getPDF and FreeConvert: daily minutes, file sizes and where your PDF goes

We make getPDF, so read this knowing who wrote it. Every claim about FreeConvert below was checked on its own pages on 11 October 2026 and is listed under Sources.

Side by side

“Not stated” means FreeConvert’s pages that we checked do not say.

Where FreeConvert is the better pick

• Formats. FreeConvert’s PDF menu alone lists conversions to and from EPUB, MOBI, AZW3, PowerPoint, PSD, TIFF, HTML, RTF, ODT and dozens more, and the site also converts video, audio, images and archives. getPDF handles PDF, images, Word, Excel, text and Markdown, and nothing else.
• Office files and web pages to PDF. Word, Excel, PowerPoint and web page to PDF are all on FreeConvert. getPDF has no Word to PDF yet.
• Files from the cloud. FreeConvert’s compressor takes files from Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive or a URL. getPDF only opens files from your device; it has no cloud connections.
• An API. FreeConvert offers conversion APIs, including PDF to Word, Word to PDF and compress PDF, for developers who want to automate. getPDF has no API.
• A weak device and a huge file. The work runs on FreeConvert’s servers, so a phone does not need the memory. getPDF uses your device’s memory, and a very large scan on a phone may be too big; the tool says so rather than failing quietly.

Where getPDF is the better pick

• No daily minutes. FreeConvert’s free tier is measured in conversion minutes: 20 a day, 5 per file. FreeConvert says large files use more. getPDF has no meter, so a day of merging, compressing and converting costs nothing.
• No size tier. FreeConvert stops free files at 1 GB and sells bigger ones. getPDF’s only limit is the memory your browser has, and it tells you with numbers when a file is too big.
• Nothing kept for 8 hours. An uploaded PDF stays on FreeConvert’s storage for up to 8 hours unless you delete it. With getPDF, there is no copy anywhere but your device.
• Editing in the same place. FreeConvert sends editing, signing and forms to a second site, ProPDF, with its own limits. getPDF’s editor edits existing text, adds text and pictures, fills forms, signs and redacts in 1 place, on your device.
• Honest output. Compress PDF shows the size before and after and says when a file cannot get smaller; PDF to Word says before you click that it rebuilds the content, not the exact layout; OCR PDF shows how sure it is on each page.
• No ads, no tracking scripts. FreeConvert’s privacy policy names Google Analytics, HotJar, New Relic, Twitter and Facebook among the analytics and tracking services in its cookie section. getPDF sends only an anonymous counter after a job.

Where your files go

FreeConvert. Files upload over HTTPS and are converted on FreeConvert’s servers. Its privacy policy says “All files uploaded to FreeConvert are stored with Amazon Web Services” in Ireland and are “automatically and permanently deleted after 8 hours”; the terms say the same. The policy adds that personal data “may be transferred to other countries such as the United States of America”. Neither the privacy policy nor the terms we read names the operating company or its address; the terms list TransMedia Inc. in Toronto, Canada, as the copyright agent, and the privacy policy refers to Canadian law for payment records. ProPDF, where the editing happens, says its files are removed “after a few hours”.

getPDF. Nothing is uploaded. Every tool runs in your browser tab, the site’s content security policy lets the page connect only to getPDF’s own address, and nothing there accepts files. The anonymous counter after a job carries the tool, success or failure, and rough time and size buckets, never a file name.

Check it yourself: use a tool once so its engine is loaded, turn Wi-Fi off, and run it again on another file. It still works. Prove a PDF tool is local shows the network panel version, and is it safe to upload a PDF to an online converter weighs the risk of uploading honestly.

Moving from FreeConvert to getPDF

The FreeConvert PDF tools people use most, and their place here:

No equivalent yet: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, HTML and web page to PDF; PDF to PowerPoint, EPUB and the other e-book formats; creating fillable form fields; imports from cloud drives; an API.

Try it on your own file

Making a PDF small enough to send is a job FreeConvert’s PDF Compressor does on its servers. Here it runs on your device, with the size before and after:

If you want the background first, make a PDF smaller explains what compression can and cannot shrink. For the whole field, read the best free PDF tools, compared, or see the other comparisons on the compare page.