People look for an iLovePDF alternative for three reasons. The free plan limits processing, the browser tools send files to the vendor's servers, and single sign-on exists only on a quoted plan for more than 25 users. They move to a flat-priced or self-hosted toolkit, to a perpetual desktop licence, or to a full editor with an admin console.
Sebastiaan SmitsFounderShort answer: The first three alternatives to iLovePDF in our PDF editors ranking are Sejda, Stirling-PDF and PDFgear. Places 1 to 3 go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category, wherever the category has them; the established names follow from place 4 in their ranked order. Choose Sejda if you want a plain per-user price with a week pass for occasional jobs. All 12 alternatives below are ranked products from Best PDF Editors in 2026, and each says where it differs from iLovePDF.
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iLovePDF's Basic plan is free but lists limited tools and limited document processing, with batch merging capped at 25 files where Premium and Business allow 500. Premium costs 5 euros a month billed annually (60 euros a year) or 9 euros billed monthly, covers 1 to 25 users and includes 2,000 AI credits. Teams that outgrow Basic often compare that figure with flat or perpetual pricing elsewhere.
In the web tools, iLovePDF says processed files are deleted automatically and permanently within two hours, with manual deletion available from the download screen. The desktop app for Windows and Mac processes files on the computer instead, and is priced at 9 euros a month or 60 euros a year. Organisations that want no upload at all, or their own server, look at self-hosted or desktop-only editors.
Premium stops at 25 users. The Business plan, quoted by sales, adds custom contracts, a dedicated account manager and single sign-on. A company that needs sign-on with fewer users, or wants it in a published price, has to look elsewhere: Stirling-PDF lists SSO in its Team plan at 99 dollars a month for 100 users.
| Alternative | Headquarters | Free option | Pricing | Key difference | Switch if | Our rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sejda | Netherlands | Yes | Free with daily task limits; week pass or subscription per user, published | Dutch browser and desktop editor with a plain per-user annual price | you want a plain per-user price with a week pass for occasional jobs | #2 |
| Stirling-PDF | United States | Yes | Free plan with self-hosting; Team flat fee per block of 100 users, published; Enterprise quoted | PDF toolkit you run on your own server, open source core | you want files on your own infrastructure or SSO at a flat price | #5 |
| PDFgear | Singapore | Yes | Free; vendor says some advanced features will become paid | No-cost editor for desktop and mobile, funded by investors | an individual or small office needs editing, OCR and conversion at no cost | #12 |
| Xodo | United States | Yes | Free plan limited to one action a day; subscription or perpetual desktop licence, published | Web tools plus PDF Studio desktop for Windows, macOS and Linux | you want desktop software for Linux or a perpetual licence next to web tools | #9 |
| PDF-XChange Editor | United Kingdom | Yes | Free version with most features unrestricted; perpetual licence per user or pack, published | Windows editor sold as a perpetual licence in published user packs | your office runs Windows and prefers a one-off licence to a subscription | #4 |
| Foxit PDF Editor | United States | No free tier | Subscription per user per year or perpetual licence, published; 14-day trial | Subscription editor for Windows, Mac and web, perpetual still offered | you need an admin console, document management and volume licensing beyond 25 users | #7 |
| Master PDF Editor | Hong Kong | No free tier | Perpetual licence per seat with volume tiers, published | One perpetual licence that activates on Windows, macOS or Linux | you want one licence that runs on Linux as well as Windows and macOS | #1 |
| Power PDF | United States | No free tier | Perpetual licence per edition, published; Business edition from five users; 15-day trial | Perpetual desktop editions from the company formerly called Kofax | you want an Office-style desktop editor on a one-time licence | #3 |
| Soda PDF | Canada | No free tier | Subscription per licence; business volumes quoted on request | Windows desktop and browser editor from Avanquest, subscription only | you want desktop and browser editing with a Team tier for 3 to 19 licences | #13 |
| Nitro PDF | United States | No free tier | Annual subscription per user, quoted by sales; 14-day trial | Annual PDF subscriptions with single sign-on and usage analytics | you need SSO and usage analytics and are used to a sales-led purchase | #10 |
| PDF Expert | Ireland | No free tier | Subscription or Mac lifetime licence, published; business seats per year, published | Mac, iPhone and iPad editor with self-service business seats | your team works on Macs and iPads and wants self-service seat management | #6 |
| pdfFiller | United States | No free tier | Three subscription tiers, published; 30-day trial | Cloud form-filling and editing service owned by airSlate | most of your PDF work is forms that must be filled and signed in the cloud | #14 |
Netherlands · Free with daily task limits; week pass or subscription per user, published
Sejda is a browser and desktop PDF editor with a free tier that needs no signup but sets page and hourly limits. Paid plans are published per user: 8.50 euros a month for web, 71 euros a year for desktop and web, with volume discounts from two members. It offers no business tier with named account management.
Switch from iLovePDF if you want a plain per-user price with a week pass for occasional jobs.
United States · Free plan with self-hosting; Team flat fee per block of 100 users, published; Enterprise quoted
Stirling-PDF is open source and can be self-hosted, so files stay on your own server, where iLovePDF's web tools run on the vendor's. The free plan lists 60+ tools and 1,000 monthly credits, and the Team plan is a flat 99 dollars a month for 100 users with SSO. Air-gapped installs need the quoted Enterprise plan.
Switch from iLovePDF if you want files on your own infrastructure or SSO at a flat price.
Singapore · Free; vendor says some advanced features will become paid
PDFgear says its software is completely free and works without signing up, on Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad and Android, with OCR and AI features. Where iLovePDF Premium is a published subscription, PDFgear shows no paid plan on its homepage, and we found no business plan or admin console there.
Switch from iLovePDF if an individual or small office needs editing, OCR and conversion at no cost.
United States · Free plan limited to one action a day; subscription or perpetual desktop licence, published
Xodo sells separate subscriptions for web (7.99 dollars a month, billed 95.88 annually), desktop (PDF Studio, 9.99 a month, billed 119.88 annually) and a combined suite. PDF Studio also comes as a perpetual licence with a chosen support period, and runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. Free web use is limited per day.
Switch from iLovePDF if you want desktop software for Linux or a perpetual licence next to web tools.
United Kingdom · Free version with most features unrestricted; perpetual licence per user or pack, published
PDF-XChange Editor is Windows software with no web service. It offers a free version in which, according to the vendor, 70 percent of features are unrestricted, and sells perpetual licences from 57 euros for Editor and 73 euros for Editor Plus. Enhanced OCR and form creation need the Plus edition. There is no Mac version.
Switch from iLovePDF if your office runs Windows and prefers a one-off licence to a subscription.
United States · Subscription per user per year or perpetual licence, published; 14-day trial
Foxit PDF Editor is a full editor for Windows, macOS, mobile and cloud. Subscriptions cost 129.99 dollars per user a year (Editor) or 159.99 (Editor+), monthly billing from 10.99, and a perpetual Editor 14 is 209.99. Volume discounts reach 30 percent from 30 licences. It is more expensive per seat than iLovePDF Premium.
Switch from iLovePDF if you need an admin console, document management and volume licensing beyond 25 users.
Hong Kong · Perpetual licence per seat with volume tiers, published
Master PDF Editor is sold as a perpetual licence for Windows, Linux and macOS from Code Industry. A licence includes 12 months of updates and support, then half price for each further year. The demo is fully functional except for a watermark on output. It has no browser tools or AI features of the kind iLovePDF lists.
Switch from iLovePDF if you want one licence that runs on Linux as well as Windows and macOS.
United States · Perpetual licence per edition, published; Business edition from five users; 15-day trial
Power PDF from Tungsten Automation is sold as a one-time licence: Standard or Mac for 129 dollars, Advanced for 179, with 90 days of support. Business perpetual and business subscription are quoted. A Cloud Editor and a Microsoft Teams app come with Power PDF Business. iLovePDF has no Office-style desktop interface.
Switch from iLovePDF if you want an Office-style desktop editor on a one-time licence.
Canada · Subscription per licence; business volumes quoted on request
Soda PDF, from Avanquest, is sold as Pro, Team (3 to 19 licences) and Business plans, on Windows desktop and in the browser. Its comparison page lists unlimited AI tools, cloud storage of 5 GB or 10 GB and 1,200 to 1,800 translated pages a year. Prices are shown only at checkout, and there is no free plan.
Switch from iLovePDF if you want desktop and browser editing with a Team tier for 3 to 19 licences.
United States · Annual subscription per user, quoted by sales; 14-day trial
Nitro PDF is sold as Standard and Plus annual subscriptions per user, plus a three-year Classic licence for Windows. Plus adds single sign-on, domain control and usage analytics. Nitro Sign is a separate eSign product. Standard prices appear only after the page loads, and Plus is sold through sales.
Switch from iLovePDF if you need SSO and usage analytics and are used to a sales-led purchase.
Ireland · Subscription or Mac lifetime licence, published; business seats per year, published
PDF Expert runs only on Apple devices. Premium is 84.99 euros a year for iPhone, iPad and Mac, or a 149.99 euro one-time Mac-only lifetime licence, and the vendor says new features may cost extra under the lifetime option. A business offer lets admins add seats and manage billing themselves. It has no Windows version.
Switch from iLovePDF if your team works on Macs and iPads and wants self-service seat management.
United States · Three subscription tiers, published; 30-day trial
pdfFiller is a cloud service for editing, signing and sharing forms, from airSlate, which also owns SignNow and DocHub. It centres on filling and eSigning forms rather than iLovePDF's toolbox of merge, split and compress tools. The vendor offers a free trial, and we could not retrieve its published prices.
Switch from iLovePDF if most of your PDF work is forms that must be filled and signed in the cloud.
iLovePDF remains the right choice for a small office that wants one published price and no sales call. Premium covers one to 25 users on web, mobile and desktop, includes digital signatures and workflows, and the desktop app processes files locally and offline. Free users who only merge, split or compress an occasional file are unlikely to gain from a heavier editor.
iLovePDF deletes web-processed files within two hours, so there is little stored there to migrate. Check instead for signed documents, workflows and any templates you built, and save them locally first. Cancel only after the replacement has run one real batch.
iLovePDF's toolbox is broad: merge, split, compress, OCR, redaction, comparison, forms, translation and conversion to Office formats. Editors such as PDF-XChange or Master PDF Editor are strong at editing and thinner at web-style utilities. List the five tasks done most often and test each in the trial.
Premium allows up to 25 users and Business starts above that. Compare per-seat prices with block or flat pricing, such as Stirling-PDF's 100-user block, and confirm whether single sign-on is included in the plan you would buy.
Yes. Sejda has a free tier without signup but with page and hourly limits, PDFgear says its software is completely free, and Stirling-PDF is open source with a free plan that can be self-hosted.
PDF-XChange Editor also has a free version in which, per the vendor, 70 percent of features are unrestricted.
Premium is 5 euros a month billed annually (60 euros a year) or 9 euros billed monthly, for 1 to 25 users.
The Business plan for more than 25 users is quoted. Students and academic professionals can get a year of Premium free, according to the pricing page.
The iLovePDF desktop app for Windows and Mac processes files on your computer. Alternatives that avoid upload entirely are desktop editors such as PDF-XChange Editor, Master PDF Editor or Power PDF, or Stirling-PDF on your own server.
PDF-XChange Editor, Master PDF Editor, Power PDF and Foxit PDF Editor 14 are all sold as perpetual licences, and PDF Expert offers a Mac lifetime licence. Master PDF Editor and PDF Expert limit free updates or new features, so read the update terms.
Stirling-PDF includes SSO in its Team plan at 99 dollars a month for 100 users. Nitro PDF Plus lists single sign-on, and Foxit offers an admin console with volume licensing. iLovePDF provides SSO only on its quoted Business plan.
Master PDF Editor and Xodo's PDF Studio desktop both list Linux builds, and Stirling-PDF can be run on a Linux server. PDF-XChange Editor supports Windows only and PDF Expert supports Apple devices only.
Founder of The Knowledge Engineers and of 2 Steps Ahead, an AI search visibility agency. Editorially responsible for every page on this site; research and drafting are AI-assisted.
Written, edited and fact-checked by Sebastiaan Smits. Last reviewed 16 October 2026. How we review.
