iLovePDF
Uploaded- When
- On drop, before any click on “Compress”
- The file
- api110.ilovepdf.com/v1/upload
- Destination
- 57.129.84.252 — OVH, Germany
Network measurement — recorded 2026-08-29
Where do your PDFs go?
Online PDF tools all promise the same thing: free, secure, files deleted. None of them lie about the deletion. But deleting requires receiving first. We dropped the same test document into the most widely used ones while recording network traffic, to see what actually leaves your device — and where it goes.
The protocol
One and the same test PDF — eight pages, explicitly fictional content — is dropped into each service’s compression tool, in a browser instrumented to log every outgoing request: method, destination host, size of the data sent. The host receiving the file is then resolved to an IP address and its hosting provider identified via whois. No real data was exposed, and the test is reproducible by anyone.
The measurements
What the network showed
PDF2Go
Uploaded- When
- On file drop
- The file
- www12.pdf2go.com/…/upload-file
- Destination
- 213.133.98.219 — Hetzner, Nuremberg
- +
- Simultaneous request to Microsoft Clarity (session behaviour analytics)
PDF24 Tools
Uploaded- When
- On drop, despite the “Secure” badge shown on screen
- The file
- filetools14.pdf24.org/client.php
- Destination
- 116.203.221.86 — Hetzner, Nuremberg
Smallpdf
Not measured- When
- —
- The file
- Native file picker: our automated method could not trigger it
- Destination
- We would rather state nothing than assume
VellumPDF
Stays on device- When
- Compression completed
- The file
- No network request — zero bytes sent
- Destination
- No server: your own device
How to read this table
The point is not that a file gets sent — it is when. In all three measured services, the document leaves on drop, before the person has asked for anything at all. The advertised deletion therefore happens after the journey, not instead of it. For a contract, a payslip or a medical report, that nuance is what decides compliance.
Verify it yourself
The best proof takes one gesture: cut your connection.
Open a VellumPDF tool, switch off Wi-Fi, process your file: everything works, because nothing needs to leave. No online suite passes this test — their server is the engine. Your IT department can reproduce the measurement above in two minutes with the Network tab open.
This measurement is a snapshot: the infrastructure and policies of the services named may change. The facts reported hold for the date of the measurement and concern each service’s compression tool. None of them was contacted before publication; any documented correction will be incorporated.
Measured from Switzerland on 2026-08-29. VellumPDF