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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 | FreePDFConvert | PDFgear | Switch / compare |
|---|---|---|---|
| PDF to Word | 89/100 DOCX · Output attached | 82/100 DOCX · Output attached | Active task |
| PDF compression | 93/100 PDF · Output attached | 99/100 PDF · Output attached | |
| PDF merge & split | 93/100 PDF · Output attached | 99/100 PDF · Output attached |
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Browse this task →| Criterion | FreePDFConvert (Baltsoft / ConvertAPI) PDF to Word 89/100 Seven-aspect task score The first login-free conversion is simple and retains text and tables; free use is limited to one file per hour, revealed when converting again. Tested export DOCX · Output attached Historical test · 2026-10-18 | PDFgear PDF to Word 82/100 Seven-aspect task score Free login-free access includes deletion, but a skippable sharing prompt interrupts conversion and tables retain only visual borders, hindering edits. Tested export DOCX · Output attached Historical test · 2026-10-18 |
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| Pricing & rules | ||
| Pricing plans | FreePDFConvert USD web membership · 2026-10-20 Plan · source date Monthly / one-time Annual bill / period Quota & limits Web free allowance2026-10-20 ↗ Free Free Free Free conversion is available; consecutive tasks may require waiting or signup, with no exact allowance listed. 1-month membership2026-10-20 ↗ USD 8/month — Monthly Unlimited conversions, file size and 20+ tools; priority support. 12-month membership2026-10-20 ↗ — Annual price not verified Annual Page shows USD 5/month equivalent without an explicit annual bill; not extrapolated. Page shows USD 5/month equivalent without an explicit annual bill; not extrapolated. Lifetime2026-10-20 ↗ USD 120 · one-time payment Usage / one-time Usage / one-time USD 120 once; web membership is advertised as lifetime, with unlimited conversions and file size. 4 plan / billing-period records, all listed; — means that period is not recorded. Reloading confirmed USD 8 monthly and USD 120 once. The 12-month membership shows only USD 5/month equivalent without the full annual charge, so that bill remains unverified. Numeric free wait intervals, counts and size limits are not published. Verification has gaps; unknown prices and quotas are not inferred. Cancellation, sources & verification recordCancellation and refund terms follow official checkout and help policies. Official feature and pricing page ↗ · 2026-10-20 Capture 1 ↗ Official feature and pricing page ↗ · 2026-10-20 Capture 1 ↗ | PDFgear web PDF-to-Word; free desktop alternative noted separately · 2026-10-20 Plan · source date Monthly / one-time Annual bill / period Quota & limits Web free2026-10-20 ↗ Free Free Free One PDF at a time, up to 100 MB; OCR is claimed by the vendor. Batch processing and no file-size limit are desktop features. 1 plan / billing-period records, all listed; — means that period is not recorded. The official web limit is 100 MB per file. Its OCR claim is not a RealTest scanned-document test. Desktop batch and offline processing are not web capabilities. Cancellation, sources & verification recordCancellation and refund terms follow official checkout and help policies. Official feature and pricing page ↗ · 2026-10-20 Capture 1 ↗ |
| Free & trial allowance on the test date | Unauthenticated guests get 1 free conversion every 60 minutes; batch processing, OCR, and unlimited tasks require Membership | Both the web tool (including Advanced OCR) and cross-platform desktop/mobile apps are currently 100% free |
| Cancellation & refunds | Cancellation and refund terms follow official checkout and help policies. | Cancellation and refund terms follow official checkout and help policies. |
| Disclosure of costs & limits | 60-minute cooldown limit is not disclosed on the landing page, appearing only when attempting a second conversion | Completely free throughout; only requires clicking 'skip' on the social share modal |
| Task quality | ||
| Measured fixture results | Text retained: 100% · Editable table cells: 16 · Page 2 preserved: Yes | Text retained: 100% · Editable table cells: 0 · Page 2 preserved: Yes |
| Fixture findings | Converted automatically with editable tables retained; check free allowances and file limits. | Text was retained but tables were not editable grids; a sharing prompt appeared during conversion. |
| Original historical observation | Powered by the enterprise ConvertAPI engine, FreePDFConvert automatically converts our 2-page anchor PDF in 3.62s without a single extra click, producing a 10.0 KB .docx with all 16 native table cells and dual-page formatting intact (02_workspace.png, 03_download.png). | PDFgear stays true to its 100% free philosophy—offering both Standard and Advanced OCR modes without login (02_workspace.png) and exporting a 16.0 KB .docx with 100% text retention and instant deletion (03_download.png); its only drawbacks are a 'Share to Continue' prompt with a faint gray 'skip' button (03_share_modal.png) and paragraph-based rather than native <w:tbl> table reconstruction. |
| Suitable uses · historical assessment | Users who need to convert a single complex-table PDF into a high-fidelity native Word (.docx) document in under 4 seconds, or developers evaluating ConvertAPI quality | Users who detest paywalls and third-party ads or need free OCR text recognition on scanned PDFs |
| Result & output evidence | ||
| 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 | DOCX · Output attached · No watermark in test | DOCX · Output attached · No watermark in test |
| Historical specification note · not an official maximum | Full 2-page native .docx (44 paragraphs + 16-cell native table, watermark-free) | Full 2-page unwatermarked .docx (16.0 KB, 39 paragraphs, free OCR mode supported) |
| Watermark observation | Watermark-free | No watermark |
| Batch & API | Supports Google Drive / Dropbox integration and commercial ConvertAPI developer endpoints | Single-file conversion on web; unlimited local batch conversion via free Windows/macOS desktop app |
| Recorded free-tier dimensions | Not verified | Not verified |
| Attached file dimensions | Not verified | Not verified |
| Published allowances & file limits · not tested | Web free allowance: Free conversion is available; consecutive tasks may require waiting or signup, with no exact allowance listed. | Web free: One PDF at a time, up to 100 MB; OCR is claimed by the vendor. Batch processing and no file-size limit are desktop features. |
| Speed & reliability | ||
| Timing observation | Network-observed server wait: 3.62s · End-to-end reference: 4.22s | Network-observed server wait: 10.8s · End-to-end reference: 12.3s |
| Date & fixture | 2026-10-18 · 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 for the first task; supports Google / email Membership sign-in | No login or registration required |
| Manual adjustment | Not verified | Not verified |
| Interaction observations | First conversion is remarkably frictionless—selecting a PDF immediately starts conversion without extra confirmation clicks, email gates, or fake download ads. | Zero third-party banner ads, though clicking 'Convert' pops up a 'Share to Continue — Share this tool on social media to unlock access and continue converting your files' prompt with a faint gray 'skip' link at the bottom (03_share_modal.png). |
| Background & reputation | ||
| Service lifecycle notice | Not verified | Not verified |
| Operator | Baltsoft Software Ltd. (FreePDFConvert / ConvertAPI) | PDFgear Tech Pte. Ltd. (pdfgear.com) |
| Recorded origin | Vilnius, Lithuania | Singapore |
| Domain history record | 2005–Present (21-year document conversion provider) | 2022–Present (fast-growing free cross-platform PDF suite) |
| Background & reputation assessment | Operated since 2005 by Lithuania-based Baltsoft Software Ltd. and powered under the hood by the enterprise ConvertAPI engine. | Operated by Singapore-based PDFgear Tech Pte. Ltd., widely praised across tech communities for its 100% free Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android apps. |
| 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 | 256-bit SSL encrypted transfer with manual delete support and automatic server cleanup within a few hours. | Provides an instant trash-can delete icon right beside 'Download File' and explicitly states 'Your files remain private and will be deleted after leaving our site' (03_download.png). |
| Retention statement | Explicit retention period unconfirmed; inspect policy record | Explicit retention period unconfirmed; inspect policy record |
| Evaluation basis | ||
| Pricing transparency | 25 / 35 Headlines 'PDF to Word Converter - Convert PDF to DOCX Online Free' (01_landing.png) and converts our first 2-page anchor PDF in ~3.62s to a green Download button without login (02_workspace.png, 03_download.png); however, the landing page does not disclose upfront that unauthenticated users are limited to 1 free file per 60 minutes before hitting a cooldown timer and membership paywall. | 33 / 35 Genuinely free with no subscription paywall, no registration requirement, no watermark, and even makes its 'Advanced (Enable OCR to recognize text from scans)' mode completely free for guests (02_workspace.png, 03_download.png). |
| Interaction restraint | 25 / 30 First conversion is remarkably frictionless—selecting a PDF immediately starts conversion without extra confirmation clicks, email gates, or fake download ads. | 19 / 30 Zero third-party banner ads, though clicking 'Convert' pops up a 'Share to Continue — Share this tool on social media to unlock access and continue converting your files' prompt with a faint gray 'skip' link at the bottom (03_share_modal.png). |
| Background & reputation | 18.5 / 20 Operated since 2005 by Lithuania-based Baltsoft Software Ltd. and powered under the hood by the enterprise ConvertAPI engine. | 18 / 20 Operated by Singapore-based PDFgear Tech Pte. Ltd., widely praised across tech communities for its 100% free Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android apps. |
| Engineering & privacy | 13.5 / 15 256-bit SSL encrypted transfer with manual delete support and automatic server cleanup within a few hours. | 14 / 15 Provides an instant trash-can delete icon right beside 'Download File' and explicitly states 'Your files remain private and will be deleted after leaving our site' (03_download.png). |
| Task quality | 61.5 / 65 Powered by ConvertAPI, OpenXML `word/document.xml` inspection confirms 100.0% text retention (4/4 headings, 3/3 special-symbol phrases, 44 editable paragraphs) and a complete 16-cell native Word `<w:tbl>` table (12/12 financial values intact) with Page 2 token preserved (61.5/65) | 51 / 65 OpenXML inspection confirms 100.0% text retention (all 4/4 headings, 12/12 table values, 3/3 body phrases, and Page 2 code preserved) with 3 background graphics preserving visual table borders, though it does not generate a native Word <w:tbl> table object (51.0/65) |
| Deliverable specifications | 17.5 / 20 Exports a complete 2-page watermark-free native `.docx` file (10.0 KB) on the first guest task, subject to a 1-file-per-hour free cooldown limit (17.5/20) | 18 / 20 Exports a clean 16.0 KB .docx with no login or watermark, plus free optional Advanced OCR mode (18.0/20) |
| Processing speed | 13.2 / 15 Automatically uploads and completes conversion in just ~3.62s server time upon file selection (13.2/15) | |
