Overall Winner

iLovePDF

beats Smallpdf by 3 points

Smallpdf 68/100

iLovePDF 🏆 71/100

iLovePDF wins over Smallpdf for pdf-toolkit. Generous free tier from $5/month. Polished UX at $12/month with billing complaints. Choose iLovePDF for cheaper web PDF jobs, Smallpdf for a smoother mobile interface.

Score breakdown

Dimension

Smallpdf

iLovePDF

Price & Value

★★★☆☆

★★★★☆ wins

Features

★★★★☆

Ease of Use

★★★★☆

Reviews

★★★★★

Each dimension rated 1–5. Higher is better across all four.

What users say

Smallpdf

"Feature-rich PDF suite with polished UX but marred by billing complaints"

Pros

Clean, intuitive interface with smooth performance Comprehensive features (compress, convert, edit, sign, merge, protect) Works without errors or lags for most tasks

iLovePDF

"The world's most popular free PDF toolkit with broad features but privacy concerns"

Pros

Generous free tier with no signup required for basic tasks Wide range of tools in one platform (merge, split, compress, convert, sign) Fast processing and reliable output quality

When to Choose Each

Choose iLovePDF if you want a generous free tier with no signup for merge, split, compress, convert, and sign, then $5/month if you outgrow the daily limits. It is the cheaper web-and-mobile pick for students and casual compress-for-email jobs. Watch cookie tracking (637 cookies per session) and skip it for privacy-sensitive documents.

Choose Smallpdf if you want the cleanest interface in this pair — compress, convert, edit, sign, merge, and protect on web, iOS, and Android with few lags. The cost is $12/month, the highest online-only price in this tag, and customer feedback reports persistent billing and cancellation problems. Use it only if you will watch the subscription.

Related: See the best PDF tools list — iLovePDF is Most Popular; Smallpdf is the Polished Suite pick.

Key Differences

Pricing: iLovePDF free tier then $5/month; Smallpdf limited free tier then $12/month.
UX: Smallpdf is the smoother, more polished suite; iLovePDF is fast enough for everyday web tasks.
Platforms: iLovePDF is Web, Desktop, and Mobile; Smallpdf is Web, iOS, and Android (no desktop app in this pair).
Billing: Smallpdf has persistent cancellation complaints in customer feedback; iLovePDF’s main knock is cookie tracking, not billing.
Features: Both cover compress, convert, edit, sign, and merge; iLovePDF also does protect, watermark, and page numbers on a cheaper plan.

Pricing & value

Metric	Smallpdf	iLovePDF	Winner
Free tier	Yes	Yes	Tie
Starting price	From $12/mo	From $5/mo	iLovePDF

Is iLovePDF better than Smallpdf?

Yes, iLovePDF wins on price and a more generous free tier, while Smallpdf wins on polish if you will pay $12/month and watch billing.

Which is cheaper?

iLovePDF is cheaper: free tier with daily limits, Premium from $5/month. Smallpdf has a limited free tier and full access at $12/month.

Which is better for a polished mobile PDF app?

Smallpdf is the smoother iOS and Android suite. iLovePDF is the better value for web merge, split, compress, convert, and sign if you want to stay near $5/month.

Our pick

🏆 iLovePDF

Visit iLovePDF Consider Smallpdf