The Best HEIC to JPG Converter Apps: An Honest Comparison

"HEIC to JPG" is one of the most-searched conversion tasks on the internet, and the results are a mess: dozens of near-identical websites, App Store listings that all claim to be fastest, and very little honesty about the trade-off that actually matters — whether your photos leave your device.

This guide compares seven real options across four practical criteria: what platforms they run on, how they charge, whether they work without an internet connection, and whether you have to make an account. One of them is ours, and we have flagged it plainly. Everything else is described from the makers' own documentation, with sources listed at the bottom.

How to choose a HEIC converter

Before the list, three questions settle most decisions:

• Where are the files? Photos on your phone want a phone solution. A folder of files copied off a camera or a colleague's iPhone wants a desktop tool.
• How many, and how often? Free web tiers are metered — two files a day here, ten credits a day there. If you convert regularly, metering becomes the deciding factor.
• How private are the photos? Uploading a screenshot of a meme is nothing. Uploading passport photos, medical documents, or pictures of your children to a free website is a different decision, and it deserves a moment's thought.

The comparison at a glance

1. Apple's built-in options — start here

The most under-used HEIC converter is the one Apple ships with your phone, and any honest comparison has to lead with it. Apple documents three different behaviours worth knowing:

• Capture JPEG instead. In Settings → Camera → Formats, choosing Most Compatible makes the camera capture photos and videos in JPEG and H.264 from then on, so there is nothing to convert later.
• Convert on transfer. When you import HEIF or HEVC media from an attached iPhone or iPad into Photos, Image Capture, or a PC, Apple says the media might be converted to JPEG or H.264 automatically.
• Convert on share. When you share via AirDrop, Messages, or email and the receiving device does not support the newer formats, Apple may share the file in a more compatible format such as JPEG.

There is also the widely used Files app trick: select photos in Photos, tap Share → Copy Photos, then paste them into a folder in the Files app, and they arrive as JPEGs.

Strengths: free, already installed, entirely on-device, no account, and no third party involved. When it is the better pick: occasional conversions of a few photos, or when you want to stop generating HEIC files in the first place. Where it runs out: there is no quality slider, no resizing, no explicit control over the output, and the behaviour differs depending on which sharing path you take — which is precisely why third-party converters exist.

2. iMazing Converter — the free desktop workhorse

iMazing Converter is a small free app for Mac and PC that converts photos from HEIC to JPEG or PNG and videos from HEVC to MPEG-4. Its documentation is refreshingly direct about the privacy question: all processing is done strictly on your device, nothing is transferred to the cloud, and no internet connection is required.

Standout feature: drag-and-drop folders with adjustable output quality and resolution, plus the option to preserve EXIF data when converting to JPG. When it is the better pick: you have photos on a computer rather than a phone, you want an unlimited free batch, and you would rather not think about upload limits. It is genuinely the tool we would recommend to a friend converting a wedding album on a MacBook.

3. XnConvert — the batch power tool

XnConvert, from the XnView team, is a batch converter for Windows, macOS and Linux that reads more than 500 formats — HEIC and HEIF among them, alongside AVIF, JPEG XL, camera RAW, PSD and PDF. It chains up to 80 actions in a single pass: resize, crop, rotate, watermark, adjust colours, and strip or edit metadata before writing the output.

Licensing is worth reading carefully. XnConvert is free for private, educational and non-profit use, with no adware, no watermark and no file limit — but a licence is required for use inside a company.

When it is the better pick: thousands of files, mixed input formats, or a repeatable pipeline you want to apply identically every time. Nothing on this list matches it for raw batch capability, and it is Linux's best answer to HEIC by a distance.

4. CloudConvert — the format encyclopaedia

CloudConvert is a long-running web service that converts far more than images. Its free plan includes 10 conversion credits per day with a daily reset and no credit card required at sign-up, with a 1 GB maximum file size and up to five concurrent tasks; packages and subscriptions lift those limits.

It is also unusually transparent about security for a free web tool: transfers are SSL encrypted, files are kept only for processing and deleted immediately afterwards, the company is German and commits to GDPR compliance with a DPA on request, and parent company Lunaweb GmbH holds ISO 27001 certification from TÜV Süd.

When it is the better pick: an unusual format pair that desktop tools do not handle, an API-driven workflow, or a work machine where you cannot install software. Those are real advantages, and the honest trade-off is equally real: your file is processed on infrastructure you do not control.

5. Convertio — the quick browser option

Convertio is a browser-based converter with a 1 GB maximum file size; its FAQ states that basic conversions are free, while signing up unlocks larger uploads and faster processing. The company is explicit that conversion happens entirely on remote servers, and that uploaded HEIC photos are deleted immediately after conversion with JPG results purged within 24 hours.

When it is the better pick: you are on a borrowed or locked-down computer, need one conversion right now, and the photo is not sensitive. The interface is about as frictionless as this category gets.

6. Zamzar — the no-signup veteran

Zamzar has been converting files on the web since long before HEIC existed, and it still supports thousands of formats across documents, images, audio, video, e-books, CAD and archives. No account is needed to start: the free service allows files up to 50 MB and up to two file conversions in any 24-hour period, with converted files stored for a maximum of 24 hours so you have time to download them. Paid plans raise the size cap and remove the daily limit.

When it is the better pick: a single odd file, no desire to install anything, and no interest in creating yet another account. The two-files-a-day ceiling makes it a poor fit for a camera roll, and Zamzar does not pretend otherwise.

7. ConvertPix — full disclosure: we make this one

ConvertPix is our own iPhone and iPad app, so treat this section as what it is: the developer describing his own product. It converts HEIC to JPG on the device, batch converts up to 10 images at a time, and also handles JPG, PNG and WebP, with a quality slider from 60–100% and resize presets including HD, Full HD and 4K. Everything runs offline — photos never leave the device — and there is no account. It is free on the App Store and requires iOS 15.1 or later.

Where it fits: photos that are already on your phone, when you want more control than the Files app trick gives you and no upload. Where it does not: if your files are on a Windows PC or a Linux box, ConvertPix is irrelevant to you — install iMazing Converter or XnConvert instead. If you need an exotic format pair, use CloudConvert. And if you only ever convert two photos a year, Apple's built-in behaviour is genuinely enough, and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise.

Which should you actually use?

1. A few photos on your iPhone: Apple's built-in options first; a dedicated on-device app if you want quality and size control.
2. A folder on a Mac or PC: iMazing Converter.
3. Thousands of files, mixed formats, or Linux: XnConvert.
4. A locked-down work computer or an unusual format: CloudConvert, Convertio, or Zamzar — with sensitive files excluded.
5. Anything you would not email to a stranger: convert it locally, whichever local tool you prefer.

That last rule is the one worth keeping. The technical differences between these converters are small; a JPG is a JPG. The difference that survives is whether a copy of your photo ever existed on somebody else's server.

Sources

• Apple Support — Using HEIF or HEVC media on Apple devices (Most Compatible capture setting; conversion on import and on share)
• iMazing Converter (free, Mac and PC, local processing, HEIC to JPG/PNG, EXIF preservation)
• XnView — XnConvert and batch image converter pages (platforms, 500+ formats, licence terms)
• CloudConvert — pricing and security pages (free daily credits, file size cap, encryption, deletion, ISO 27001, GDPR)
• Convertio HEIC to JPG (server-side processing, 1 GB limit, deletion policy, sign-up benefits)
• Zamzar FAQ (50 MB free limit, 2 files per 24 hours, no account needed, 24-hour storage)
• ConvertPix facts: our own App Store listing and app documentation.

Prices, free-tier limits and platform support were checked in August 2026 and can change without notice. ConvertPix is not affiliated with any other product named on this page; Apple and the App Store are trademarks of Apple Inc.