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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 | Soda PDF | avepdf.com | Switch / compare |
|---|---|---|---|
| PDF to Word | 88/100 DOCX · Output attached | 76/100 DOCX · Output attached | Active task |
| PDF compression | Not tested in topic | 95/100 PDF · Output attached | Compare in task topic → |
| Scanned PDF OCR | Not tested in topic | 94/100 PDF · Output attached | Compare in task topic → |
| PDF merge & split | 89/100 PDF · Output attached | 94/100 PDF · Output attached |
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Browse this task →| Criterion | Soda PDF Online PDF to Word 88/100 Seven-aspect task score Automatic login-free conversion retains text and tables; free frequency and size limits apply, with no immediate deletion control observed and a stated 24-hour retention. Tested export DOCX · Output attached Historical test · 2026-10-18 | AvePDF PDF to Word (by Nutrient / Orpalis) PDF to Word 76/100 Seven-aspect task score Clearly states its two-action free quota upfront and lets guests quickly export a two-page DOCX with full text retention, but flattens tables into plain paragraphs and applies different retention terms to free uploads. Tested export DOCX · Output attached Historical test · 2026-10-19 |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing & rules | ||
| Pricing plans | Soda PDF USD web/desktop Pro, Team and Business; annual team bill uses default 3 seats · 2026-10-20 Plan · source date Monthly / one-time Annual bill / period Quota & limits Free online conversion2026-10-20 ↗ Free Free Free FAQ says “2 files per day or 3 MB”; the rule is ambiguous. Advanced features require payment; arbitrary free exports are not guaranteed. Soda PDF Pro2026-10-20 ↗ USD 12.5/month USD 89/year Monthly 1-month licence; web and desktop access; monthly renewal amount not separately checked in checkout. Annual 1 seat, actual first-year bill USD 89; annual renewal USD 129; optional device/phone-support add-ons cost extra. USD 89 first year, then USD 129 every 12 months until cancelled Soda PDF Team · per seat2026-10-20 ↗ USD 11.25/month — Monthly Per-seat 1-month licence, 3–19 seats; not the team total. Soda PDF Team · 3-seat total2026-10-20 ↗ — USD 240/year Annual Default 3-seat first-year total USD 240; card says 80 per seat first year, then 129 per seat/year; other seat counts require a new quote. USD 80/seat first year, then USD 129/seat every 12 months; total depends on seats Soda PDF Business2026-10-20 ↗ USD 20/month USD 198/year Monthly 1-month licence; web and desktop tools. Annual Actual annual bill USD 198, renewing at 198 every 12 months. USD 198 every 12 months until cancelled 7 plan / billing-period records, all listed; — means that period is not recorded. Annual order totals checked without payment: Pro USD 89 first year, renewing at 129; Business 198/year; default 3-seat Team first year 240 (card says 80 per seat). The Team monthly card shows 11.25 per seat, not the 3-seat total. All seat tiers, optional add-ons and taxes were not exhaustively verified. Verification has gaps; unknown prices and quotas are not inferred. Cancellation, sources & verification recordCheckout states automatic renewal, cancellable through the account or support. Full conditions of the 30-day refund guarantee were not separately 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 ↗ 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 ↗ | AvePDF web Free and Annual Premium plans · 2026-10-21 Plan · source date Monthly / one-time Annual bill / period Quota & limits AvePDF Free2026-10-21 ↗ Free Free Free Maximum 2 processing actions per 6 hours; max file size 128 MB, up to 10 files per processing across 50+ document tools AvePDF Premium2026-10-21 ↗ — USD 55/year Annual Single-user annual payment of USD 55; unlimited document processing with no hourly limit, max file size 512 MB, up to 100 files per action, no ads and technical support Billed annually as a single USD 55 payment; cancel anytime with a 30-day money-back guarantee 2 plan / billing-period records, all listed; — means that period is not recorded. The official pricing page offers a Free tier (2 actions per 6 hours, 128 MB file limit) and an annual AvePDF Premium tier billed once at USD 55/year, with no standalone monthly plan. Cancellation, sources & verification recordCancel anytime; the official pricing page states a 30-day money-back guarantee. AvePDF official pricing page ↗ · 2026-10-21 Capture 1 ↗ |
| Free & trial allowance on the test date | Free guests can convert standard single files without login; high-volume batch jobs and full online editing require a Soda PDF plan | 2 free actions without login (up to 128 MB per file); exports a valid 11,435-byte DOCX with 100% text retention but 0 native tables. |
| Cancellation & refunds | Checkout states automatic renewal, cancellable through the account or support. Full conditions of the 30-day refund guarantee were not separately verified. | Cancel anytime; the official pricing page states a 30-day money-back guarantee. |
| Disclosure of costs & limits | Zero-friction direct conversion and download | Not verified |
| 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 text and editable tables retained; scans and long documents were not tested. | Both pages of body text and the footer token were preserved; the 4x4 table was flattened into plain paragraphs. |
| Original historical observation | Soda PDF Online delivers veteran commercial quality: auto-converting upon upload in 14.3s and exporting a super-compact 5.5 KB .docx with 100% text retention and 16 native Word table cells (02_workspace.png, 03_download.png). | Exported a valid 11,435-byte DOCX preserving all text checkpoints and Page 2, but flattening the 4×4 table into plain paragraphs. |
| Suitable uses · historical assessment | Office users seeking a clean, ad-free, no-login converter that accurately rebuilds native 16-cell Word tables (<w:tbl>) | Not verified |
| 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 · Check watermark record |
| Historical specification note · not an official maximum | Full 2-page native .docx (5.5 KB, 46 paragraphs + 16-cell native table, watermark-free) | Not verified |
| Watermark observation | No watermark | Not verified |
| Batch & API | Supports local file and Google Drive / Dropbox cloud imports and exports | Not verified |
| Recorded free-tier dimensions | Not verified | Not verified |
| Attached file dimensions | Not verified | Not verified |
| Published allowances & file limits · not tested | Free online conversion: FAQ says “2 files per day or 3 MB”; the rule is ambiguous. Advanced features require payment; arbitrary free exports are not guaranteed. | AvePDF Free: Maximum 2 processing actions per 6 hours; max file size 128 MB, up to 10 files per processing across 50+ document tools |
| Speed & reliability | ||
| Timing observation | Network-observed server wait: 12.8s · End-to-end reference: 14.3s | Network-observed server wait: 1.78s · End-to-end reference: 2.54s |
| 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 | Not verified |
| Sign-in methods | No login required for standard single-file conversion | No login required within the 2-action free quota |
| Manual adjustment | Not verified | Not verified |
| Interaction observations | Clean, ad-free commercial interface that automatically starts conversion upon upload and presents a clear blue 'Download file' button on the same page (02_workspace.png, 03_download.png). | No forced popup at download; page displays a browser-language prompt, Nutrient acquisition notice, and Nudocs AI banner. |
| Background & reputation | ||
| Service lifecycle notice | Not verified | Not verified |
| Operator | Avanquest Software / LULU Software (sodapdf.com) | Orpalis / Nutrient (GdPicture SDK) Web Tool |
| Recorded origin | Montreal, Canada | Not verified |
| Domain history record | 2010–Present (16-year commercial PDF software suite) | Not verified |
| Background & reputation assessment | Developed and operated since 2010 by Montreal-based LULU Software / Avanquest Software Group, a veteran North American PDF software vendor. | Operated by Orpalis (now Nutrient / GdPicture.NET SDK) as the official web showcase for its document SDK. |
| 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 | Full SSL encryption with automatic 24-hour server file deletion. | On-page Privacy notice states uploaded files are accessible for up to 30 minutes and can be manually deleted, while explicitly distinguishing free users from "We do not retain files for AvePDF Premium subscribers". |
| Retention statement | Claims deletion within 24 hours; deletion not independently verified | Claims deletion within 30 minutes; deletion not independently verified |
| Evaluation basis | ||
| Pricing transparency | 28 / 35 Supports direct no-login drag-and-drop PDF-to-Word conversion and exports a full unwatermarked .docx (01_landing.png, 03_download.png), subject to daily free task frequency and file size limits. | 28 / 35 Top banner clearly discloses "You have 2 free actions left" and "Max file size: 128 MB" before upload; within that quota, guests convert and download the 11.2 KB DOCX directly without a login wall. |
| Interaction restraint | 26 / 30 Clean, ad-free commercial interface that automatically starts conversion upon upload and presents a clear blue 'Download file' button on the same page (02_workspace.png, 03_download.png). | 20 / 30 No forced popup at download; page displays a browser-language prompt, Nutrient acquisition notice, and Nudocs AI banner. |
| Background & reputation | 18 / 20 Developed and operated since 2010 by Montreal-based LULU Software / Avanquest Software Group, a veteran North American PDF software vendor. | 15 / 20 Operated by Orpalis (now Nutrient / GdPicture.NET SDK) as the official web showcase for its document SDK. |
| Engineering & privacy | 7 / 15 On-page Privacy notice states uploaded files are accessible for up to 30 minutes and can be manually deleted, while explicitly distinguishing free users from "We do not retain files for AvePDF Premium subscribers". | |
| Task quality | 61 / 65 Excellent OpenXML reconstruction: 100.0% text retention (4/4 headings, 3/3 body phrases, Page 2 verified) and 100% native Word <w:tbl> table reconstruction (4 rows, 16 cells, 12/12 data values intact) in a compact 5.5 KB file (61.0/65) | 48 / 65 Exported a valid 11,435-byte DOCX (55 paragraphs): 4/4 headings, 12/12 table cell strings, 3/3 body phrases, and the Page 2 marker are 100% preserved, but the 4×4 financial table is flattened into plain paragraphs (native <w:tbl> table_count=0). |
| Deliverable specifications | 17.5 / 20 Exports a complete, unwatermarked 5.5 KB .docx with no login required (17.5/20) | 16 / 20 Guests directly download a valid watermark-free DOCX (11.2 KB) without signing in, subject to the 2-action free quota and lacking native Word table objects. |
| Processing speed | 11.5 / 15 Auto-converts upon upload in ~14.3s without requiring an extra Convert click (11.5/15) | 14.5 / 15 2026-10-21 single-sample network timing: /en/file/upload took 0.76s, and server preparation/conversion (/en/file/prepare-file-for-tool to /en/tools/pdf-to-word-action) took 1.78s (end-to-end 2.54s). |
