Is CloudConvert
safe?
This is a page about a competitor on a site that sells the opposite architecture, and the honest answer is that their published practices are stronger than most. So that's what this page says. The only question left is a question about you, not about them.
The answer, first
On its own published account, yes — it looks like a well-run cloud service. CloudConvert states that files are deleted immediately after processing, that it keeps no permanent storage, that each conversion runs in an isolated container, and that transfers are SSL encrypted. Those are stronger commitments than most converters make.
The remaining question isn't about how well they run the server. It's whether you want your file on a server at all — which, for some photos, you might not, however good the server is.
We make a browser-based converter that competes with them, which makes this the page where our bias would show if it were going to. Every claim below is a verbatim quote from CloudConvert's own security page with a link to it, our downsides are listed further down, and we've refused to state their free-tier limits because we couldn't verify them. Check the source yourself.
What CloudConvert states, in its own words
On transport:
"All transfers from and to CloudConvert are SSL encrypted. We ensure the use of up-to-date ciphers."
On retention — and this is the one worth reading twice, because it is a stronger promise than the hours-long windows elsewhere in this category:
"Files are kept only for processing and deleted immediately afterwards. CloudConvert intentionally does not provide any permanent storage."
On isolation:
"Each conversion runs in a separate, isolated container. This means that even the CloudConvert team technically can't access your files."
On where the processing happens:
"Our cloud services are hosted in the selected geographical processing region exclusively."
The same page says it uses trusted cloud service providers with the highest
security standards such as AWS. Its HEIC-to-JPG page describes the product
exactly as what it is: CloudConvert converts your image files online.
Taking that seriously
It would be easy for a site like this one to skip past those quotes and hurry to the part where we say "but it's still an upload". That would be a cheap trick, so instead: those are good commitments, and they are better than the alternatives we've read.
- "Deleted immediately afterwards" is materially stronger than a 48-hour window or "a few hours". It's the difference between a file existing for the length of a job and a file existing for two days.
- "Intentionally does not provide any permanent storage" is a design decision stated as a design decision. A company that doesn't build storage can't accumulate what it doesn't keep.
- Isolated containers per conversion is the architecture you'd actually want if you were building this responsibly, and the claim that even their own team can't reach your files is a specific, falsifiable one rather than a vague reassurance.
- An exclusive processing region matters if you have data residency obligations, and most converters don't offer the concept at all.
- They publish a security page. This whole section exists because they wrote it down in public.
We aren't going to manufacture a problem here. There isn't one to manufacture.
The one question that's left
Every claim above is a claim CloudConvert makes about its own systems. That isn't a criticism — it's just the nature of the thing. You cannot inspect someone else's servers from your browser, so any server-side promise, however specific and however sincerely made, is something you accept on trust. That's true of them, of everyone in this category, and of any statement we'd make about a server if we had one.
So the remaining question is architectural, and it's about you rather than them: do you want this particular file to leave your device at all?
For most photos, the answer is obviously "don't care" — and CloudConvert is a good tool for that job, with more formats than we'll ever support. For a photo of a passport, a medical form, a contract, a whiteboard covered in someone else's confidential work, you might answer differently. Not because there's anything wrong with a well-run server, but because the simplest file to reason about is the one that never went anywhere — and that's an option you should get to take knowingly.
That's the entire argument this site makes. It isn't "they're bad". It's "you should know which one you're choosing".
What we won't tell you
We couldn't verify CloudConvert's current free-tier limits, so this page doesn't state them. Check their pricing page for the numbers that apply today. Publishing a figure we hadn't confirmed would make every other number on this page worth less.
Our bias, and our own downsides
We build a converter that competes with theirs. Read this page with that in front of you. Here's what's wrong with ours:
- Far fewer formats. JPG, PNG, WebP and PDF. No video, no OCR, nothing exotic. CloudConvert converts things we have never even considered. If you need that, they are the right tool and we are not.
- Our JPGs are ~168% the size of your HEICs — same as theirs, same as everyone's. It's the codecs.
- EXIF metadata is dropped — dates, camera, GPS. Rotation is applied so photos come out upright; the rest doesn't survive.
- Very large zips are capped by your browser's memory. We warn you first. A server has no such limit.
- A ~1.4 MB decoder downloads once the first time you convert.
- We're a small independent project, not an audited company with a security page and a compliance process. CloudConvert is an established business with real infrastructure.
The one thing we can offer that no server can is that you don't have to believe
us. Press F12, open Network, convert a photo, and
watch nothing leave. Or turn off Wi-Fi and convert anyway. That's your browser
reporting on our page, not our page reporting on itself — the
full test takes ten seconds.
For the files you'd rather not upload
Free, no account, no daily cap. JPG, PNG, WebP and PDF. If you need a format we don't do, use a cloud converter — we'd rather you had the right tool than ours.
Questions people actually ask
- Is CloudConvert safe to use?
- On its own published account, its practices are notably strong: immediate deletion after processing, no permanent storage, isolated containers per conversion, SSL transfers. That's better than most of this category manages. It's still a cloud converter by design, so your file goes to a server — that's the trade, and it's a reasonable one for most photos.
- Do they delete my files?
- Their security page says files are "kept only for processing and deleted immediately afterwards", and that they intentionally provide no permanent storage. "Immediately" is a stronger word than anyone else in this comparison uses.
- Can their staff see my files?
- They state that each conversion runs in a separate, isolated container and that even the CloudConvert team technically can't access your files. That's a specific architectural claim, published by them. Like all such claims, you're taking their word — not because they're untrustworthy, but because nobody can audit a server from a browser tab.
- What are their free limits?
- We couldn't verify them, so we won't state a number. Check their pricing page.
- So why would I use your converter instead?
- If you need a format we don't support, or OCR, use them. Use us when the file is one you'd rather not copy anywhere at all — because then the question of how well the server behaves never has to be asked, and you can prove it in ten seconds with your Wi-Fi off.
Keep reading
- Alternatives to heictojpg.com — including the ones that aren't us.
- Is FreeConvert safe? — HTTPS uploads and a metered free tier, quoted.
- Is heictojpg.com safe? — the terms nobody reads, quoted fairly.