An XnConvert Alternative You Can Use at Work

The short version

Pricing checked in August 2026. XnSoft runs promotions, so check their page before you buy anything.

Do not read that format row as a score. Every vendor counts differently: some count formats they can open, some count formats they can write, and some count both as one number. XnConvert's figure is its own claim in its own units. The row worth comparing is the one above it, because XnConvert's 500+ is image formats it can read, which is a genuinely huge number of images and still zero audio, video, documents or email.

What XnConvert is

XnConvert from XnSoft handles batch image conversion. It runs on Windows, Mac and Linux. It is free for personal and educational use, with a paid licence required once the work is for a company. XnSoft prices commercial licences in tiers by seat count. The related NConvert business licence is listed at 100 euro plus VAT, which gives a sense of the range.

For format coverage it advertises 500+ image formats.

Where XnConvert is the better buy

For batch image work on a personal machine XnConvert is free, fast and excellent. If images are all you convert and it is not for a company, keep using it.

Why people go looking for something else

The usual reason is that you need it at work and discovered the personal licence does not cover that, or you need to convert something that is not an image.

How to Convert (I built this one)

How to Convert does 5,438 conversion pairs across 124 file types, covering audio, video, images, documents, ebooks and email. It costs $29 once. There is no subscription, no renewal, and no separate licence for each operating system. One purchase covers Mac, Windows and Linux on up to 5 devices.

Everything runs on your own machine. Files are never uploaded to a server, which matters more than it used to: in March 2025 the FBI's Denver field office warned that free online converters were being used to deliver malware and to scrape uploaded files for passwords and financial details.

Converting as many files as you like in one go

This is the job most converters make you do one file at a time. Select as many files as you want, drag them in, pick the output format once, and walk away. There is no queue limit and no per-file confirmation, and because it runs on your own machine the speed depends on your CPU rather than someone else's upload queue.

Where it wins against XnConvert

• There is one licence, with no separate commercial tier for company use.
• It converts audio, video, documents and email as well as images.
• 5,438 conversion pairs across 124 file types, so whatever you need to convert next is probably already covered.
• Nothing is uploaded, so private documents, client work and personal photos never leave your computer.

What XnConvert cannot do

XnConvert handles batch image conversion, and advertises 500+ image formats. This does 5,438 conversion pairs across 124 file types, so the gap is not a slightly longer list, it is whole categories of file. All of the below runs in the same app, on the same one-time licence.

Pulling audio out of video

Extracting a soundtrack, a lecture recording or an interview is one of the most common conversions there is, and it is the exact search that leads people to sketchy upload sites. Nothing leaves the machine here, which matters when the recording is a client call or something unreleased.

Markdown straight to EPUB

Writers, note-takers and anyone with a folder of Markdown usually reach for Pandoc and a command line for this. Chapters, headings and the table of contents come across without touching a terminal, which matters if you are producing something readable on an e-reader rather than just changing a file extension.

Where it does not win

It does not go as deep on image-only work. XnConvert chains filters, resizes and transforms in a single configurable pass, and for a folder of images and nothing else that pipeline is more powerful than this one.

Should you switch?

Switch if you convert more than one type of file, work across more than one operating system, or object to paying again for something you use occasionally. XnConvert is free on a personal machine, so this is only about money if you need it at work. Then it is $29 once against a commercial licence priced per seat.

Stay with XnConvert if the specific thing it does better is the thing you bought it for. For batch image work on a personal machine XnConvert is free, fast and excellent. If images are all you convert and it is not for a company, keep using it.

You can try most conversions in the browser first, free, before buying anything. Drag a file onto the converter on the home page and see whether it handles your files properly.