Find the right free tool.
Start with four active roundups.
Cat Ranks is an operator-published tool lab from the people who build the featured tools. Tell us what you need to get done and we'll send you straight to the right one. The active review cohort covers HEIC conversion, PDF compression, resume checking, and mockup generation.
All free · most run locally, no upload · we build the tools ourselves
Are you paying for things you could do free?
Tick the tools you're paying a subscription for. We total what you spend a year — and line up the free alternatives we build and test ourselves, so you can see how much comes back.
Tick the tools you pay for
Tick any tool above to see what you spend a year and what you could save.
We only review — we don't sell any of these paid tools, and this calculator carries no affiliate links. Prices are public-pricing magnitude estimates. · Prices checked 2026-06-10
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Score and rank free tools against your needs
Pick what you're doing, then dial in what you care about. We rank live by "how well each tool meets each need × your weight" and explain every score.
What do you want to do
What matters to you (click to cycle: don't care / care / care a lot)
Ranked for your weights
- #1image-catBuilt by us100/100
Ours, used daily: local, exact-target-size, batch.
Why this score ▾
- Runs locally · no uploadMeets it
- No sign-in neededMeets it
- Hit an exact target sizeMeets it
- Batch multiple filesMeets it
- #2Squoosh50/100
By Google, fully local, fine control — but one image at a time and no target-size mode.
Why this score ▾
- Runs locally · no uploadMeets it
- No sign-in neededMeets it
- Hit an exact target sizeDoesn't
- Batch multiple filesDoesn't
- #3TinyPNG25/100
Great quality, but files upload, presets not an exact target, and per-batch count caps.
Why this score ▾
- Runs locally · no uploadDoesn't
- No sign-in neededMeets it
- Hit an exact target sizeDoesn't
- Batch multiple filesPartly
Just grab the right one
Each one does a single thing well, and most run right in your browser with nothing uploaded. Not sure which?let us help you pick.
image-cat
Local ↗A free image workshop: compress, convert (HEIC/AVIF/WebP), resize, remove backgrounds and AI-upscale — all in your browser, nothing uploaded.
compresscat
Local ↗Free PDF compression & conversion: squeeze a PDF down to an exact target size (100KB / 1MB…) and convert to/from images and Office — processed locally, no upload.
getqrcat
Local ↗Free QR code generator: URL, text, WiFi, vCard, email, phone, SMS and geo — free forever, unlimited, no tracking.
postercat
Local ↗A fill-in-the-blank graphic maker: quote cards, social covers, YouTube thumbnails, Instagram posts/stories, Pinterest pins and print posters — type your text into a template and export.
shapecat
Local ↗Free design-to-code generators: CSS gradients, cubic-bezier easing, shapes — plus product mockups that drop your design into real scenes.
polishcat
Local ↗Free résumé optimizer: parse and score locally, match against a job description, check readability and action verbs — parsing/scoring run locally, your résumé isn't uploaded.
erasecat
AI ↗Free AI object remover: brush over anything you don't want in a photo (passers-by, clutter, watermarks) and AI fills the background — powered by IOPaint/LaMa.
Four roundups with demonstrated demand
Compare free HEIC converters, PDF compressors, resume checkers, and mockup generators without detouring into the staged archive.
The review lab currently highlights the free-tool categories with demonstrated search demand. Open the hub to see the active cohort.
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