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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 | PDF24 Tools | FreeConvert | Switch / compare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Image compression | Not tested in topic | 84/100 2048 × 2048 · PNG | Compare in task topic → |
| PDF to Word | 96/100 DOCX · Output attached | 92/100 Full 2-page .docx (9.4 KB, 44 paragraphs, 16/16 table cells) · Historical description; output not attached | Active task |
| PDF compression | 99/100 PDF · Output attached | 93/100 PDF · Output attached | |
| Scanned PDF OCR | 98/100 PDF · Output attached | Not tested in topic | Compare in task topic → |
| PDF merge & split | 98/100 PDF · Output attached | Not tested in topic | Compare in task topic → |
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Browse this task →| Criterion | PDF24 Tools PDF to Word 96/100 Seven-aspect task score Free login-free conversion retains text and editable tables and provides a deletion control, making it suitable for ordinary text PDFs. Tested export DOCX · Output attached Historical test · 2026-10-18 | 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 |
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| Pricing & rules | ||
| Pricing plans | PDF24 online PDF-to-Word · 2026-10-20 Plan · source date Monthly / one-time Annual bill / period Quota & limits Ad-supported free2026-10-20 ↗ Free Free Free The page states free access without limits; numeric page or file-size limits are not stated. 1 plan / billing-period records, all listed; — means that period is not recorded. The tool page explicitly states free, ad-supported access without limits. Arbitrarily large files and complex scans were not verified; no new performance test was conducted. Cancellation, sources & verification recordCancellation and refund terms follow official checkout and help policies. Official feature and pricing page ↗ · 2026-10-20 Capture 1 ↗ | 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 ↗ |
| Free & trial allowance on the test date | 100% Free & Unlimited (no daily task limit or page cap) | Free up to 1 GB file size with daily free conversion minutes; no signup required |
| Cancellation & refunds | Cancellation and refund terms follow official checkout and help policies. | 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. |
| Disclosure of costs & limits | Completely transparent from landing to download with zero post-conversion paywalls | File size limits and privacy guarantees are clearly stated 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 | Retained text and editable tables without login and offered deletion; scans were not tested. | Text, tables and page two were retained; scans and longer documents need separate tests. |
| Original historical observation | In a category notorious for post-conversion paywalls, German utility PDF24 Tools is a breath of fresh air: no login, zero dark patterns, unlimited free conversions, and 100% XML-verified reconstruction of all headings, Page 2 content, and the 16-cell native Word table—plus a button to immediately wipe your file from their server (03_download.png). | 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. |
| Suitable uses · historical assessment | Office and academic users tired of '1–2 free tasks/day' or 'credit-card trial walls' who want a 100% free, unlimited PDF-to-Word converter that preserves editable Word tables | Users needing reliable, no-login cloud PDF-to-Word conversion that preserves editable native Word tables and multi-page structure |
| 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 | DOCX · Output attached · No watermark in test | 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. |
| Historical specification note · not an official maximum | Full 2-page native .docx (32 paragraphs + 16-cell native Word table, watermark-free) | Full 2-Page Native OpenXML .docx (44 Paragraphs, 16/16 Table Cells) |
| Watermark observation | Watermark-free | Watermark-Free |
| Batch & API | Supports multi-file batch upload and ZIP export | Supports multi-file batch conversion, cloud drive import/export, and REST API |
| Recorded free-tier dimensions | Not verified | Not verified |
| Attached file dimensions | Not verified | Not verified |
| Published allowances & file limits · not tested | Ad-supported free: The page states free access without limits; numeric page or file-size limits are not stated. | Free: 20 conversion minutes/day; up to 5 conversion minutes/file; 1 GB web file limit. |
| Speed & reliability | ||
| Timing observation | Network-observed server wait: 5.8s · End-to-end reference: 6.4s | Network-observed server wait: 5.8s · End-to-end reference: 6.5s |
| Date & fixture | 2026-10-18 · anchor_pdf2word_v1 · US-West (California, AS2914) | 2026-10-19 · 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 | 100% No Login Required | No login required |
| Manual adjustment | Manual erase / adjustment recorded in the historical flow | Not verified |
| Interaction observations | No registration required and no credit-card trial modals; the completion screen provides direct Download and Delete (immediate server wipe) buttons. | Displays third-party ad banners around the conversion box on the free tier, but the primary blue 'Download' button works cleanly with one click. |
| Background & reputation | ||
| Service lifecycle notice | Not verified | Not verified |
| Operator | Geek Software GmbH | TRMedia Inc. (United States) |
| Recorded origin | Berlin, Germany | United States |
| Domain history record | 2006–Present (20-year German document utility benchmark) | 2018–Present |
| Background & reputation assessment | Developed and maintained for nearly 20 years by Geek Software GmbH in Berlin, Germany with stellar reputation across education and enterprise. | Operated by US-based TRMedia Inc., one of the largest general-purpose online file conversion platforms. |
| 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 | Strictly adheres to German and EU GDPR standards, provides an active 'Delete/Erase' button to physically wipe files from the server immediately, and offers a 100% offline Windows desktop app (PDF24 Creator) for free. | Uses 256-bit SSL encryption, automatically deletes files after a few hours, and provides an immediate delete icon next to the download button. |
| Retention statement | Explicit retention period unconfirmed; inspect policy record | Claims deletion within 8 hours; deletion not independently verified |
| Evaluation basis | ||
| Pricing transparency | 35 / 35 100% free with zero hidden paywalls, zero daily task caps, and zero page truncation. Uploading our 2-page test PDF (with a 4×4 financial table and dual-column layout) produces a fully editable DOCX in ~5.8s with one-click download (01_landing.png, 02_workspace.png, 03_download.png). | 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). |
| Interaction restraint | 29 / 30 No registration required and no credit-card trial modals; the completion screen provides direct Download and Delete (immediate server wipe) buttons. | 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. |
| Background & reputation | 19 / 20 Developed and maintained for nearly 20 years by Geek Software GmbH in Berlin, Germany with stellar reputation across education and enterprise. | 19 / 20 Operated by US-based TRMedia Inc., one of the largest general-purpose online file conversion platforms. |
| Engineering & privacy | 15 / 15 Strictly adheres to German and EU GDPR standards, provides an active 'Delete/Erase' button to physically wipe files from the server immediately, and offers a 100% offline Windows desktop app (PDF24 Creator) for free. | 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. |
| Task quality | 63 / 65 Underlying word/document.xml inspection confirms 100.0% text retention (4/4 headings, 3/3 special-symbol phrases, Page 2 token verified) and 100% reconstruction of the 4×4 financial table into a 16-cell native Word <w:tbl> object (63.0/65) | 62.5 / 65 Text Retention: 100.0% · Native Word Tables (<w:tbl>): 1 (16 cells) · Page 2 Preserved: Yes (63.5/65) |
| Deliverable specifications | 20 / 20 Exports a standard OpenXML (.docx) file (5.7 KB) without login, page limits, watermarks, or daily quota locks (20.0/20) | 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) |
| Processing speed | 12.5 / 15 Smooth upload and worker queue processing completes in ~5.8s (12.5/15) | |
