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Each product is scored independently per task edge; switch tasks below while keeping shared products selected| Task edge | Soda PDF | lightpdf.com | Switch / compare |
|---|---|---|---|
| PDF to Word | 88/100 DOCX · Output attached | 78/100 DOCX · Output attached | Active task |
| PDF compression | Not tested in topic | 88/100 PDF · Output attached | Compare in task topic → |
| Scanned PDF OCR | Not tested in topic | 82/100 DOCX · Output attached | Compare in task topic → |
| PDF merge & split | 89/100 PDF · Output attached | 90/100 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 | LightPDF PDF to Word 78/100 Seven-aspect task score After free account sign-in, the exported DOCX preserves both pages of text and a native editable table with solid fidelity, but guests are blocked by a login modal at the download step after conversion. 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 ↗ | LightPDF Individual Free, Monthly, Annual and Perpetual plans; Team & Business and Education tabs priced separately · 2026-10-21 Plan · source date Monthly / one-time Annual bill / period Quota & limits Free Plan2026-10-21 ↗ Free Free Free Web only; max file size 10 MB, 1-year cloud storage for up to 5 files; downloading converted DOCX requires signing in to a free account Monthly Plan2026-10-21 ↗ USD 19.99/month — Monthly 1-month full access to all PDF tools across Web, Mobile and Desktop, unlimited file size, plus 1,000 AI credits/month Promotional price USD 19.99/month (strikethrough USD 29.99), billed monthly, cancel anytime；Unused AI credits expire monthly Annual Plan2026-10-21 ↗ — USD 49.99/year Annual 1-year full access to all PDF tools across 5 platforms (1 active device at a time), unlimited file size, plus 1,000 AI credits/month 3-day free trial then USD 49.99/year (strikethrough USD 89.99; skipping trial saves USD 5)；1,000 AI credits per month expire monthly Perpetual Plan (Lifetime)2026-10-21 ↗ USD 109.99 · one-time payment Usage / one-time Usage / one-time One-time payment for lifetime access to all PDF tools across 5 platforms, unlimited file size, plus 40,000 AI credits 40,000 AI credits granted instantly and valid until used 4 plan / billing-period records, all listed; — means that period is not recorded. Individual pricing lists Free, Monthly USD 19.99, Annual USD 49.99 (with 3-day trial or $5 skip-trial discount), and Perpetual USD 109.99; per-feature AI credit deductions require hover tooltips and enterprise plans require custom quotes. Verification has gaps; unknown prices and quotas are not inferred. Cancellation, sources & verification recordCancel recurring subscriptions via support ticket or payment platform email link; money-back guarantee is 30 days for Perpetual, 7 days for Annual, and 3 days for Monthly. LightPDF official Individual 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 | Downloaded valid 39,398-byte DOCX after free Google sign-in; 1 table (16 cells), Page 2, and 100% of text checkpoints preserved. |
| 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 recurring subscriptions via support ticket or payment platform email link; money-back guarantee is 30 days for Perpetual, 7 days for Annual, and 3 days for Monthly. |
| 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: 16 · Page 2 preserved: Yes |
| Fixture findings | Converted automatically with text and editable tables retained; scans and long documents were not tested. | Preserved both pages of text, all key tokens, and one editable 4x4 table with high layout fidelity. |
| 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). | Downloaded valid 39,398-byte DOCX after free Google sign-in with 100% text retention, Page 2 preserved, and 1 native 16-cell table. |
| 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. | Free Plan: Web only; max file size 10 MB, 1-year cloud storage for up to 5 files; downloading converted DOCX requires signing in to a free account |
| Speed & reliability | ||
| Timing observation | Network-observed server wait: 12.8s · End-to-end reference: 14.3s | Network-observed server wait: 6.45s · End-to-end reference: 10.01s |
| 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 | Google / Facebook / Apple / email login required when clicking Download Files |
| 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). | Uses a post-conversion login wall at the download step and places a "Download for MacOS" desktop app button beside Download Files. |
| Background & reputation | ||
| Service lifecycle notice | Not verified | Not verified |
| Operator | Avanquest Software / LULU Software (sodapdf.com) | AI Document Tool Suite (Wangxu Tech / Apowersoft) |
| 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 Wangxu Technology (HK) Co., Limited (Apowersoft) since 2018. |
| 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. | Uploads to Alibaba Cloud Hong Kong OSS and converts via gw.aoscdn.com async task queue; requires account login to retrieve the converted DOCX. |
| Retention statement | Claims deletion within 24 hours; deletion not independently verified | Explicit retention period unconfirmed; inspect policy record |
| 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. | 15 / 35 Landing page headlines "Free Online PDF to Word Converter" and completes cloud conversion for guests, but clicking Download Files triggers a mandatory login modal; after free Google sign-in, the full 38.5 KB DOCX downloads without payment. |
| 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). | 12 / 30 Uses a post-conversion login wall at the download step and places a "Download for MacOS" desktop app button beside Download Files. |
| 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 Wangxu Technology (HK) Co., Limited (Apowersoft) since 2018. |
| Engineering & privacy | 10 / 15 Uploads to Alibaba Cloud Hong Kong OSS and converts via gw.aoscdn.com async task queue; requires account login to retrieve the converted DOCX. | |
| 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) | 61 / 65 Exported a valid 39,398-byte (38.5 KB) DOCX (43 paragraphs): 4/4 headings, 12/12 table cell values, 3/3 body phrases, and the Page 2 marker are 100% preserved, and the 4×4 financial table is reconstructed as 1 native 16-cell Word table. |
| Deliverable specifications | 17.5 / 20 Exports a complete, unwatermarked 5.5 KB .docx with no login required (17.5/20) | 15.5 / 20 Signed-in free account exports a complete, watermark-free 2-page DOCX with native editable table structure; deducted for the post-conversion login gate on guest download. |
| Processing speed | 11.5 / 15 Auto-converts upon upload in ~14.3s without requiring an extra Convert click (11.5/15) | 12 / 15 2026-10-21 single-sample network timing: OSS upload and hash registration took 3.19s (PUT upload ~1.89s), and async conversion task /v2/tasks/conversion (r16 to r21) took 6.45s server wait (end-to-end 10.01s). |
