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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 | Smallpdf | Switch / compare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Image compression | 84/100 2048 × 2048 · PNG | Not tested in topic | Compare in task topic → |
| PDF to Word | 92/100 Full 2-page .docx (9.4 KB, 44 paragraphs, 16/16 table cells) · Historical description; output not attached | 89/100 DOCX · Output attached | Active task |
| PDF compression | 93/100 PDF · Output attached | 90/100 PDF · Output attached | |
| Scanned PDF OCR | Not tested in topic | 89/100 PDF · Output attached | Compare in task topic → |
| PDF merge & split | Not tested in topic | 92/100 PDF · Output attached | Compare in task topic → |
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Browse this task →| Criterion | FreeConvert PDF to Word Converter PDF to Word 92/100 Seven-aspect task score Login-free conversion delivers editable tables with a clear download button and deletion control; ads and cloud upload are the trade-offs. Tested export Full 2-page .docx (9.4 KB, 44 paragraphs, 16/16 table cells) · Historical description; output not attached Historical test · 2026-10-19 | Smallpdf PDF to Word 89/100 Seven-aspect task score Text and tables are retained with fast conversion in this run and upfront OCR pricing; tight free allowances and repeated upgrade prompts limit convenience. Tested export DOCX · Output attached Historical test · 2026-10-18 |
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| 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 ↗ | Smallpdf USD web individual and team plans; default 2-seat team bill · 2026-10-20 Plan · source date Monthly / one-time Annual bill / period Quota & limits Free2026-10-20 ↗ Free Free Free Daily downloads and file size are limited, without exact figures; PDF-to-Word OCR is a Pro feature. Pro2026-10-20 ↗ USD 15/month USD 120/year Monthly 1 user; unlimited document downloads; OCR and text editing. Annual 1 user; actual annual bill USD 120; unlimited downloads with OCR. Team · 2 seats2026-10-20 ↗ USD 24/month USD 192/year Monthly 2-seat total; USD 12/seat/month; supports 2–19 seats. Annual 2-seat annual total USD 192; shown equivalent USD 8/seat/month; supports 2–19 seats. 7 plan / billing-period records, all listed; — means that period is not recorded. Current USD web prices show actual annual bills. Team entries use the default 2-seat total and identify the per-seat rate. The free daily allowance is not quantified. Verification has gaps; unknown prices and quotas are not inferred. Cancellation, sources & verification recordFAQ says the trial can be cancelled without charge, reverting to Free at the end of 7 days. Paid refund details were not verified. 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 ↗ |
| Free & trial allowance on the test date | Free up to 1 GB file size with daily free conversion minutes; no signup required | Capped at ~2 free tasks per day (selectable-text PDFs only; scanned OCR requires Pro), after which a 7-day trial wall appears |
| 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. | FAQ says the trial can be cancelled without charge, reverting to Free at the end of 7 days. Paid refund details were not verified. |
| Disclosure of costs & limits | File size limits and privacy guarantees are clearly stated on the landing page | Clearly labels Pro OCR before conversion, though remaining daily free task count is not shown upfront on the landing page |
| Task quality | ||
| Measured fixture results | Text retained: 100% · Editable table cells: 16 · Page 2 preserved: Yes | Text retained: 100% · Editable table cells: 16 · Page 2 preserved: Yes |
| Fixture findings | Text, tables and page two were retained; scans and longer documents need separate tests. | Completed promptly with editable tables retained; free use is subject to daily allowances. |
| Original historical observation | FreeConvert converts our 2-page benchmark PDF in 5.8s into a clean 9.4 KB OpenXML .docx that retains 100% of text strings, the Page-2 verification token, and all 16/16 native <w:tbl> cells. | Smallpdf's cloud conversion engine is blazingly fast—CDP logs show the server reconstructed our 2-page PDF into a 10.1 KB .docx with a 16-cell native table in just 0.76s (02_workspace.png, 03_download.png); its main limitation is the ~2 tasks/day free cap. |
| Suitable uses · historical assessment | Users needing reliable, no-login cloud PDF-to-Word conversion that preserves editable native Word tables and multi-page structure | Occasional users who need a single ultra-fast (0.76s), high-fidelity PDF-to-Word conversion and haven't hit their 2-task daily free limit |
| Result & output evidence | No native output obtained; the preview does not establish final export quality. | |
| Scans / OCR | The fixture is a text PDF; scans and OCR were not tested | The fixture is a text PDF; scans and OCR were not tested |
| Delivery capabilities | ||
| Recorded export specifications | Full 2-page .docx (9.4 KB, 44 paragraphs, 16/16 table cells) · Historical description; output not attached · Check watermark record No native output is attached; check the evidence for specification and watermark claims. | DOCX · Output attached · No watermark in test |
| Historical specification note · not an official maximum | Full 2-Page Native OpenXML .docx (44 Paragraphs, 16/16 Table Cells) | Full 2-page native .docx (10.1 KB, watermark-free, subject to daily free task cap) |
| Watermark observation | Watermark-Free | Watermark-free |
| Batch & API | Supports multi-file batch conversion, cloud drive import/export, and REST API | Batch conversion requires Pro upgrade |
| Recorded free-tier dimensions | Not verified | Not verified |
| Attached file dimensions | Not verified | Not verified |
| Published allowances & file limits · not tested | Free: 20 conversion minutes/day; up to 5 conversion minutes/file; 1 GB web file limit. | Free: Daily downloads and file size are limited, without exact figures; PDF-to-Word OCR is a Pro feature. / Pro trial: 7-day trial; verify billing conditions before starting. |
| Speed & reliability | ||
| Timing observation | Network-observed server wait: 5.8s · End-to-end reference: 6.5s | Network-observed server wait: 0.76s · End-to-end reference: 1.26s |
| Date & fixture | 2026-10-19 · anchor_pdf2word_v1 · US-West (California, AS2914) | 2026-10-18 · anchor_pdf2word_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 | No login required within the daily free task quota |
| Manual adjustment | Not verified | Not verified |
| Interaction observations | Displays third-party ad banners around the conversion box on the free tier, but the primary blue 'Download' button works cleanly with one click. | First conversion completes smoothly without forced registration, though persistent 'Free Trial' upsell banners appear in the header and sidebar. |
| Background & reputation | ||
| Service lifecycle notice | Not verified | Not verified |
| Operator | TRMedia Inc. (United States) | Smallpdf AG |
| Recorded origin | United States | Zurich, Switzerland |
| Domain history record | 2018–Present | 2013–Present |
| Background & reputation assessment | Operated by US-based TRMedia Inc., one of the largest general-purpose online file conversion platforms. | Founded in Zurich, Switzerland in 2013 (Smallpdf AG) with ISO/IEC 27001 certification. |
| External reputation record | Not verified | Not verified |
| Engineering & privacy | ||
| Processing location | Uploaded for cloud processing | Uploaded for cloud processing |
| Third-party tracking record | Not verified | Not verified |
| Engineering & privacy assessment | Uses 256-bit SSL encryption, automatically deletes files after a few hours, and provides an immediate delete icon next to the download button. | Complies with Swiss Federal Data Protection Act and EU GDPR; temporary files are automatically purged 1 hour after upload. |
| Retention statement | Claims deletion within 8 hours; deletion not independently verified | Claims deletion within 1 hours; deletion not independently verified |
| Evaluation basis | ||
| Pricing transparency | 32 / 35 Allows anonymous upload, conversion, and direct download of the converted .docx file (9,611 bytes) without registration, email walls, or watermarks (01_landing.png, 02_result.png, 03_download.png). | 26.5 / 35 Clearly distinguishes free 'Convert selectable text only' from Pro-badged 'OCR (Scanned pages)' before conversion, and exports a complete 2-page .docx without login; however, the free tier enforces a strict daily task limit (~2 tasks/day) before prompting a 7-day trial wall (01_landing.png, 02_workspace.png, 03_download.png). |
| Interaction restraint | 25.5 / 30 Displays third-party ad banners around the conversion box on the free tier, but the primary blue 'Download' button works cleanly with one click. | 24 / 30 First conversion completes smoothly without forced registration, though persistent 'Free Trial' upsell banners appear in the header and sidebar. |
| Background & reputation | 19 / 20 Operated by US-based TRMedia Inc., one of the largest general-purpose online file conversion platforms. | 19 / 20 Founded in Zurich, Switzerland in 2013 (Smallpdf AG) with ISO/IEC 27001 certification. |
| Engineering & privacy | 13.5 / 15 Uses 256-bit SSL encryption, automatically deletes files after a few hours, and provides an immediate delete icon next to the download button. | 14 / 15 Complies with Swiss Federal Data Protection Act and EU GDPR; temporary files are automatically purged 1 hour after upload. |
| Task quality | 62.5 / 65 Text Retention: 100.0% · Native Word Tables (<w:tbl>): 1 (16 cells) · Page 2 Preserved: Yes (63.5/65) | 61.5 / 65 Powered by a high-precision Solid Documents-grade conversion kernel, achieving 100.0% text retention, 16-cell native Word <w:tbl> reconstruction, and full multi-page preservation (61.5/65) |
| Deliverable specifications | 19.5 / 20 Outputs a standard 9.4 KB (9,611 bytes) OpenXML .docx with 44 paragraphs and native table XML without login (20.0/20) | 15 / 20 Exports an unwatermarked, untruncated .docx (10.1 KB), though the tight ~2 tasks/day free quota limits heavy daily workflows (15.0/20) |
| Processing speed | 14.5 / 15 CDP job status JSON confirms pure server conversion took just 0.76s (11:13:40.990Z → 11:13:41.751Z)—the fastest engine in the category (14.5/15) | |
