Zamzar has been online since 2006. But its free tier caps you at 2 conversions per day — and the third photo costs you a subscription. Here is the full picture.
PixHeic: Unlimited photos, in your browser, no account, always free
Quick verdict
Zamzar is a well-established, reliable service trusted since 2006. For converting a single document or a one-off audio file, it is perfectly adequate. But for HEIC photos from an iPhone, it falls short in almost every direction: 2 free conversions per day, a 50 MB file size cap that modern iPhone photos can exceed, no JPEG quality control, no batch ZIP, and every photo travelling to a server. PixHeic removes every one of those constraints — unlimited files, any size, full quality control, a single ZIP download, and nothing ever leaving your device.
Zamzar confirms it on its own pricing page: the free service allows 2 file conversions per 24-hour period. Not 2 batches. Not 2 folders. 2 individual files. On file three, you are stopped and told you need a paid account to continue.
What this looks like in practice
You take 40 photos at a birthday party. You transfer them from your iPhone. They are all HEIC. You go to Zamzar, convert photo one, convert photo two — and then hit a wall. The remaining 38 are blocked until tomorrow, or until you enter your credit card. PixHeic converts all 40 in the same session, packages them into a single ZIP, and asks nothing from you in return.
The 50 MB file size trap
Even within the 2-file allowance, each file must be under 50 MB. Standard iPhone 15 and 16 HEIC photos typically sit between 3–8 MB, so most users will not hit this. But iPhone ProRAW photos — shot on any iPhone Pro model with ProRAW enabled — can reach 25–75 MB per file. A single ProRAW photo can exceed Zamzar's free limit before you have converted anything at all. PixHeic has no file size cap. The only ceiling is your device's RAM.
Every row reflects verified behaviour. Zamzar data sourced from its own pricing page and confirmed by multiple independent reviews, mid-2026.
| Feature | PixHeic | Zamzar |
|---|---|---|
| Free daily conversion limit | Unlimited — no counter | 2 files per 24 hours |
| Free file size cap | None — device RAM only | 50 MB per file |
| Privacy architecture | 100% in-browser — zero upload | Server-based — files uploaded & stored 24 hrs |
| Batch ZIP download | Yes — one ZIP for everything | No — download each file individually |
| JPEG quality control | Slider, 10%–100% | None — fixed quality, no control |
| Works offline | Yes, once decoder is cached | No — fully server-dependent |
| Account required | Never | Required for anything beyond 2 files/day |
| Cost for unlimited use | Always free — no paid tier | From ~$9/month for unlimited conversions |
| Batch conversion speed | Instant start — no upload or wait | Upload + server queue + individual downloads |
| GPS / EXIF stripped | Always — no location data in output | Metadata may be retained in output |
| Formats supported | HEIC / HEIF → JPG, PNG, PDF, WebP | 1,100+ formats across all file types |
Zamzar is a legitimate, long-running service. The issues below are not defects — they reflect a product designed for business document workflows, not consumer photo conversion.
Zamzar's free tier is not just limited — it is a cliff. Convert two files, and everything stops until the next day. There is no grace or degraded mode; it is a hard paywall on file three. For a camera roll of thirty photos from a weekend trip, that means at minimum fifteen days of returning to Zamzar every day to trickle through the batch — or paying a monthly subscription for a one-time need.
Zamzar does not bundle converted files into a ZIP. Even if you find a way to convert a batch, you must click a separate download link for each file individually. With 20 or 30 photos, that is 20 or 30 click-wait-save cycles. PixHeic queues every file in the session and delivers one ZIP containing all converted JPGs — download once and you are done.
Zamzar applies a fixed JPEG quality setting you cannot change. There is no slider, no preset, no advanced option. You get whatever Zamzar decides the output should look like. PixHeic gives you a 10%–100% quality slider — set it high for print, lower for email attachments or web uploads, and everything in between. The default of 85% is the industry standard sweet spot for near-lossless output at a fraction of the original file size.
Free-tier files are stored on Zamzar's servers for up to 24 hours before deletion. Paid accounts store files even longer. For casual screenshots that is not a concern. For personal photos — pictures of your family, your home, your documents — a 24-hour window on someone else's server is a meaningful consideration. PixHeic never touches a server at any point. Your files stay on your machine from drop to download.
Zamzar has earned its reputation since 2006. There are situations where its breadth of format support genuinely sets it apart.
You need a genuinely obscure format conversion. Zamzar supports over 1,100 file types — including CAD files, email formats, ebooks, and rare legacy formats that no other online tool handles. If you have a .DWG, a .MDI, or a .PUB file that nothing else will open, Zamzar is the right starting point.
You need EXIF metadata preserved. Zamzar may retain capture date, GPS coordinates, and camera settings in the output JPG. PixHeic strips all EXIF by design, which is the right default for sharing — but wrong if you need the metadata for an archive or a workflow.
You are converting one or two photos and the format is not HEIC. For a single file conversion of a format PixHeic does not support — say, a .TIFF to .JPG — Zamzar's free 2-file allowance is perfectly adequate.
You are building an automated business pipeline. Zamzar's API supports C#, cURL, Java, Node, PHP, and Python and is used by organisations from solo developers to Fortune 500 companies. For server-side automation at scale, it is a serious tool with serious support.
For converting iPhone HEIC photos — especially in batches, with quality control, and without any file limit — PixHeic is the right tool and Zamzar is not.
Drop your entire camera roll. PixHeic converts every photo in one session and delivers them in a single ZIP — private, instant, and completely free.
