Free PDF tools compared: what you actually get without paying
Most "free" PDF tools are free in a qualified sense — free until a daily counter runs out, or free once you have handed over an email address. Here is what each service gives you without paying, taken only from what each vendor publishes itself.
PDFToolsHQ vs iLovePDF vs Smallpdf
PDFToolsHQ offers 28 PDF tools free with no account, no watermark and no per-tool usage cap, at up to 100 MB per file. iLovePDF and Smallpdf both require an account on their free plans.
Competitor details were checked on 14 August 2026. Pricing changes often, so each column links to that vendor's own page — confirm there before relying on anything here.
| PDFToolsHQ | iLovePDF (Free) | Smallpdf (Free) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Account required | No | Yes | Yes |
| Usage limits | None — process as many files as you like | Per-tool document limits; the figure differs for each tool | Daily task and download limits |
| Maximum file size | Up to 100 MB — 50 MB for OCR and the Word/JPG conversions, 25 MB for JPG to PDF | Varies by tool | Not stated on pricing page |
| Watermark on output | Never | Not stated on pricing page | Not stated on pricing page |
| Number of tools | 28 | Not stated as a count | 30+ |
| Software to install | None — runs in the browser | None for the web tools | None for the web tools |
| Check for yourself | All 28 tools | ilovepdf.com/pricing | smallpdf.com/pricing |
Competitor figures are taken from each provider's own published pricing page, linked in the last row; cells read “not stated” where the provider does not publish a figure rather than guessing one. PDFToolsHQ figures come from the tool limits in our own code. Last checked: 19 August 2026. Providers change their free tiers without notice — check the source links before relying on any row.
What about Adobe Acrobat?
Adobe belongs in a different bracket and it is worth saying so plainly rather than pretending otherwise. Acrobat is a full desktop and cloud document suite — editing, forms, certificate-based digital signatures, enterprise administration — behind a subscription. Adobe does publish some free online tools, but the useful question is not feature-for-feature parity. It is whether you need a document platform or you need to fix one PDF right now. If it is the latter, none of these products should require you to think about Adobe at all.
When PDFToolsHQ is the wrong choice
Being useful means being clear about where a tool stops. PDFToolsHQ does not offer certificate-based digital signatures under eIDAS or equivalent schemes — Sign PDF produces a visible electronic signature, which is accepted for most everyday agreements but not for notarised deeds or regulated filings.
There is no team workspace, no shared document storage and no audit trail, because files are processed and then deleted rather than kept. And there is no desktop application — everything runs in a browser, which is rather the point, but it does mean there is nothing to use offline.
The tools people come for
All free, no account, no watermark.
How this page is maintained. Competitor rows come only from each vendor's published pricing page and are dated above; anything not published there is marked "Not stated" rather than estimated. Figures for PDFToolsHQ are the limits the service actually enforces. If something here is out of date, tell us and it will be corrected.
Try it without handing over an email
Drop in a file and see. Nothing to install, nothing to register, no watermark on the way out.