month billed yearly, and a $6 Day Pass gives 24 hours of Pro without a subscription.
On price alone, iLovePDF Premium billed annually costs less than PDFBetter Pro. PDFBetter Pro includes unlimited signature requests, form publishing and a larger AI allowance in that price.
Processing and file handling
Processing and file handling
iLovePDF processes files on its servers, lets Business customers pick from more processing regions, and says it deletes files within 2 hours, while signed documents are kept for up to 5 years as evidence. Its desktop app for Windows and Mac processes files offline and requires Premium.
PDFBetter's browser tools — merge, split, rotate, extract, watermark and image conversions — run on your device and never upload the file. Office conversions, OCR and compression run on PDFBetter's servers. Completed signing evidence — the sealed PDF, certificate and audit trail — is kept for 7 years after completion.
Signing, forms and AI
Signing, forms and AI
iLovePDF's Sign tool supports signing yourself or inviting others with signing order, request expiry and an audit trail; Premium adds separate requests per signer and branding, and iLoveSign Premium adds advanced electronic signatures and SMS authentication. iLovePDF can create fillable PDFs automatically, but we did not find online response collection. Its AI tools summarize and translate on Premium.
PDFBetter includes 3 signature requests a month on Free and unlimited on Pro, a form builder whose forms collect responses, and AI chat, summary and translation with page citations (20 credits on Free, 500 on Pro).
Every signer signs with their own cryptographic key. Every completed PDF is digitally sealed and independently time-stamped, with the evidence built into the file. Every PDFBetter plan can require signers to enter a one-time code sent to their email.
PDFBetter's signature requests are designed to the technical requirements of an advanced electronic signature (eIDAS art. 26): a unique key per signer, under their sole control, linked to the document so any change is detectable. Signers are identified by email (and an optional emailed code), not by ID documents or SMS. PDFBetter does not offer SMS authentication or qualified electronic signatures (QES).