Looking for a PDF Merger? Here's What's Actually Good

There are dozens of PDF merger tools online. Some are genuinely useful, some are barely functional, and some exist mainly to collect your email address or show you ads.

After trying most of them, here's the honest comparison.

What Actually Matters in a PDF Merger

Before comparing specific tools, let's talk about what you should care about:

No artificial limits — Some tools restrict free usage to X merges per day or Y MB per file. Annoying when you hit those limits mid-task.

Privacy — Where do your files go? If you're merging contracts or financial documents, this matters.

No account required — Creating an account just to merge two PDFs is ridiculous.

Actually works — Some tools fail on certain file types or produce broken output. Reliability matters.

The Tools Compared

Ira Magic Tools (Our Tool)

I built this, so I'm biased. But here's the honest pitch:

Files process entirely in your browser. Nothing gets uploaded anywhere. No limits on file size or number of merges. No account needed.

The trade-off: for extremely large files, browser processing might be slower than server-side tools. But for typical documents, it works great.

Best for: Privacy-conscious users who want unlimited, no-signup merging.

Try it →

SmallPDF

Well-designed, polished interface. Works well.

The catch: limited to 2 tasks per day on free. After that, they want $9/month. Files get uploaded to their servers.

Best for: Occasional use if you don't hit the daily limit.

iLovePDF

Similar to SmallPDF. Good interface, reliable results.

Also has daily limits on free tier and shows ads. Files are uploaded and processed server-side.

Best for: Another fine option for occasional use.

PDF24

German company with strong privacy policies. Files reportedly deleted quickly after processing.

Interface is more cluttered, but the tool is solid and European privacy laws offer some protection.

Best for: Users who want server-side processing but care about data handling.

Adobe Acrobat Online

The industry standard brand. Works as expected.

Requires Adobe account. Very limited free functionality — pushes hard toward the subscription. Files go through Adobe's servers.

Best for: Existing Adobe subscribers.

The Honest Summary

For occasional PDF merging, most of these tools work fine. The limitations of free tiers don't hit you if you're merging documents once a month.

For regular use, or if you're privacy-conscious, client-side tools make more sense. You avoid daily limits and avoid uploading potentially sensitive documents.

I obviously recommend our tool — I built it specifically because I wanted something without the annoyances of alternatives.

But try a few and see what works for your situation.

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Need to do other things with PDFs? Check out our guides on splitting PDFs and compressing large files.