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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 | PDF Candy | sejda.com | Switch / compare |
|---|---|---|---|
| PDF to Word | 90/100 DOCX · Output attached | 74/100 DOC · Output attached | Active task |
| PDF compression | 92/100 PDF · Output attached | 95/100 PDF · Output attached | |
| Scanned PDF OCR | 87/100 TXT · Output attached | 95/100 PDF · Output attached | |
| PDF merge & split | 94/100 PDF · Output attached | 97/100 PDF · Output attached |
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Browse this task →| Criterion | PDF Candy (Icecream Apps PDF to Word) PDF to Word 90/100 Seven-aspect task score Login-free conversion retains text and tables without blocking popups; the one-task-per-hour free limit is not disclosed on the landing screen. Tested export DOCX · Output attached Historical test · 2026-10-18 | Sejda PDF to Word PDF to Word 74/100 Seven-aspect task score Upfront free limits, no-login ad-free export, and 2-hour auto-deletion; however, it outputs legacy .doc without native tables, suiting text extraction. Tested export DOC · Output attached Historical test · 2026-10-19 |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing & rules | ||
| Pricing plans | PDF Candy USD web and desktop + web bundles · 2026-10-21 Plan · source date Monthly / one-time Annual bill / period Quota & limits Free2026-10-20 ↗ Free Free Free No account; page, hourly and file-size limits; no batching. Numeric limits are not listed. Web Monthly2026-10-20 ↗ USD 6/month — Monthly Monthly web-tool subscription; up to 500 MB/task, no hourly limits, and high-priority processing. Desktop + Web Yearly2026-10-20 ↗ — USD 48/year Annual Billed annually at USD 48.00/year (displayed as USD 4/month equivalent); includes 500 MB/task, no hourly limits, web and desktop access, plus Video Candy and Image Candy web. Billed annually via Paddle at US$48.00/year (applicable taxes calculated at checkout) Desktop + Web Lifetime2026-10-20 ↗ USD 99 · one-time payment Usage / one-time Usage / one-time One payment; desktop perpetual licence is limited to the current major version, including minor updates. 4 plan / billing-period records, all listed; — means that period is not recorded. Confirmed USD 6 monthly, USD 48 yearly (card displays promotional USD 4/month equivalent; verified at USD 48.00/year in the Paddle checkout modal after login on 2026-10-21), and USD 99 one-time. Lifetime covers the licensed version and minor updates, not future major upgrades. Cancellation, sources & verification recordThe page mentions 30-day refunds but also conditions them on recurring unresolved errors; eligibility follows the refund policy. Cancellation retains access through the paid period. Official feature and pricing page ↗ · 2026-10-20 Capture 1 ↗ Official feature and pricing page ↗ · 2026-10-20 Capture 1 ↗ Logged-in pricing page and Paddle checkout annual bill verification ↗ · 2026-10-21 Capture 1 ↗ | Sejda personal web and desktop plans (Free / Web Week Pass / Web Monthly / Desktop+Web Annual); USD · 2026-10-21 Plan · source date Monthly / one-time Annual bill / period Quota & limits Free2026-10-21 ↗ Free Free Free No account required; documents up to 50 pages or 50 MB and up to 3 tasks per hour; files automatically deleted after 2 hours. Web Week Pass2026-10-21 ↗ USD 5 · one-time payment Usage / one-time Usage / one-time One-time payment of USD 5 for 7 days of Sejda Web access (unlimited documents, no page or hourly limits, up to 500 MB per file; excludes Sejda Desktop). One-time payment; does not auto-renew Web Monthly2026-10-21 ↗ USD 7.5/month — Monthly Sejda Web monthly subscription (unlimited documents, no page or hourly limits, batch multi-file processing; excludes Sejda Desktop). Recurring monthly billing; cancel anytime Desktop+Web Annual2026-10-21 ↗ — USD 63/year Annual Billed annually at USD 63/year (save 30% over monthly), including 1 year of unlimited access to both Sejda Web and Sejda Desktop. Recurring annual billing; cancel anytime 4 plan / billing-period records, all listed; — means that period is not recorded. The converter page states the free allowance (documents up to 50 pages or 50 MB, 3 tasks per hour, files deleted after 2 hours); the official pricing page (/upgrade) lists the 7-day Web Week Pass (USD 5 one-time payment), Web Monthly (USD 7.50/month), and Desktop+Web Annual (USD 63/year). Cancellation, sources & verification recordWeb Week Pass is a one-time 7-day payment with no auto-renewal; monthly and annual plans use recurring billing and can be cancelled anytime. Sejda official pricing and upgrade page ↗ · 2026-10-21 Capture 1 ↗ |
| Free & trial allowance on the test date | Unauthenticated free users can execute 1 free task per hour (subsequent tasks require waiting 1 hour or upgrading to PRO) | Unauthenticated free users can run up to 3 tasks per hour for documents up to 50 pages or 50 MB |
| Cancellation & refunds | The page mentions 30-day refunds but also conditions them on recurring unresolved errors; eligibility follows the refund policy. Cancellation retains access through the paid period. | Web Week Pass is a one-time 7-day payment with no auto-renewal; monthly and annual plans use recurring billing and can be cancelled anytime. |
| Disclosure of costs & limits | Hourly rate limit is not stated on the landing dropzone, appearing as 'No hourly limits' on the PRO comparison card after conversion | Page limit (50 pages), file size limit (50 MB), and 3-tasks/hour quota are disclosed upfront below the hero upload button |
| 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 | Text and editable tables were retained; the historical free tier allowed one task per hour. | Retains 100% of text and table values across both pages, but exports legacy OLE .doc without native editable tables (table_count = 0). |
| Original historical observation | PDF Candy's OpenXML conversion engine delivers top-tier structural accuracy: its 9.8 KB .docx export (completed in 4.78s) preserves 100% of text across both pages and reconstructs the 4×4 financial table as a 16-cell native Word table—just note the 1-task-per-hour free limit (03_download.png). | Sejda excels in upfront quota transparency and privacy restraint (91/100 Honesty), exporting an unwatermarked document in 11.36s without login and retaining 100% of text across both pages—however, it delivers a legacy binary OLE2 .doc (215.0 KB) rather than modern .docx and does not reconstruct native Word tables (table_count = 0). |
| Suitable uses · historical assessment | Users converting a single PDF document who want 100% native Word table (`<w:tbl>`) editability and an ad-free workspace without logging in | Users who value upfront no-login quotas (≤50 pages/50 MB, 3 tasks/hr) or a $5 7-day pass without auto-renewal and primarily need full text extraction |
| 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 | DOC · 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 watermark-free legacy .doc (OLE2 Word 97-2003, 215.0 KB) |
| Watermark observation | Watermark-free | Watermark-free |
| Batch & API | Supports Google Drive / Dropbox integration and offline Windows desktop software | Paid plans unlock batch multi-file processing and the offline Sejda Desktop application |
| Recorded free-tier dimensions | Not verified | Not verified |
| Attached file dimensions | Not verified | Not verified |
| Published allowances & file limits · not tested | Free: No account; page, hourly and file-size limits; no batching. Numeric limits are not listed. | Free: No account required; documents up to 50 pages or 50 MB and up to 3 tasks per hour; files automatically deleted after 2 hours. |
| Speed & reliability | ||
| Timing observation | Network-observed server wait: 4.78s · End-to-end reference: 5.68s | Network-observed server wait: 11.36s · End-to-end reference: 11.36s |
| 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 | No login required for free conversion; optional PRO account sign-in | No login required for free conversion; optional Pro account sign-in |
| Manual adjustment | Not verified | Not verified |
| Interaction observations | Zero ad banners, zero email gates, and no registration prompts; displays a non-intrusive PRO upgrade card alongside the download button. | Converts our 2-page anchor PDF via the "Edit text" mode and downloads the full document without login, ad pop-ups, or email capture gates. |
| Background & reputation | ||
| Service lifecycle notice | Not verified | Not verified |
| Operator | Icecream Apps Ltd. (PDF Candy) | Sejda BV (Amsterdam PDF Utility Vendor) |
| Recorded origin | Cyprus (European software team) | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Domain history record | 2016–Present (10-year PDF utility suite) | 2016–Present |
| Background & reputation assessment | Operated since 2016 by Cyprus-based Icecream Apps Ltd., a well-known developer of desktop and web PDF utilities. | Operated since 2016 by Amsterdam-based Sejda BV, a well-established developer of web and desktop PDF tools affiliated with the open-source PDFsam team. |
| 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 | SSL/TLS encrypted transfers with automatic server deletion after 2 hours and an immediate delete icon on the download screen. | HTTPS-encrypted transfer; explicitly commits on both landing and download screens to automatically delete uploaded and converted files after 2 hours, alongside a manual immediate-delete option. |
| Retention statement | Claims deletion within 2 hours; deletion not independently verified | Claims deletion within 2 hours; deletion not independently verified |
| Evaluation basis | ||
| Pricing transparency | 28 / 35 Headlines 'Convert PDF to Word Online Fast and for Free' (01_landing.png) and converts our 2-page anchor PDF in ~4.78s to a green 'Download file' button without login (02_workspace.png, 03_download.png); however, the free tier is rate-limited to 1 free task per hour (disclosed via the 'PDF Candy PRO: No hourly limits' card on the result screen rather than upfront on the hero dropzone). | 32 / 35 Directly discloses the free allowance right below the upload button on the landing page ("Documents of up to 50 pages or 50 MB and 3 tasks per hour. Files stay private. Automatically deleted after 2 hours"); the official /upgrade page transparently lists the 7-day Web Week Pass ($5 one-time payment, no auto-renewal), Web Monthly ($7.50/mo), and Desktop+Web Annual ($63/yr). |
| Interaction restraint | 26 / 30 Zero ad banners, zero email gates, and no registration prompts; displays a non-intrusive PRO upgrade card alongside the download button. | 27 / 30 Converts our 2-page anchor PDF via the "Edit text" mode and downloads the full document without login, ad pop-ups, or email capture gates. |
| Background & reputation | 18.5 / 20 Operated since 2016 by Cyprus-based Icecream Apps Ltd., a well-known developer of desktop and web PDF utilities. | 18.5 / 20 Operated since 2016 by Amsterdam-based Sejda BV, a well-established developer of web and desktop PDF tools affiliated with the open-source PDFsam team. |
| Engineering & privacy | 13.5 / 15 SSL/TLS encrypted transfers with automatic server deletion after 2 hours and an immediate delete icon on the download screen. | 13.5 / 15 HTTPS-encrypted transfer; explicitly commits on both landing and download screens to automatically delete uploaded and converted files after 2 hours, alongside a manual immediate-delete option. |
| Task quality | 61.5 / 65 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 preserved) with Page 2 token intact (61.5/65) | 43 / 65 Exports a valid legacy OLE2 Word 97-2003 .doc file (215.0 KB): isolated LibreOffice import and macOS textutil inspection confirm 100.0% text retention (4/4 headings, 12/12 table text entries, 3/3 key body phrases, and Page 2 verification token preserved), but table cells are not reconstructed as a native editable Word table (table_count = 0, with 3 inline graphic objects) (43.0/65) |
| Deliverable specifications | 17.5 / 20 Exports a complete 2-page watermark-free native `.docx` file (9.8 KB) without login, subject to the 1-task-per-hour free rate limit (17.5/20) | 14 / 20 Delivers a complete 2-page watermark-free document (215.0 KB, free quota ≤50 pages/50 MB, 3 tasks/hr) without login, but outputs legacy binary OLE2 .doc rather than modern OpenXML .docx, incurring a format specification deduction (14.0/20) |
| Processing speed | 12 / 15 Completes cloud PDF-to-DOCX reconstruction in ~4.78s after clicking CONVERT (12.0/15) | 10 / 15 2026-10-21 single-sample network timing: file upload takes 1.07s (POST /api/files/upload), and pure server conversion from POST /api/tasks (operation: pdfToWord) to polling completion (GET /api/tasks/[id]/change) takes 11.36s (10.0/15) |
