LightPDF · PDF merge & split
Requires a signed-in free account and places a prominent "Download App" desktop installer button beside "Download PDF File" on the result screen; merges our fixture in 2.06s server wait into a 316.4 KB 3-page watermark-free PDF with 100% page order and vector text retention.
US-West (California, AS2914)
PDF · Output attached · Open native file ↗
Subsequent pricing and service checks are shown separately without altering historical scores.
One run does not establish all complex scenes, untested paid maxima or long-term uptime.
Plans & historical pricing
LightPDF Individual Free, Monthly, Annual and Perpetual plans; Team & Business and Education tabs priced separately · 2026-10-21
Promotional price USD 19.99/month (strikethrough USD 29.99), billed monthly, cancel anytime；Unused AI credits expire monthly
3-day free trial then USD 49.99/year (strikethrough USD 89.99; skipping trial saves USD 5)；1,000 AI credits per month expire monthly
40,000 AI credits granted instantly and valid until used
4 plan / billing-period records, all listed; — means that period is not recorded.
Individual pricing lists Free, Monthly USD 19.99, Annual USD 49.99 (with 3-day trial or $5 skip-trial discount), and Perpetual USD 109.99; per-feature AI credit deductions require hover tooltips and enterprise plans require custom quotes.
Verification has gaps; unknown prices and quotas are not inferred.
Cancellation, sources & verification record
Cancel recurring subscriptions via support ticket or payment platform email link; money-back guarantee is 30 days for Perpetual, 7 days for Annual, and 3 days for Monthly.
LightPDF official Individual pricing page ↗ · 2026-10-21 Capture 1 ↗
Pricing recorded on the test date · 2026-10-25
Individual pricing lists Free, Monthly USD 19.99, Annual USD 49.99 (with 3-day trial or $5 skip-trial discount), and Perpetual USD 109.99; per-feature AI credit deductions require hover tooltips and enterprise plans require custom quotes.
Freemium (Requires Account Login / Trial Quota + Subscription)
Historical context only; not current purchase guidance.
Delivery & access
- Free delivery record
- Full 3-page native vector merged PDF (316.4 KB · watermark-free · requires login)
- Watermark
- Watermark-free
- Free allowance
- Free accounts receive a limited trial allowance before requiring a VIP subscription
- Account requirements
- Requires account login (Google or email)
- Maximum specification record
- Full 3-page native vector merged PDF (316.4 KB · watermark-free · requires login)
May include advertised capabilities; this does not establish a tested paid tier.
- Batch & API
- Supports multi-PDF ordering and merging, plus desktop apps and developer APIs
- Manual refinement
- Not recorded or not verified
Tested result & sample
LightPDF merges the 2-page main report and 1-page appendix into a 316.4 KB 3-page PDF in 2.06s while preserving all 37 native vector text streams and embedded figures (result.png, download.png).
- Fixture
- anchor_pdfmerge_v1
- Recorded environment
- US-West (California, AS2914)
- Network-observed server wait
- 2.06 s
- End-to-end reference
- 3.3 s
Network wait includes round trips, queuing and polling error, not pure inference time. Local timings depend on the device; repetition counts are not standardized in legacy records.
Experience, rules & trust
- Disclosure
- Landing page downplays login and quota requirements while the backend API enforces account auth
- Interaction
- On the completion screen, places a prominent blue "Download App" desktop installer button right next to "Download PDF File" to upsell its desktop client.
- Entity record
- AI Document Tool Suite (Wangxu Tech / Apowersoft)
- Origin
- Jurisdiction not publicly specified
- Domain history record
- Publicly operating online service
- Third-party tracking record
- No third-party services listed in this record; this is not proof that none exist.
- External information
- Not recorded or not verified
- Processing
- Apowersoft (gw.aoscdn.com) cloud document merge service
- Retention statement
- Temporary task files are purged periodically, and signed-in users can manually delete cloud files
A recorded statement does not verify deletion or all data-processing behavior.
Verifiable audit trail & evidence
Four SHA-256-verified stages link the benchmark fixture, same-run interface screenshots, native exported artifact and archived pricing sources.
anchor_pdfmerge_v1 · Inspect fixture & file inspector →
Captures entry rules, result view and export disclosure.
Screenshots, native output and official claims support different conclusions. Evidence grades are not product safety certifications.
Evaluation basis & full scores · Overall 89.5/100
Overall = honesty & reputation × 30% + capability × 70%. Component maxima follow this report’s rubric. List scores are rounded for display; original precision is retained here.
Scoring version 2.3.1 · Test fixture anchor_pdfmerge_v1
Honesty & reputation · 73/100 · 30%
| Criterion | Score | Rationale | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing transparency | 24 / 35 | Markets free online PDF merging on its landing page, but task execution is tied to its authenticated cloud task API (gw.aoscdn.com/app/lightpdf/v2/tasks/utility) with trial quota limits (landing.png, result.png, download.png). | Evidence A → |
| Interaction restraint | 21 / 30 | On the completion screen, places a prominent blue "Download App" desktop installer button right next to "Download PDF File" to upsell its desktop client. | Evidence A → |
| Background & reputation | 15 / 20 | Developed and operated by Wangxu Technology / Apowersoft, an established multimedia and document software vendor. | Evidence A → |
| Engineering & privacy | 13 / 15 | Uses HTTPS cloud storage transfers with account-level cloud file management and deletion. | Evidence A → |
Capability · 96.5/100 · 70%
| Criterion | Score | Rationale | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Task quality | 65 / 65 | Deterministic multi-PDF stream inspection: merges our 2 anchor PDFs (3 pages total, 316.8 KB) into a 316.4 KB standard PDF with exact 3/3 page count, 100% sequential page-order token verification (DOC1-P1 -> DOC1-P2 -> DOC2-P3), and 100.0% retention of all 37 native vector text operator blocks (BT/TJ), 5/5 headings, and 12/12 cross-document financial table cells (65.0/65) | Evidence A → |
| Deliverable specifications | 17.5 / 20 | Exports a complete 3-page watermark-free standard PDF (316.4 KB) under a signed-in free account, supporting file ordering and multi-file addition (17.5/20) | Evidence A → |
| Processing speed | 14 / 15 | Cloud utility task (gw.aoscdn.com/app/lightpdf/v2/tasks/utility) completes in 2.06s server wait (14.0/15) | Evidence A → |
Legacy scores may include advertised maximum capabilities. Read tested output separately from paid capabilities. Records without matching tiers and scope are not ranked together.
Revisions & corrections
- 2026-10-25
Initial multi-document PDF merge page-sequence integrity and selectable vector text retention benchmark on Mode A anchor (anchor_pdfmerge_v1).