# Pdfwithlove 10 Hacker News commenters recommended Pdfwithlove and 10 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months. **Verdict:** People recommend it for PDF tools that run entirely in the browser, with no uploads, no ads, and most features free. Critics say the local-only claim is hard to verify and report UI bugs. ## Why people recommend it - Files processed locally, never uploaded (3 comments): "since all processing happens locally, your files never leave your device and remain completely safe" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46675798)) "All PDF processing itself happens locally in the browser" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46675961)) "No backend, no uploads, no tracking." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46856205)) - Runs in browser with no install (3 comments): "Nice to have something that doesn't require Windows" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46675888)) "I honestly prefer this in the browser." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46675942)) "But this is a self contained webapp." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46676109)) ## What people warn about - Local-only claim cannot be verified (4 comments): "asking the user to trust that the browser isn't doing what the browser was designed to do" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46675791)) "I have no confidence in any website, especially the one that claims to be local-only" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46677374)) "makes it difficult to verify that it runs locally" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46675915)) - Bugs and UI quirks in editing (3 comments): "PDF Edit tools have user-interaction quirks and bugs that a human developer would catch immediately" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46675922)) "Delete button doesn't work on a drawing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46676945)) "It puts the filename into an header." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46676521)) - Landing page and clickable issues (2 comments): "Very very small note - many clickable things on your site" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46675890)) "There's a problem with i18n on the landing page" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46676085)) - Trademark and AI-made concerns (2 comments): "Feels like infringing on the ILovePDF trademark" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46675776)) "This is a scam made by AI." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46676351)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [qpdf](https://hackerapproved.com/p/qpdf.md): 8 recommend - [PaperPilot](https://hackerapproved.com/p/paperpilot.md): 8 recommend - [MinerU](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mineru.md): 6 recommend - [Marker by Datalab](https://hackerapproved.com/p/marker.md): 6 recommend - [Stirling PDF](https://hackerapproved.com/p/stirling-pdf.md): 6 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Pdfwithlove", https://hackerapproved.com/p/pdfwithlove/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).