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Test scope & comparison notes
These are recorded facts, not a unified ranking. Tested tiers and scope are not consistently recorded. Read pricing with its date and timing with its conditions. Privacy observations reflect visible flows and statements, not a security audit.
Cross-task capability coverage across selected products
Each product is scored independently per task edge; switch tasks below while keeping shared products selected| Task edge | iLovePDF | Zamzar | Switch / compare |
|---|---|---|---|
| PDF to Word | 93/100 DOCX · Output attached | 90/100 DOCX · Output attached | Active task |
| PDF compression | 97/100 PDF · Output attached | Not tested in topic | Compare in task topic → |
| Scanned PDF OCR | 95/100 PDF · Output attached | Not tested in topic | Compare in task topic → |
| PDF merge & split | 97/100 PDF · Output attached | Not tested in topic | Compare in task topic → |
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Browse this task →| Criterion | iLovePDF PDF to Word 93/100 Seven-aspect task score Smooth login-free downloads retain text and tables and offer deletion; free text conversion and paid OCR are distinguished upfront, with scans untested. Tested export DOCX · Output attached Historical test · 2026-10-18 | Zamzar PDF to DOCX Converter PDF to Word 90/100 Seven-aspect task score No login or email is needed, limits are disclosed upfront, and text and tables are retained; free files are capped at 3MB with stated 24-hour retention. Tested export DOCX · Output attached Historical test · 2026-10-19 |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing & rules | ||
| Pricing plans | iLovePDF USD single-seat web plans; 25+ users quoted · 2026-10-20 Plan · source date Monthly / one-time Annual bill / period Quota & limits Basic2026-10-20 ↗ Free Free Free Basic tools; limited documents, batching and file size, without numeric limits. Premium2026-10-20 ↗ USD 9/month USD 60/year Monthly Single seat; unlimited document processing across web, mobile and desktop, with batching; 2,000 AI credits are not a conversion count. Annual Single-seat annual bill USD 60; same capabilities as monthly. Education eligibility plan2026-10-20 ↗ — USD 0/year Annual Students and academics can apply for one free year of Premium, subject to eligibility. 5 plan / billing-period records, all listed; — means that period is not recorded. Monthly and annual controls confirm USD 9/month and USD 60/year. Free processing is limited without exact figures; education and seat discounts require eligibility checks. Verification has gaps; unknown prices and quotas are not inferred. Cancellation, sources & verification recordUpgrade, downgrade or cancel in account settings. The page says prices include applicable VAT, with regional invoice treatment. Refund terms were not separately verified. Official feature and pricing page ↗ · 2026-10-20 Capture 1 ↗ Official feature and pricing page ↗ · 2026-10-20 Capture 1 ↗ | Zamzar USD web monthly subscriptions and free allowance; API excluded · 2026-10-20 Plan · source date Monthly / one-time Annual bill / period Quota & limits Basic2026-10-20 ↗ USD 12/month — Monthly Unlimited web conversions; 200 MB files; 25 concurrent; 5 GB storage; desktop separately limited to 50/day. Pro2026-10-20 ↗ USD 19/month — Monthly Unlimited web conversions; 400 MB files; 50 concurrent; 20 GB storage; desktop separately limited to 100/day. Business2026-10-20 ↗ USD 39/month — Monthly Unlimited web conversions; 2 GB files; 100 concurrent; 100 GB storage; desktop separately limited to 500/day. Weekly subscription mentioned in FAQ2026-10-20 ↗ Weekly price not verified Other period Other period FAQ mentions a weekly subscription, but the table does not state its price or tier mapping. FAQ mentions a weekly subscription, but the table does not state its price or tier mapping. 5 plan / billing-period records, all listed; — means that period is not recorded. Current Basic/Pro/Business prices are USD 12/19/39 per month, replacing the historical USD 18 Basic summary. Unlimited web conversions are separate from daily desktop quotas. The FAQ mentions weekly subscriptions without prices; no weekly price is inferred. Verification has gaps; unknown prices and quotas are not inferred. Cancellation, sources & verification recordCancel in the account; access continues through the paid period and the next cycle is not charged. Official feature and pricing page ↗ · 2026-10-20 Capture 1 ↗ Official feature and pricing page ↗ · 2026-10-20 Capture 1 ↗ |
| Free & trial allowance on the test date | Free tier converts standard digital PDFs without login; scanned OCR and large batches require Premium | Free guests can convert files up to 3 MB, max 2 files per 24 hours; larger files require Basic ($18/mo) or higher |
| Cancellation & refunds | Upgrade, downgrade or cancel in account settings. The page says prices include applicable VAT, with regional invoice treatment. Refund terms were not separately verified. | Cancel in the account; access continues through the paid period and the next cycle is not charged. |
| Disclosure of costs & limits | Clearly labels No OCR (Free) vs OCR (Premium) on the right panel before clicking Convert | 'Max. file size 3MB' is printed directly below Step 1 Choose Files before upload |
| Task quality | ||
| Measured fixture results | Text retained: 100% · Editable table cells: 16 · Page 2 preserved: Yes | Text retained: 100% · Editable table cells: 16 · Page 2 preserved: Yes |
| Fixture findings | Text and tables were retained for this text PDF; scan OCR is a separate paid capability and was not tested. | Text and editable tables were retained; the historical free file-size limit was 3MB. |
| Original historical observation | iLovePDF states its free vs. paid OCR boundary upfront before you click convert, and its 3.2s auto-downloaded 10.0 KB .docx achieves 100% text retention and 16-cell native Word table reconstruction upon XML inspection (02_workspace.png, 03_download.png). | Operating for 20 years, Zamzar sets a high bar for upfront rule disclosure: stating 'Max. file size 3MB' right below Choose Files and delivering an 8.1 KB .docx with 100% text and 16-cell native table reconstruction without login (02_workspace.png, 03_download.png). |
| Suitable uses · historical assessment | Professionals and students seeking fast (3.2s auto-download), high-fidelity conversion of standard digital PDF documents without logging in | Users converting small-to-medium text PDFs under 3 MB who appreciate upfront rule disclosure from a 20-year UK pioneer |
| Result & output evidence | ||
| Scans / OCR | The fixture is a text PDF; scans and OCR were not tested | The fixture is a text PDF; scans and OCR were not tested |
| Delivery capabilities | ||
| Recorded export specifications | DOCX · Output attached · No watermark in test | DOCX · Output attached · No watermark in test |
| Historical specification note · not an official maximum | Full 2-page native .docx (44 paragraphs + 16-cell native Word table, watermark-free) | Full 2-page native .docx (62 paragraphs + 16-cell native table, capped at ≤3MB on free tier) |
| Watermark observation | Watermark-free | Watermark-free |
| Batch & API | Supports Google Drive / Dropbox integration and developer REST API | Supports multi-file uploads and the mature Zamzar Developer API |
| Recorded free-tier dimensions | Not verified | Not verified |
| Attached file dimensions | Not verified | Not verified |
| Published allowances & file limits · not tested | Basic: Basic tools; limited documents, batching and file size, without numeric limits. | Web free: 2 files per 24 hours; tool-page limit 3 MB. |
| Speed & reliability | ||
| Timing observation | Network-observed server wait: 3.2s · End-to-end reference: 3.7s | Network-observed server wait: 6.5s · End-to-end reference: 7.3s |
| Date & fixture | 2026-10-18 · anchor_pdf2word_v1 · US-West (California, AS2914) | 2026-10-19 · anchor_pdf2word_v1 · US-West (California, AS2914) |
| Repeated tests & reliability | No standardized repetition count, success rate or variability range is recorded. | No standardized repetition count, success rate or variability range is recorded. |
| Interaction experience | ||
| Account requirements | No login in this test | No login in this test |
| Sign-in methods | No login required for standard selectable-text PDF conversion | No login required (email notification is optional) |
| Manual adjustment | Not verified | Not verified |
| Interaction observations | Uploading without login and clicking Convert to WORD reaches the download screen in ~3.2s, triggers automatic browser download, and offers a one-click server delete button. | Has retired its legacy mandatory email-gate workflow in favor of direct browser downloads with zero third-party pop-up ads. |
| Background & reputation | ||
| Service lifecycle notice | Not verified | Not verified |
| Operator | iLovePDF (ilovepdf.com) | Zamzar Ltd |
| Recorded origin | Barcelona, Spain | United Kingdom (Founded 2006) |
| Domain history record | 2010–Present (16-year global PDF utility leader) | 2006–Present (20-year online file conversion pioneer) |
| Background & reputation assessment | Independently operated in Barcelona, Spain since 2010 with ISO/IEC 27001 certification. | Continuously operated by UK-based Zamzar Ltd since 2006 (20 years as one of the web's earliest file conversion platforms). |
| External reputation record | Not verified | Not verified |
| Engineering & privacy | ||
| Processing location | Uploaded for cloud processing | Uploaded for cloud processing |
| Third-party tracking record | Not verified | Not verified |
| Engineering & privacy assessment | End-to-end HTTPS encryption with an instant file-wipe trash button on the download screen and automatic server deletion within 2 hours. | Completion page clearly notes 'Files are stored for 24 hours', operating under UK and EU GDPR data protection regulations. |
| Retention statement | Claims deletion within 2 hours; deletion not independently verified | Claims deletion within 24 hours; deletion not independently verified |
| Evaluation basis | ||
| Pricing transparency | 32 / 35 Upfront on the pre-conversion sidebar, iLovePDF clearly distinguishes free 'No OCR (Convert PDFs with selectable text to editable Word files)' from Crown-badged 'OCR (Scanned PDFs, Premium)', never ambushing users with a paywall after conversion (01_landing.png, 02_workspace.png, 03_download.png). | 31.5 / 35 Clearly states 'Max. file size 3MB (want more?)' directly beneath the Step 1 Choose Files button (01_landing.png), and makes 'Email when done?' an optional checkbox; uploading our anchor PDF and clicking Convert Now navigates to the completion page with a direct blue Download button (02_workspace.png, 03_download.png). |
| Interaction restraint | 27 / 30 Uploading without login and clicking Convert to WORD reaches the download screen in ~3.2s, triggers automatic browser download, and offers a one-click server delete button. | 26.5 / 30 Has retired its legacy mandatory email-gate workflow in favor of direct browser downloads with zero third-party pop-up ads. |
| Background & reputation | 19 / 20 Independently operated in Barcelona, Spain since 2010 with ISO/IEC 27001 certification. | 19 / 20 Continuously operated by UK-based Zamzar Ltd since 2006 (20 years as one of the web's earliest file conversion platforms). |
| Engineering & privacy | 14 / 15 End-to-end HTTPS encryption with an instant file-wipe trash button on the download screen and automatic server deletion within 2 hours. | 13.5 / 15 Completion page clearly notes 'Files are stored for 24 hours', operating under UK and EU GDPR data protection regulations. |
| Task quality | 62 / 65 Underlying word/document.xml inspection confirms 100.0% text retention, Page 2 preservation, and 16-cell native Word <w:tbl> reconstruction with faithful typography and margins (62.0/65) | 61 / 65 100.0% text retention across 62 editable paragraphs (1,268 chars), 16/16 native Word <w:tbl> table cells, and full Page 2 preservation (61.0/65) |
| Deliverable specifications | 18 / 20 Exports a complete watermark-free .docx file (10.0 KB) without login; only scanned OCR and heavy batch concurrency require Premium (18.0/20) | 16.5 / 20 Exports a compact, watermark-free 8.1 KB .docx without login, though the free single-file size limit is capped at 3 MB (16.5/20) |
| Processing speed | 13.5 / 15 Fast cloud PDF-to-DOCX engine completes in ~3.2s and auto-triggers download (13.5/15) | 12 / 15 3-step upload and queue conversion completes in ~7.3s (~6.5s server conversion) (12.0/15) |
