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Test scope & comparison notes
These are recorded facts, not a unified ranking. Tested tiers and scope are not consistently recorded. Read pricing with its date and timing with its conditions. Privacy observations reflect visible flows and statements, not a security audit.
Cross-task capability coverage across selected products
Each product is scored independently per task edge; switch tasks below while keeping shared products selected| Task edge | FreeConvert | CompressNow | Switch / compare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Image compression | 84/100 2048 × 2048 · PNG | 83/100 PNG · Output attached | Active task |
| PDF to Word | 92/100 Full 2-page .docx (9.4 KB, 44 paragraphs, 16/16 table cells) · Historical description; output not attached | Not tested in topic | Compare in task topic → |
| PDF compression | 93/100 PDF · Output attached | Not tested in topic | Compare in task topic → |
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Browse this task →| Criterion | FreeConvert Image Compressor Image compression 84/100 Seven-aspect task score Login-free access accepts large files and offers deletion while retaining full-size PNG; limited free compute and dense search ads are the trade-offs. Tested export 2048 × 2048 · PNG Historical test · 2026-10-18 | CompressNow Image compression 83/100 Seven-aspect task score Free login-free on-device processing discloses format conversion upfront; size reduction is substantial, but PNG export is unavailable and transparency needs care. Tested export PNG · Output attached Historical test · 2026-10-18 |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing & rules | ||
| Pricing plans | FreeConvert USD web subscriptions, free allowance and volume-tiered options · 2026-10-21 Plan · source date Monthly / one-time Annual bill / period Quota & limits Free2026-10-20 ↗ Free Free Free 20 conversion minutes/day; up to 5 conversion minutes/file; 1 GB web file limit. Basic2026-10-20 ↗ USD 12.99/month — Monthly 1,500 conversion minutes/month; 1.5 GB files; up to 100 concurrent conversions; shared web/API allowance. Basic (Annual)2026-10-20 ↗ — USD 129.9/year Annual Billed annually at USD 129.90/year (USD 10.83/month equivalent, 2 months free); 1,500 conversion minutes/month, 1.5 GB max file size, shared web/API allowance. Billed annually at USD 129.90/year; cancel anytime Standard2026-10-20 ↗ USD 24.99/month — Monthly 2,000 conversion minutes/month; 2 GB files; up to 100 concurrent conversions; shared web/API allowance. Standard (Annual)2026-10-20 ↗ — USD 249.9/year Annual Billed annually at USD 249.90/year (USD 20.82/month equivalent, 2 months free); 2,000 conversion minutes/month, 2 GB max file size, shared web/API allowance. Billed annually at USD 249.90/year; cancel anytime Pro2026-10-20 ↗ USD 29.99/month — Monthly 4,000 conversion minutes/month; 5 GB files; up to 100 concurrent conversions; shared web/API allowance. Pro (Annual)2026-10-20 ↗ — USD 299.9/year Annual Billed annually at USD 299.90/year (USD 24.99/month equivalent, 2 months free); 4,000 conversion minutes/month, 5 GB max file size, GPU/CPU encoding, shared web/API allowance. Billed annually at USD 299.90/year; cancel anytime Scale (Volume-tiered)2026-10-20 ↗ Contact sales Quoted Quoted Volume-tiered pricing starting at 45 units (1,125 conversion minutes/month from USD 27.90/month or USD 279.00/year, scaling up to 1M conversion minutes/month and 20 GB files). Prepaid top-up (One-time Credit starting tier)2026-10-20 ↗ USD 49.95 · one-time payment Usage / one-time Usage / one-time Minimum tier of 45 units (45×25 = 1,125 conversion minutes at USD 1.11/unit = USD 49.95 total, 5 GB max file size); higher volumes scale down to USD 0.33/unit, expiring 30 days after purchase. 9 plan / billing-period records, all listed; — means that period is not recorded. Monthly plans (USD 12.99 / 24.99 / 29.99) and annual billed totals (Basic USD 129.90/year, Standard USD 249.90/year, Pro USD 299.90/year — 2 months free, displayed on cards as USD 10.83 / 20.82 / 24.99 monthly equivalents) are verified from the official pricing page and its SSR payload. Scale and One-time Credit use volume tiers starting at 45 units (1,125 conversion minutes; One-time Credit starts at USD 49.95 for 30 days). Conversion minutes measure processing duration, not file counts. Verification has gaps; unknown prices and quotas are not inferred. Cancellation, sources & verification recordSubscriptions can be cancelled anytime to stop future renewals and advertise a 100% Money Back Guarantee; one-time credits expire after 30 days without auto-renewal. Official feature and pricing page ↗ · 2026-10-20 Capture 1 ↗ Official feature and pricing page ↗ · 2026-10-20 Capture 1 ↗ Official feature and pricing page ↗ · 2026-10-20 Capture 1 ↗ Official feature and pricing page ↗ · 2026-10-20 Capture 1 ↗ Official pricing page Yearly toggle and SSR Nuxt billing payload verification ↗ · 2026-10-21 Capture 1 ↗ | Compressnow online in-browser image compressor · 2026-10-21 Plan · source date Monthly / one-time Annual bill / period Quota & limits Compressnow Free Web2026-10-21 ↗ Free Free Free Free without login; up to 30 MB per image and up to 30 images at a time; individual or ZIP download. 1 plan / billing-period records, all listed; — means that period is not recorded. The official page and FAQ state that compression runs in the browser (images are not stored), supporting up to 30 MB per image and up to 30 images at a time for JPG/JPEG/PNG/GIF/WebP (output as JPG or WebP), with no paid tiers. Cancellation, sources & verification recordCompletely free web tool with no accounts or subscription charges. Compressnow official tool page and FAQ ↗ · 2026-10-21 Capture 1 ↗ |
| Free & trial allowance on the test date | Free tier supports up to 1 GB per file, capped at ~20–25 cloud Conversion Minutes per day | 100% free, up to 30 MB per image and up to 30 images per batch |
| Cancellation & refunds | Subscriptions can be cancelled anytime to stop future renewals and advertise a 100% Money Back Guarantee; one-time credits expire after 30 days without auto-renewal. | Completely free web tool with no accounts or subscription charges. |
| Disclosure of costs & limits | Discloses 'Max file size 1GB. Sign Up for more' directly below the upload button | Discloses upfront at the top of the page that output format is JPG or WebP ('Transparent areas turn white') |
| Task quality | ||
| Measured fixture results | File reduction: 47.5% · Output size: 2172.4 KB | File reduction: 85.99% · Output size: 579.8 KB |
| Fixture findings | Reduced this fixture by about 48% and accepts large inputs; allow for cloud waiting and ads. | Local compression reduced this fixture by about 86%; export changes to JPG or WebP, not PNG. |
| Original historical observation | FreeConvert's standout strength is its massive 1 GB free file-size limit, shrinking our 4.14 MB anchor PNG to 2.17 MB (-47.50%, PSNR=38.53 dB) without login; drawbacks include slower cloud queue turnaround (~12s) and dense contextual search ads (02_workspace.png, 03_download.png). | CompressNow is a fast, 100% client-side compressor: your image never leaves your browser, and in 0.9s it shrinks our 4.24 MB benchmark PNG to 579.8 KB (-85.99%, 7.14×) at 42.34 dB PSNR (02_workspace.png). Note that it only outputs JPG or WebP (disclosed upfront), so users with transparent PNGs should select the WebP toggle. |
| Suitable uses · historical assessment | Users who need to compress oversized PNG/TIFF/JPEG images exceeding the 5 MB / 50 MB limits of other tools without logging in | Users who want to rapidly shrink bulky PNG screenshots or photos locally in-browser into high-quality JPG or WebP (-86% size) without uploading files to any server |
| Result & output evidence | ||
| Delivery capabilities | ||
| Recorded export specifications | 2048 × 2048 · PNG · No watermark in test | PNG · Output attached · No watermark in test |
| Historical specification note · not an official maximum | 2048×2048 (no-login native-resolution watermark-free PNG, up to 1 GB per file) | 2048×2048 full-resolution free export (outputs as JPG or WebP; does not export native PNG) |
| Watermark observation | Watermark-free | Watermark-free |
| Batch & API | Supports batch uploads, Google Drive / Dropbox integration, and developer REST API | Supports up to 30 images (≤30 MB each) with one-click DOWNLOAD ZIP |
| Recorded free-tier dimensions | 2048 × 2048 | 2048 × 2048 |
| Attached file dimensions | 2048 × 2048 · PNG | Not verified |
| Speed & reliability | ||
| Timing observation | Network-observed server wait: 8.5s · End-to-end reference: 12s | Recorded local processing time: 0.9s · End-to-end reference: 0.9s |
| Date & fixture | 2026-10-18 · anchor_compress_v1 · US-West (California, AS2914) | 2026-10-18 · anchor_compress_v1 · US-West (California, AS2914) |
| Repeated tests & reliability | No standardized repetition count, success rate or variability range is recorded. | No standardized repetition count, success rate or variability range is recorded. |
| Interaction experience | ||
| Account requirements | No login in this test | No login in this test |
| Sign-in methods | No login required; optional Pro subscription login | No registration or login required (100% local tool) |
| Manual adjustment | Not verified | Not verified |
| Interaction observations | No forced sign-up modals block the download, but the page is heavily populated with Media.net / Yahoo! Search contextual ad blocks disguised as action buttons (e.g., 'Compress JPEG to 200 KB', see 01_landing.png, 03_download.png). | Clean single-page workspace with a live compression level slider (default 20%) and a single display ad banner, with zero popups or registration walls (02_workspace.png, 03_download.png). |
| Background & reputation | ||
| Service lifecycle notice | Not verified | Not verified |
| Operator | TRMedia Inc. (FreeConvert.com) | CompressNow |
| Recorded origin | Canada | France / European Independent Developer |
| Domain history record | 2018–Present (major global cloud file conversion platform) | 2012–Present (14-year online image compression tool) |
| Background & reputation assessment | Operated by Canada-based TRMedia Inc. with ISO/IEC 27001 information security certification and tens of millions of monthly visits. | Classic multi-language online image weight reducer operating for over 10 years (currently V6.0). |
| External reputation record | Not verified | Not verified |
| Engineering & privacy | ||
| Processing location | Uploaded for cloud processing | On-device processing |
| Third-party tracking record | Not verified | Not verified |
| Engineering & privacy assessment | 256-bit SSL encrypted upload with an explicit notice on the results screen: 'Converted files are automatically deleted after 8 hours to protect your privacy' plus a manual delete button (02_workspace.png). | 100% local in-browser processing (`blob:https://compressnow.com/...`); FAQ explicitly states 'Compression runs in your browser: your images never leave your device.' |
| Retention statement | Claims deletion within 8 hours; deletion not independently verified | This flow runs locally; post-close deletion not independently verified |
| Evaluation basis | ||
| Pricing transparency | 30 / 35 Clearly states 'Max file size 1GB. Sign Up for more' on the hero dropzone (01_landing.png); uploading the 4.14 MB anchor image requires no login to compress and directly download the full PNG (02_workspace.png, 03_download.png), subject to a ~20 conversion-minutes/day free cloud quota. | 31 / 35 100% free for up to 30 MB per image and 30 images at a time; transparently discloses next to the Format toggle: 'Format: JPG | WebP — Works everywhere. Transparent areas turn white.' (01_landing.png). |
| Interaction restraint | 21 / 30 No forced sign-up modals block the download, but the page is heavily populated with Media.net / Yahoo! Search contextual ad blocks disguised as action buttons (e.g., 'Compress JPEG to 200 KB', see 01_landing.png, 03_download.png). | 24 / 30 Clean single-page workspace with a live compression level slider (default 20%) and a single display ad banner, with zero popups or registration walls (02_workspace.png, 03_download.png). |
| Background & reputation | 18 / 20 Operated by Canada-based TRMedia Inc. with ISO/IEC 27001 information security certification and tens of millions of monthly visits. | 17 / 20 Classic multi-language online image weight reducer operating for over 10 years (currently V6.0). |
| Engineering & privacy | 13.5 / 15 256-bit SSL encrypted upload with an explicit notice on the results screen: 'Converted files are automatically deleted after 8 hours to protect your privacy' plus a manual delete button (02_workspace.png). | 15 / 15 100% local in-browser processing (`blob:https://compressnow.com/...`); FAQ explicitly states 'Compression runs in your browser: your images never leave your device.' |
| Task quality | 55.5 / 65 Default PNG compression shrinks 4,137.9 KB to 2,172.4 KB (-47.50%, 1.90× ratio) at PSNR = 38.53 dB and SSIM = 0.9981, while offering advanced gear settings for target percentage tuning (55.5/65) | 52.2 / 65 Shrinks file size by 85.99% (7.14×) at 42.34 dB PSNR and 0.9992 SSIM, though output format is converted to JPG or WebP (52.2/65) |
| Deliverable specifications | 19.5 / 20 Exports a watermark-free 2048×2048 native PNG without login and uniquely supports up to 1 GB per file on the free tier—far exceeding the 5–50 MB cap of competitors (19.5/20) | 15 / 20 Preserves full 2048×2048 dimensions and supports 30 MB files, but converts PNG inputs to JPG (or WebP) rather than native `.png` (15.0/20) |
| Processing speed | 9.5 / 15 Three-stage cloud queue upload, worker compression, and result polling takes ~12.0s end-to-end (~8.5s server processing) (9.5/15) | 14 / 15 100% local browser Canvas compression with 0 bytes uploaded in ~0.9s (14.0/15) |
