Convertio looks polished and unlimited until you read the fine print. Its free tier gives you 10 conversion minutes per day, serves ads on every page, and sends every photo to a server. Here is the full, unvarnished comparison.
PixHeic: Unlimited, ad-free, in-browser — files never leave your device
Quick verdict
Convertio is a well-designed, feature-rich converter with genuine strengths — 300+ formats, Google Drive and Dropbox integration, and a clean interface that makes multi-format workflows easy. But for converting iPhone HEIC photos to JPG specifically, its free tier is more restricted than it appears: 10 conversion minutes per day, ads throughout, a 100 MB file cap, and every photo uploaded to a server. PixHeic was built for exactly this task. No minute cap, no ads, no server, no file limit. It does one thing and does it without compromise.
Convertio does not make its free-tier restrictions prominent on its homepage. To find the exact limits, you need to read its Terms of Use. Here is what they state, verbatim, for the free tier:
From Convertio's Terms of Use — Free Tier
Maximum 100 MB single file size
Maximum 2 concurrent conversions
Maximum 10 conversion minutes within any 24-hour period
Ads displayed throughout — "ad-free pages" is listed as a paid plan benefit
Source: convertio.co/terms — verified August 2026
What 10 conversion minutes actually means
Ten minutes sounds like a lot until you account for upload time, server queue wait, and processing. A batch of 20 typical iPhone HEIC photos — each 3–5 MB — can consume this entire quota between uploading and processing, leaving you locked out for the rest of the day. PixHeic processes those same 20 photos locally in your browser in seconds, with no timer running anywhere.
Every row reflects verified behaviour. Free-tier data sourced directly from Convertio's Terms of Use page, confirmed August 2026.
| Feature | PixHeic | Convertio |
|---|---|---|
| Free daily processing limit | Unlimited — no timer of any kind | 10 conversion minutes per 24 hours |
| Ads on the page | Never — no ads on any plan | Yes on free tier — ad-free requires paid plan |
| Privacy architecture | 100% in-browser — zero upload ever | Server-based — photos uploaded & deleted after 24 hrs |
| Free file size cap | None — device RAM only | 100 MB per file on free tier |
| JPEG quality control | Slider, 10%–100%, always free | Quality setting available in advanced options |
| Batch ZIP download | Yes — one ZIP for all files | Individual file downloads |
| Works offline | Yes, once decoder is cached | No — fully server-dependent |
| Account required | Never | No for free tier; yes for paid plans |
| Cost for ad-free, unlimited use | Always free — no paid tier | From $9.99/month (Light) to $25.99/month (Unlimited) |
| GPS / EXIF stripped | Always — no location data in output | Metadata handling varies by settings |
| Cloud storage integration | Not applicable — files stay local | Google Drive & Dropbox integration |
| Format breadth | HEIC / HEIF → JPG, PNG, PDF, WebP | 300+ formats, 25,600+ conversion types |
✦ Two rows where Convertio genuinely leads are included. Cloud integration and format breadth are real strengths — just not relevant when your goal is converting iPhone photos to JPG privately and without a daily clock.
The gap between PixHeic and Convertio is not just about limits and price. It is a fundamentally different architecture — and that difference shows up in ways most people do not anticipate until they hit them.
Convertio's own paid plan pages list "ad-free pages" as an upgrade benefit — which means the free tier shows ads while you wait for your photos to upload, process, and download. That is a meaningful experience difference when you are converting a batch of 20 photos and each step takes seconds to minutes. PixHeic has never shown an ad of any kind and has no business model that depends on advertising.
Convertio deletes uploaded files after 24 hours and states it encrypts transfers. Those are reasonable practices. But for photos of your family, your home, or any document you consider personal, the cleanest answer is one where no remote machine ever sees the file. PixHeic gives you that: the WebAssembly decoder runs inside your own browser tab, and conversion happens entirely on your device's CPU.
Convertio's total turnaround time is upload speed plus server queue plus download speed. On a slow hotel connection, or a mobile hotspot, or a shared office network, each of those adds real minutes. Multiple reviewers note occasional server slowdowns during peak usage. PixHeic's throughput is bounded only by your CPU — a modern laptop handles iPhone HEIC photos at several per second, regardless of what the internet is doing.
Convertio is a capable, well-maintained platform. These are the situations where its depth and integrations make it the right call.
Your HEIC photos are already in Google Drive or Dropbox. Convertio's cloud integrations let you pull files directly from either service and save results back — no manual downloading and re-uploading. If your photos sync directly to cloud storage and never touch your local machine, that workflow is genuinely convenient.
You need to convert many different file types in one place. 300+ formats and 25,600+ conversion types means you can handle video, audio, documents, presentations, and images without switching tools. For a workflow that mixes file types, Convertio is a practical one-stop option.
You need EXIF metadata preserved. PixHeic strips all metadata by design. Convertio gives you control over whether metadata is retained or removed — useful if capture dates, GPS coordinates, or camera settings need to survive the conversion.
You are converting just one or two files occasionally. The 10-minute daily cap is not an issue if you convert infrequently and in small quantities. For a single HEIC photo you need to send once a month, Convertio's free tier is more than adequate.
For anything beyond occasional single-file use — especially a camera roll, repeated batch conversions, or photos you consider sensitive — PixHeic is the faster, more private, and completely free alternative.
Drop your HEIC photos and get JPGs back — in your browser, at full quality, with no daily clock counting down and no advertisements filling the wait.
