CleverUtils vs Things: Which Is Better in 2026?

CleverUtils is a free online file converter for people who simply need a file in another format and do not want to install software, create an account or pay for a subscription. It runs in the browser on any device, so the same tools work on a work laptop, a home PC or a phone.

The site covers more than 200 converters across 100+ formats. For audio there are MP3, WAV, FLAC and M4A conversions. Video tools handle MP4, MOV, MKV, AVI and GIF, including turning a video into audio or a short clip into a GIF. Image converters work with JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, AVIF, SVG and common camera RAW files, which is handy when an iPhone photo will not open on a Windows machine. Document and PDF tools cover DOCX, XLSX, PPTX and EPUB, and there are also converters for archives, fonts and 3D models.

Beyond plain format changes, CleverUtils includes a set of PDF tools: merge several PDFs into one, split a long document, compress a file so it fits an email attachment limit, and unlock a PDF you have the right to edit. There is also a growing group of AI tools. You can remove the background from a photo, replace it with a new one, upscale a small image, clean up a noisy photo, reduce noise in an audio recording and turn speech into text.

Privacy is kept simple. Files are sent over HTTPS, processed on the server and deleted automatically within two hours. There is no signup, no watermark is added to the results, and you do not need to leave an email address to download a file.

Under the hood the conversions rely on proven open-source engines: FFmpeg for audio and video, ImageMagick for images, LibreOffice for office documents and Ghostscript for PDFs. This keeps the output predictable and close to what desktop tools would produce.

For developers, CleverUtils offers a free public REST API that does not require an API key, so a conversion can be added to a script, a build pipeline or a small internal tool in a few lines of code. There is also an MCP server, which lets LLM agents call the converters directly when a workflow needs a file changed from one format to another.

Typical uses include students converting lecture slides to PDF, freelancers sending clients files in the format they asked for, office workers compressing scans before emailing them, and creators extracting audio from video or preparing images for the web in WebP or AVIF.

CleverUtils is a solo project built in Kyiv, Ukraine, and positioned as a free alternative to Convertio, Zamzar and CloudConvert. New converters and tools are added regularly, and the changelog on the site lists what has changed. If you need a quick, private and free way to convert a file, CleverUtils is built for exactly that.

Alternatives & competitors

Convertio, Zamzar, CloudConvert

Things is an award-winning personal task manager for Apple devices, celebrated for its beautiful design, thoughtful interactions, and the sheer pleasure of using it. In a category full of either overly simple or overly complicated tools, Things stands out by being elegant, focused, and refined — a to-do app crafted with such care that managing your tasks becomes genuinely enjoyable. Its combination of clean design and a well-considered approach to organising work has earned it design awards and a devoted following among people who care about quality software.

The app provides a clear, well-structured way to organise your tasks and projects, with areas to group your responsibilities, projects to break down larger goals, and a thoughtful system for scheduling tasks for today, this evening, or later. It supports the principles of getting things done — capturing tasks quickly, organising them sensibly, and reviewing what to do — without overwhelming you with complexity. Across Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, it syncs seamlessly and feels native and polished on each, with delightful details and smooth interactions throughout. The focus is squarely on personal productivity done elegantly.

Things is used by individuals who want a beautiful, dependable, and pleasant way to manage their personal tasks and projects, particularly those in the Apple ecosystem who appreciate well-crafted software. The value is clarity and delight: it helps you keep track of everything you need to do in a system that's calm, clear, and a genuine pleasure to use, which makes you more likely to actually stick with it. For people who have bounced off task managers that were too cluttered or too bare, Things offers a thoughtfully designed middle ground that respects both simplicity and capability. It demonstrates that a productivity tool can be not just functional but beautiful, turning the everyday act of managing tasks into something you might actually look forward to.