Comparison
iLovePDF vs CompressToFit
These tools answer two different questions. iLovePDF answers "make this smaller", across thirty tools that cover most things anyone does to a PDF. This one answers "get this under 200KB", for the three file types where that question has a verifiable answer. If a form has rejected your upload and given you a number, the number is the whole problem -- and that is the one thing three preset levels cannot aim at.
Checked 10 Oct 2026 againstcompress_pdfpricing
Side by side
The differences that matter
Every row is something you can check on their own pages, linked above. Nothing here is a claim about their quality.
| iLovePDF | CompressToFit | |
|---|---|---|
| Target file size | Three preset levels -- Extreme, Recommended and Less compression. Whatever size they produce is the size you get. | You type the number. 50KB, 200KB, 2MB or anything above 5KB, and the output is measured against it before you are handed the file. |
| Where the file goes | Uploaded to their servers, processed there, and downloaded back. Their API product is built on the same pipeline. | Nowhere. Read, compressed and returned inside the browser tab. There is no server in this product and no /api directory in its source. |
| Free tier | Free with limits on file size and on how many files a task may hold, plus ads. Premium is around $6/month and raises the caps. | No tiers. Unlimited files, no account, no watermark, no cap, because a compression that runs on your hardware costs us nothing. |
| Keeping text selectable | Compression is applied at the level you chose. The documentation does not promise which documents keep selectable text. | A lossless rewrite is always tried and measured first, so a document that can reach your target that way keeps its text, search and accessibility tree. Rasterising is disclosed before it runs. |
| What it handles | Around thirty PDF tools -- merge, split, convert to and from Office formats, OCR, sign, redact -- in roughly two dozen languages. | Compression only, for PDFs, images and video. Nothing else, and no plans to convert a Word document, which needs a server. |
The other direction
What iLovePDF does better
Not a courtesy. If any of these is what you came for, this is the wrong tool and the link above is the right one.
Thirty tools against three
Merging, splitting, OCR, signing, redacting, and conversion to and from Word, Excel and PowerPoint. If your next task is any of those, this site does not do it and iLovePDF does.
Office conversion needs a server
Word to PDF and PDF to Word mean rendering a document format no browser can lay out natively. That genuinely requires the upload this site refuses to do, so it is work iLovePDF can do and this cannot.
Two dozen languages, and apps
Localised interfaces, desktop and mobile applications, and a documented API. This is one English website that runs in a browser tab.
Try the difference
Name a size and watch it get measured
Nothing is uploaded, so there is no queue to wait in and no result to take on trust — the byte count of what you are given is on the screen.
2Add your file
Video, images and PDFs, all compressed on your own machine. No upload, no account, no watermark, no limit on how many files.
Pick your number
Compress PDF to an exact size
The thing a preset level cannot do. Each of these is the same tool with the target already set.
Questions
iLovePDF and this tool
- Can iLovePDF compress a PDF to an exact file size?
- As of 10 Oct 2026, no. Its compressor offers three preset levels rather than a target size, so there is no field to type 200KB into and no measurement of the result against a number you chose. CompressToFit takes the number, compresses, weighs the output and tries again if it came in over -- which it can afford to do because the work happens on your own machine rather than on a server it pays for.
- Does iLovePDF upload my files?
- Yes -- it has to. Its compression runs on its own servers, so the file is uploaded, processed remotely and downloaded back. That is not a flaw in their product; it is what every server-side tool does, and it is why they publish a retention policy. CompressToFit has no server at all, so the file is never sent anywhere and there is nothing to retain.
- Is CompressToFit a good iLovePDF alternative?
- For compressing a video, an image or a PDF to a size limit, yes, and it is free with no tier above it. For anything else iLovePDF does -- merging, splitting, OCR, signing, redacting, and conversion to and from Word, Excel and PowerPoint -- it is not an alternative at all, because it does not do those things and will not: most of them need a server, which this product does not have.
- Is this comparison up to date?
- Every claim on this page was checked against iLovePDF's own pages on 10 Oct 2026, and those pages are linked above so you can check them yourself. Pricing and feature sets move; a failing test in this project's build flags this page for re-verification after 120 days rather than letting it quietly go stale.
Also
Other comparisons
- vs SmallpdfSmallpdf compresses PDFs on its servers at three levels -- Basic, Moderate and Strong -- with the two stronger levels reserved for its Pro plan, and deletes uploaded files after an hour. CompressToFit runs entirely in the browser, takes an exact target size, and has no paid tier.
- vs FreeConvertFreeConvert's video compressor takes a target as a percentage of the original file -- 0 to 10000% -- rather than a number of bytes, caps free input at 1GB, and stores uploads with AWS in Ireland for eight hours. CompressToFit takes the byte figure the form gave you and never uploads anything.
- vs CloudConvertCloudConvert's free tier is 10 conversion credits a day with a 1GB file ceiling and a five-minute processing cap, and the work runs on its servers. CompressToFit meters nothing, because there is no server to meter -- the encode happens on your own machine.
- vs ClideoClideo adds a clideo.com watermark to every export on the free plan, reserves its best compression preset for Pro, and takes free input up to 500MB. CompressToFit adds no watermark, has one compression setting which is the strongest one, and has no paid tier to withhold anything for.
- vs VEEDVEED puts a VEED.IO watermark on every export made on a free account and caps free exports at 720p, and upgrading later means exporting the project again to lose the mark. CompressToFit has no watermark, no resolution cap, no account and no export queue.
- vs Adobe AcrobatAdobe Acrobat's online compressor offers High, Medium and Low levels with no target size, uploads the file to Adobe servers, and its own page says unlimited compression requires a paid Acrobat plan. CompressToFit runs in the browser, takes an exact figure, and has no paid tier.
- vs 8mb.video8mb.video aims at real sizes -- 8, 10, 20, 25, 50 and 100MB presets, or a custom figure up to 200MB -- but reaches them on a server, deletes the result after twenty minutes and allows two downloads by default. CompressToFit aims at the same numbers in your browser, and down to kilobytes.