AvePDF vs PDFMerged

AvePDF is a browser-based service for editing, converting, and managing PDF and other electronic documents. Its tools cover merging, splitting, compression, conversion, protection, redaction, signing, OCR, PDF/A conversion and validation, and scanning. The converter handles more than 100 formats, including raster and vector images, office and text formats, CAD, and SVG. Files can be uploaded from Google Drive, Dropbox, or a web address, with results saved to cloud storage. The Free plan costs nothing and includes 50+ document tools, 2 processing operations per 6 hours, files up to 128 MB, and up to 10 files per processing. Premium costs $45 a year, billed annually as one payment per user; it includes unlimited processing, files up to 512 MB, and up to 100 files per processing, as well as no ads, technical support, and early beta access. Free-service uploads may be retained to improve services, including to train models; Premium files are not retained. Premium subscribers also receive multiple levels of encryption.

PDFMerged combines multiple PDFs into one document in a browser and can include JPG, JPEG, and PNG images. Files can be dragged into a preferred order before merging. It requires no installation or account sign-up, and processing happens client-side; the maker says files are not uploaded to or stored on its servers. The Free plan costs nothing and allows unlimited file size and PDF count, subject to available device memory. Password-protected PDFs must be unlocked first. The maker says merging preserves original PDF quality, resolution, and formatting. Its privacy policy says it collects anonymous counts of files merged, language preference, basic browser information, and merge timestamps, but not IP addresses, file names, or file contents. The policy also says it does not use third-party analytics, advertising, or tracking services. The tool is browser-based and listed for Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, Windows, and web. The terms say the service is provided as available and uninterrupted access is not guaranteed.