Free PDF to Excel converters, and Saff, side by side.
For one file that is nobody else's business, a free converter is the right tool and this page will tell you so. For a batch, a scan, an Arabic document or a file you would rather not upload to a free website, the table below is where the difference is. Every claim about another product comes from that company's own page, with the date we read it.
When the free converter is the right answer
One file, not confidential, and you need it in the next thirty seconds: use iLovePDF or Smallpdf. They are free, they are fast, and the free tier needs no account. Adobe's online tool is the same idea with a sign-in nudge. If the PDF was exported from a spreadsheet in the first place, any of them will reproduce it cleanly and there is nothing to add.
Saff is for the other case. A stack of documents every week, in different layouts, that you need in one shape; scanned pages and phone photos; Arabic and English on the same page; and contents that should not sit on a third party's server for an hour. It costs money, it needs an account, and it gives you a table you defined rather than a copy of the page.
| iLovePDF | Smallpdf | Adobe Acrobat online | Saff | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Files at a time | Per task, within limits that depend on the account type | One free; batch processing is a Pro feature | One per conversion | A batch, uploaded together |
| What comes back | The page layout as a spreadsheet | The page layout as a spreadsheet | The page layout as a spreadsheet | Only the columns you named |
| Different supplier layouts | A different grid per file | A different grid per file | A different grid per file | The same columns every time |
| Scanned PDFs and photos | OCR offered for scanned pages | OCR is a Pro feature | OCR referenced as an Acrobat Pro feature | Read as an image; unclear values flagged |
| Arabic and bilingual documents | Not stated on the product page | Not stated on the product page | Not stated on the product page | Supported, right-to-left included |
| Check before you trust it | You download a file | You download a file | You download a file | Original page beside every flagged value |
| What happens to your file | Deleted within two hours of processing | Deleted after one hour | Deleted unless you sign in to save it | Not kept by default; kept only in storage you connect |
| Where it is processed | European Economic Area, as a general rule | Servers in Ireland | Adobe servers; location not stated on the page | UAE region, or your own machines |
| Account | Not required for the free tool | Not required for the free tool | Download without signing in; sign in to save or share | Required |
| Price | Free with limits; Premium plans | Free with usage limits; Pro plans | Free online tool; Acrobat Pro subscription | AED 0.50 per document; 15 a month free; no subscription |
How to read the table
The retention rows are the ones people ask about, and all three free tools are more careful than their reputation: iLovePDF says it deletes files within two hours of processing, Smallpdf after one hour, Adobe on the spot unless you choose to save. None of them says it uses your files to train anything. If your worry was that a free converter keeps your documents forever, it is not the case, and this page is not going to pretend otherwise.
The rows that actually separate the tools are the first three. A converter, free or paid, gives you the page's layout as a grid, one file at a time or a batch of grids. That is the right output when you want a copy of the page and the wrong one when you want a table: ninety invoices from thirty suppliers become ninety differently shaped sheets. Saff's whole difference is that you define the columns and it fills them, from every file, in the same shape. The check-before-you-trust-it row follows from that: a value that was read into a column you named can be flagged and shown next to the page it came from; a grid cannot tell you which cells to doubt.
What this page will not claim
It will not claim the free converters are unsafe. It quotes what they say they do with your file and lets you decide whether that is acceptable for the document in your hand. It will not claim Saff is faster for one file; it is not. And it will not claim accuracy figures for anyone, including Saff, because accuracy depends on the document, which is exactly why Saff flags values instead of promising them.
Which is the best PDF to Excel converter for bank statements?
For a single statement you are happy to upload to a free site, any of the three converters will produce a grid you then clean up. For statements you would rather not put on a third party's server, or a stack of them you want in one reconciled shape, Saff reads them into date, description, withdrawal, deposit and balance columns and does not keep the file. See the bank statements article for the specifics.
Is there a PDF to Excel converter that works offline?
The free web converters are online by definition. Saff's hosted product is online too, but the same product can be installed inside your own company, on your own machines, for documents that cannot leave it.
Which converter handles Arabic PDFs?
None of the three product pages says anything about Arabic or right-to-left text, which in practice means try it and see. Saff reads Arabic, English and bilingual pages in their own direction, stores the text the right way round, and has an Arabic interface.
Do free PDF converters keep my files?
Not forever, by their own statements: iLovePDF deletes within two hours of processing, Smallpdf after one hour, Adobe on completion unless you sign in and save. Whether an hour on someone else's server is acceptable depends on what is in the file. Saff does not keep the original after extraction unless you connect your own storage.
Try the difference on your own batch
Fifteen documents a month are free. Upload the folder a converter turned into ninety sheets and see it come back as one.