The short version
iLovePDF is a well-known online file toolkit. FileForge takes a different approach: every one of its 28 tools runs entirely inside your browser. Files are opened from your disk into browser memory, processed there, and saved straight back to your device. Nothing is transmitted to any server — you can watch the Network tab of your browser's developer tools and confirm it.
This page is written by the FileForge team, so we try to be fair to iLovePDF: it is a mature product, and for some workflows it will be the better pick. iLovePDF offers desktop and mobile apps plus API access, which FileForge does not provide.
Side-by-side
| FileForge | iLovePDF | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, all 28 tools, no account | Free tier with limits; Premium subscription |
| Processing | 100% in your browser | Uploaded to iLovePDF servers |
| Batch size caps | Only your device's memory | Capped on free tier |
| Watermarks | Never | On some free outputs |
| Developer/text utilities | 13 included (JSON, CSV, Base64, hash…) | None |
| PDF merge / split | Yes | Yes |
| Images to PDF | JPG, PNG, WebP | JPG, PNG |
Where FileForge wins
- Privacy: documents never leave your device. There is no upload step to secure, no retention policy to trust.
- No artificial limits: free means free — no daily task caps, no file-size paywall tiers, no sign-up wall.
- Speed: processing happens at your device's own speed with zero round-trips to a server.
- Sensitive work: contracts, invoices and ID scans can be merged, split or converted without a third party ever seeing them.
Where iLovePDF may still be better
- OCR: FileForge's PDF to Text tool extracts the existing text layer only and does not perform OCR on scans. If you need scanned pages turned into text, look for a dedicated OCR product.
- Heavy compression: FileForge's Compress PDF re-renders pages as optimized images, which makes text non-selectable. Paid desktop suites can shrink text PDFs while keeping text selectable.
- E-signatures and forms: neither are part of FileForge today.
Verdict
Both handle the classic PDF jobs well. Choose FileForge when privacy matters, when you've hit a free-tier cap, or when you also want developer utilities like JSON formatting and file hashing. Choose iLovePDF if you rely on its mobile apps or API integrations.