FoxyUtils Online PDF Tools vs pdflayer

FoxyUtils Online PDF Tools is a browser-based service for working with PDF files, without a software download. Its tools can merge, split, convert, edit, rotate, compress, protect, unlock, and measure PDFs. Listed conversions include PDF to Word, Excel, JPG, and ePUB, as well as Word, JPG, and ePUB to PDF. OCR is available, including for PDF-to-Word or PDF-to-Excel conversion on Premium plans. The free plan costs nothing, requires a registered account, has a 50MB limit, and allows two operations per hour. Paid options include Monthly at $5.99 a month and Annual at $2.99 a month billed $35.88 every 12 months; Lifetime costs $99, paid once. Premium features include no watermark, workflows, Dropbox and Google Drive connections, and no ads. FoxyUtils says uploads are removed after the requested action or within an hour of inactivity, while registration details are retained forever. Its privacy policy cautions that it cannot warrant the security of transmitted information.

pdflayer is a cloud REST API that converts HTML or HTTP URLs into PDF documents. It accepts standard URLs and raw HTML, with raw HTML conversion available through HTTP POST. Requests can use GET or POST, though some features require POST. The rendering engine can handle HTML, CSS, JavaScript, XML, and SVG, and customization options include dimensions, margins, page numbers, custom CSS, encryption, viewport, delay, headers, footers, and watermarks. The maker says the API works with any programming language, citing PHP, Python, Ruby, jQuery.ajax, and Java. Generated PDFs are stored on a CDN and can be retrieved within milliseconds, according to the maker. Users can track usage daily or monthly and receive notices when usage is running low. The free plan provides 100 API requests per month for non-commercial use; it lists no encryption feature. Paid plans start at $9.99/mo, include commercial use, and list 256-bit HTTPS encryption. Paid subscriptions include unlimited, prioritized technical support. pdflayer is based in Vienna, Austria.