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An iLovePDF alternative that keeps the file on your computer

iLovePDF is a long shelf of single-purpose PDF tools, each one a page where you drop a file and get one back. The work is done on iLovePDF's servers. Here are the same families of tools done in the browser tab, where the file never leaves your computer, grouped the way iLovePDF groups them, with what each costs and what is missing.

For almost every family of tools on iLovePDF there is something on this site that does the job in the browser tab without uploading the file. The general one is PDF, a free editor in the Workspace that merges, splits, turns, crops, fills, signs, watermarks, numbers, password protects and redacts. Around it sit tools that each do one job with more care: STAPLE for putting many files together, PRESS for making a file smaller, REFLOW for PDF to Word, OPTIC for reading a scan. Those are free to open and check a file with, and saving their result is part of OBSCURA Pro.

What iLovePDF does well

iLovePDF's strength is range. Merge, split, compress, convert to and from Office formats and images, rotate, add page numbers and watermarks, sign, protect, unlock, repair, organise: each is one clear page that does one thing, and most people find the one they need in a few seconds. There is a free tier, and paid plans for bigger files and more of them.

Like other online converters, it does the work on its own servers: your file is uploaded, processed there, and handed back as a download. iLovePDF publishes how it secures those files and when it deletes them. Whether that is fine depends entirely on the file. A public brochure, yes. A signed contract, a bank statement or a scan of a passport is a different question, and for those it is simpler if the file never goes anywhere at all.

What happens here instead

A modern browser can read a PDF, change it and write it out again with no server involved. Every tool below does exactly that. The file is read from your disk into the tab's memory, the work is done by code in the tab, and the result is written back to your disk, or into a folder you choose. There is no upload, no copy kept anywhere, and no account. The pages keep working with the network switched off once they have loaded.

iLovePDF's tools, and what does each job here

Free means free to use and to save, with no account. Pro to save means the tool opens your file and shows the result for nothing, and keeping it is part of Pro.

Organise

The jobUseCostNotes
Merge PDFsPDFFreeCombine Files, in the order you set; a picture becomes a page
Merge a large batch, with page numbersSTAPLEPro to saveEvery page of every file in one grid, reordered and turned before it is joined
Split a PDFPDFFreeBy a number of pages or at the bookmarks; the parts come out in a zip
Remove or extract pagesPDFFreeDelete Pages, Extract Pages
Rotate and reorder pagesPDFFreeOrganise Pages, or the thumbnails

Optimise

The jobUseCostNotes
Compress a PDFPRESSPro to saveScreen, e-book or print resolution; a page shown before and after
Make a scan searchableOPTICPro to saveThe text is read in the tab; copying it is free
Repair a damaged PDFNot hereA file the browser cannot read will not open here

Convert

The jobUseCostNotes
PDF to WordREFLOWPro to saveA rebuilt document, not a picture of the page
Word to PDFDocsFreeOpen the .docx, print to PDF
PowerPoint to PDFSlidesFreeOpen the .pptx, export as PDF
Excel to PDFSheetsFreeOpen the .xlsx, Print / PDF
PDF to JPGPDFFreeOne page, or every page as JPEG or PNG in a zip
JPG to PDFPDFFreePDF from File; STAPLE takes JPEG and PNG too
PDF to Excel or PowerPointNot here
HTML to PDF, PDF/ANot here

Edit and sign

The jobUseCostNotes
Add text, pictures and shapesPDFFreeWritten into the page on save
Add page numbersPDFFreeHeader & Footer, in any of six places
Add a watermarkPDFFreeOr WATERMARK, which names who each copy was for
Crop pagesPDFFreeCrop Pages, in Edit PDF
Sign it yourselfPDFFreeDraw or type it once; it is kept in this browser
Sign with a record that holds upPACTPro to saveA signature page with the document's SHA-256 and a certificate
Compare two versionsREDLINEPro to saveEvery changed amount, date and clause
Ask other people to signNot hereIt needs a server to hold the document while they do

Security

The jobUseCostNotes
Protect with a passwordPDFFree256-bit AES; or PADLOCK, on its own page
Unlock with the passwordPADLOCKFreeNothing here breaks a password you do not have
RedactPDFFreeFind text and mark every match; the page is written as a picture with the boxes burned in
Redact, with a record of what wentSEALPro to saveA certificate of the file it wrote
Burn a filled form flatFLATTENPro to saveTakes out hidden fields and leftover answers first

What is not here

  • PDF to Excel and PDF to PowerPoint. REFLOW rebuilds a Word document, with tables where the columns line up; a spreadsheet or a deck is not written.
  • Changing the existing words on a page. You can write over a page and cover what was there; you cannot click into a sentence and retype it.
  • Signature requests, repair, HTML to PDF and PDF/A. The first needs a server and the others are not built.
  • Doing it from another app. There is no plug-in for cloud drives and no interface for other programs to call. You open the file from your disk.

If your work depends on one of those, use a tool that has it. If it does not, you can do the rest without the file leaving your computer.

What is free, and what is Pro

The PDF editor, like the rest of the Workspace, is free for everyone with no account, saving included. Docs, Sheets and Slides, which turn Office files into PDFs, are free in the same way. The single-purpose tools are free to open and to check a file with, and saving the result is part of Pro; taking the password off your own PDF with PADLOCK stays free. OBSCURA Pro is $144 a year, which is $12 a month, or $15 month to month, with 7 days free first; a day pass is $5 and a week pass $9. For a team it is $69 a month or $690 a year for up to 25 people, with 14 days free.

How to check the claim

Load a tool, switch the network off, then open a PDF and do the job. It works, because nothing in it needs a connection. An online converter cannot do that, whatever it says about encryption in transit.

Start with the free one. Open the PDF editor and merge, split, sign or protect a file you have. When a job needs a tool of its own, such as compressing or PDF to Word, try it on your file first and decide afterwards whether it is worth Pro.

Questions people ask about An iLovePDF alternative that keeps the file on your computer
Is there an iLovePDF alternative that works offline?

Yes. The PDF tools here run in the browser tab, so once a page has loaded it keeps working with the network switched off. The file is read from your disk, changed in the tab and written back; nothing is uploaded.

Can I merge PDFs for free without uploading them?

Yes. Open the first one in PDF, choose Combine Files, add the others in the order you want, and save. It is part of the free Workspace, with no account. For a large batch with page numbers stamped on, STAPLE does the same job in one grid; saving from STAPLE is part of Pro.

Can it convert a PDF to Word?

Yes, with REFLOW, which rebuilds the document rather than drawing a picture of each page: headings from the font sizes, bold and italic from the fonts, lists, tables where the columns line up, and pictures where they sat. A scanned PDF has no text in it, so it needs OPTIC first. Saving the Word file is part of OBSCURA Pro.

Is redaction here real, or a black box on top?

Real. When the file is saved, a page with a redaction on it is drawn as a picture with the boxes burned in and written back as that picture, so the words underneath are not in the file. The cost is that the rest of that page stops being selectable text.

What does iLovePDF do that this does not?

PDF to Excel and PowerPoint, HTML to PDF, PDF/A, repairing a damaged file, sending a document to other people to sign, and connecting to cloud drives. The tables on this page mark each one.

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