XnConvert Alternative for Mac: Free and Broad, Images Only

Four cases where XnConvert is the better pick and paying us $29 would be wasted money.

You only handle images. If the folder never holds a PDF or a video, XnConvert covers conversion, resizing and renaming for $0, and our extra formats do nothing for you.

You need unusual formats. XnConvert lists 500+ input formats including RAW, HEIC and JPEG XL. Smol does not write JPEG XL, SVG or ICNS and reads a much shorter list. For archives and odd files, XnConvert is the tool.

You edit while you convert. Watermarks, captions, borders, levels, color balance, sharpening and pattern renaming all live inside XnConvert’s pipeline. Smol does none of them. A photographer stamping proofs for a hundred files wants XnConvert.

You are not only on a Mac. The same app runs on Windows and Linux, so a mixed team can share one workflow. Smol cannot.

Yes, because it costs nothing and does a great deal for images. Its Mac App Store listing calls it the free batch image converter for macOS, lists no in-app purchases, and says no data is collected and nothing is uploaded. The same listing shows version 1.118.0, released 12 October 2026, so it is being updated now.

The honest cost is time rather than money. You build a pipeline (convert, resize, watermark, rename) and run it over a folder. That is a strength for editing jobs and a detour when all you want is a smaller file.

It does not compress anything that is not an image, as far as its own listing says. The description covers photos, RAW, TIFF and similar formats, and mentions no PDF, video or audio handling. Everything on this page about XnConvert comes from that Mac App Store listing.

If the real problem is a 60 MB PDF or a screen recording, see how to compress a PDF on Mac and how to compress a video on Mac. Smol covers both in the same window as your photos, with presets for PDFs and a quality choice for video.

Smol’s own image defaults are worth knowing: quality 75, metadata stripped, and images resized to fit inside 2000 × 2000 px unless you change it. Photographers should raise or switch off that resize first.

We have not benchmarked XnConvert, so we will not claim a winner. What we can say is about our own measurements: in our published benchmark, Smol’s AVIF needed 22 to 26% fewer bytes than the best JPEG at the same SSIMULACRA2 score. That used 24 small (768 × 512) film photographs, tuned to matched quality scores, so it is not a prediction for your camera files.

Format choice matters more than which app you pick. For the wider field, see the best image compressor for Mac and every method compared.

Mostly because the job grew past images. A designer who starts by converting HEIC photos ends up with a 90 MB PDF proposal, a screen recording to send to a client and a voice memo to shrink. XnConvert, by its own listing, is an image converter, so each of those needs another app. One tool for all four is the real pitch for Smol, and it is the only one we will make.

The second reason is shape. XnConvert is built around a pipeline of steps run over a folder. That is exactly right when you are resizing, watermarking and renaming proofs. It is more steps than needed when the whole request is “make these smaller.” Smol has one quality setting for that, plus a Finder Quick Action so you can right-click files without opening the app at all. Our guide to adding a Compress Quick Action to Finder shows the setup.

The third reason is not a complaint at all. Some people simply want a second opinion on output size, and a free tool plus a paid one is a cheap way to get it.

Both can read them. XnConvert’s listing names HEIC and RAW input and says you can convert RAW to TIFF. Smol accepts CR2, NEF, ARW and DNG as input and compresses or converts them, but it does not develop RAW, so exposure and white balance are not adjustable there.

For iPhone photos the two are close in scope: both turn HEIC into JPG in bulk, and both work locally. If photographers are your audience, read image compression for photographers before choosing, because Smol’s default 2000 px resize and metadata stripping suit web delivery and not archives. XnConvert’s listing says it handles IPTC/XMP metadata and can preserve EXIF, which is the better fit when copyright fields must survive.

Drag the same folder into Smol and choose Compress with an output format. Quality applies to Compress, so for a small JPG from a HEIC, compress with JPG as the output rather than using Convert. There is nothing to import from XnConvert, and pipelines you built there do not carry over. Recreate the settings in a preset on each Mac.

The most common switch is iPhone photos: see batch convert HEIC to JPG on Mac. For a free alternative that stays images-only, compare Caesium. Smol is a one-time $29 purchase, with no trial and no refunds, so confirm the formats on our list first.