A FreeConvert alternative with no file size cap or daily minutes

FreeConvert is an online converter with more than 1,500 conversions across video, audio, images, documents and ebooks, plus compressors, PDF tools and an API. Files are uploaded to its servers and the work is counted in conversion minutes. Shycut converts and compresses video in your browser instead: nothing is uploaded and there is nothing to count.

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Shycut · FreeConvert

Topic	Shycut	FreeConvert
Where the work happens	In your browser, on your device. Nothing is uploaded.	On FreeConvert’s servers; customer files are stored with Amazon Web Services in Ireland.
What it converts	Video only: MP4, MOV, WebM, MKV and M4V in; MP4, WebM, MOV, GIF, M4A, MP3, WAV or one JPG/PNG frame out.	More than 1,500 conversions: video, audio, images, documents and ebooks, plus archives and units.
Account	None.	Not needed for the free minutes on the website; a free account is needed to use them through the API.
Free limits	None set by a server.	20 conversion minutes a day, at most 5 per file, files up to 1 GB.
Ads and queue	No ads, no queue.	Paid plans are offered to convert large files “without a queue or Ads”.
Price	Free. There is no paid plan.	Monthly: Basic $12.99 (1,500 minutes, 1.5 GB files), Standard $24.99 (2 GB), Pro $29.99 (5 GB); yearly billing gives 2 months free.
How long your file is kept	It never leaves your device, so nothing is kept anywhere else.	Deleted automatically and permanently after 8 hours, or earlier by hand.
Compressing to a size	Type the size in MB; Shycut works out the quality, lowers the picture size if it must and tells you how long a clip fits if it can’t.	A percentage of the original size, or by quality (CRF) or a maximum bitrate; H.264 or H.265.
Where files come from	Files on your device.	Your device, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive or a URL.
Video editing	Blur faces and plates, captions written from the speech, silence cuts, resizing, joining clips.	Crop and trim tools; subtitles burned in from an SRT or ASS file you upload.
API	None.	Jobs, webhooks, and import and export with S3, Google Cloud Storage or Azure.

Checked on 26 October 2026 · Product names belong to their owners. Their details come from their own public pages on the date above and can change; check their site before you decide.

When FreeConvert is the better choice

If you need to convert a PDF, a Word file, a photo or an ebook, or an older video format such as AVI, WMV, FLV or VOB that Shycut has not been tested with, FreeConvert handles it and Shycut doesn’t. It can also take files straight from Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive or a link.

Its compressor offers H.265 and expert controls (CRF, presets, maximum bitrate), and its API can run conversions and compressions from your own app.

When Shycut is the better choice

A file converted on FreeConvert sits on its servers for up to 8 hours. With Shycut there is nothing to wait out: the video is read from your disk, converted in the browser tab and written back, and the copy leaves out the original’s location and device tags. That matters for clips of your children, your home or anything you wouldn’t hand to a stranger.

There is no 1 GB limit, no 20-minute daily allowance, no 5-minute cap per file and no ads. Type the size you need, such as the limit of an email or a chat app, and Shycut fits the video under it. Drop several files and each is converted the same way.

Questions

Why do online converters cap file size, and Shycut doesn’t?

A server has to receive, store and process every upload, so online converters limit free files (FreeConvert: 1 GB free, up to 5 GB on its monthly plans). Shycut never receives the file: your browser reads it and writes the new one on your device, so only your device’s memory and free space set the limit.

Can I compress a video to an exact size?

Yes. Under “Keep it under”, type the limit in MB. Shycut works out the bitrate; if the picture would turn to mush it lowers the resolution one step and says so, and if even that can’t fit, it tells you how long a clip would.

Does Shycut convert images or PDFs?

No. It works with video: you can save a video as another video format, a GIF, the sound alone or a single frame. For photos, PDFs and documents, a general converter such as FreeConvert is the right tool.

Is Shycut really free, with no daily limit?

Yes. No server does the work, so there is nothing to meter. There is no account, no ads and no watermark.

Your video stays with you.

Open Shycut, drop the video in and export. Free, with no account, and your video never leaves your device.

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