Krisox vs iLovePDF: private, no-upload alternative
iLovePDF, Smallpdf and similar sites are popular, well-run tools for shrinking and converting files. Krisox works differently: your files never leave your device. Here is an honest comparison, including where iLovePDF is the better choice.
Do it now, in your browser: Compress PDF · Compress an image to a size · HEIC to JPG converter
The short version
| Krisox | iLovePDF and similar online tools | |
|---|---|---|
| Where your file is processed | In your browser, on your device | On the service's servers, after you upload it |
| How long they keep your file | Never sent anywhere | iLovePDF: deleted within 2 hours of upload. Smallpdf: removed 1 hour after processing |
| Where it fits in your day | Inside the upload form you are already using (with the extension) | A separate site: upload, process, download, then upload again where you needed it |
| Without an internet connection | Compression still works | The online tools need a connection (iLovePDF also offers a desktop app) |
| PDF tasks beyond shrinking | Compress PDFs, turn images into PDFs | Many more: merge, split, edit, sign, and convert Office documents |
| Image formats | JPG, PNG, WebP and iPhone HEIC | iLovePDF focuses on PDF; its sister site iLoveIMG handles images |
Where your file goes
When you use an online compressor, your file travels to the company's servers, is processed there, and a copy comes back. The good services take care over this. iLovePDF says it encrypts files in transit, runs its servers under European law, deletes every upload within 2 hours, and offers a "Delete it now" button. Smallpdf says it removes files from its servers one hour after processing.
Those are real protections, but they're protections for a file that has already left your device. For a passport scan, a payslip, a contract or a medical letter, that's a copy you no longer control, however briefly.
Krisox takes the other route: the compression happens inside your browser tab, so there is no upload to protect. The only place your file goes is the website you were uploading it to in the first place.
The workflow difference
Say a job application only accepts PDFs under 5 MB, and your portfolio is 10 MB.
- With an online compressor: open the compressor site, upload the PDF, wait, download the smaller copy, go back to the job site, find the file in your downloads, upload it.
- With the Krisox extension: choose your file on the job site as usual, see "Will compress to ~1.9 MB", click Upload compressed. The job site receives the smaller file.
When iLovePDF is the better choice
Krisox doesn't do these things, and isn't trying to. It does one job: make files fit where you upload them, without them leaving your device.
- You need to merge, split, edit, sign or reorganise PDFs.
- You need to turn Word, PowerPoint or Excel files into PDFs, or the other way round.
- You work on documents heavily, every day, and want one site that does everything with PDFs.
When Krisox is the better choice
- The file is sensitive: IDs, financial documents, contracts, medical records, photos of your family.
- A form has a size limit (5 MB, 2 MB, even 20 KB) and you just want to get past it.
- You upload often, and the download-and-re-upload detour adds up.
- You have iPhone photos (HEIC) that a website won't accept.
- You're on an unreliable connection: compression doesn't depend on it.
What about Smallpdf and Adobe?
Smallpdf works much like iLovePDF: files are uploaded, protected with TLS encryption in transit, processed on servers in Europe, and removed one hour after processing, according to its own security page.
Adobe's free Acrobat online tools also process files on Adobe's servers. Its FAQ says that if you sign in, files are saved to Adobe Document Cloud, and if you don't, they're deleted from its servers within a short period.
Try it without installing anything
The tools on krisox.com run the same engine as the extension: Compress PDF, Compress image to a size, HEIC to JPG and more, all in your browser. The extension adds the part online tools can't: it works inside the upload form itself.
Questions
Is iLovePDF safe?
By its own account, it encrypts files in transit, keeps its servers under European law and deletes uploads within 2 hours. The difference with Krisox is not how carefully a server handles your file, but whether your file goes to a server at all.
Does Krisox send anything to a server?
Never your files. If you have Krisox Extension Pro, the extension checks your subscription with Krisox's server using your license key; that's all.
Can I use both?
Of course. Many people keep an online PDF suite for editing and merging, and use Krisox for everyday uploads and anything sensitive.
Is Krisox affiliated with iLovePDF, Smallpdf or Adobe?
No. Their names are trademarks of their owners. The details here come from their own published pages, linked below, as of October 2026.
Sources
- iLovePDF tools (iLovePDF)
- Is iLovePDF safe? How to instantly delete files from iLovePDF (iLovePDF)
- PDF Compliance & GDPR Hub (iLovePDF)
- Is Smallpdf Safe? (Smallpdf)
- Try Adobe Acrobat online services: FAQ (Adobe)
Krisox is a browser extension for Chrome that compresses files inside upload forms, as you upload. There, compressing is free, and Krisox Pro adds converting formats and compressing several files at once. The tools on krisox.com compress and convert without installing anything.