Complete Flownect guide: 100+ free tools, zero data collection

Passionate developers, not a subscription factory

Flownect started from a simple frustration: why does converting a PDF to Word require sign up, email capture and a paid Pro plan for basic features? We are developers who use these tools every day. Each page on the site solves a concrete problem we had ourselves.

No investors, no “monetizing the user experience”. The site is funded by modest display ads. In return: lasting free access without artificial limits, and a clear promise about your files. See also our About page (French).

Zero data collection: in-browser processing

On Flownect, “zero data collection” mainly means: we don’t build a dossier on you. We don’t ask for your email to unlock a conversion. We don’t analyze the content of your PDFs or photos for commercial purposes.

Technically, many tools rely on JavaScript and WebAssembly in your browser: image compression, PDF merge, JSON ↔ Excel conversion, JWT decoding, QR code generation, and more. Your files stay on your device; only the result is downloaded locally.

This “client-first” approach has real benefits: privacy, speed on a decent connection, and availability even when our servers are busy elsewhere. It also has honest limits: very large files depend on your phone or computer memory — we note this on each affected tool.

Documents & PDF: convert, sign, merge, protect

The Documents section covers the full lifecycle of PDFs and office formats.

Create a PDF from Office or text

Convert Word to PDF, Excel to PDF, PowerPoint to PDF, HTML to PDF or TXT to PDF. For photos and scans, Photo → PDF merges JPG, PNG, WebP or HEIC into one document — one page per image, with crop and direct camera capture on mobile.

Edit an existing PDF

Reorder pages? Edit PDF. Merge files? Merge PDF. File too heavy for email? Compress PDF. Add a password? Protect PDF.

Visual signature (initials or image, not qualified e-signature): Sign / initial PDF. Text or logo watermark on PDF and images: Watermark. Scan an invoice with your camera: Scan to PDF (crop, perspective, B&W filter).

Extract or convert from PDF

PDF → Word, PDF → Excel, PDF → PowerPoint, PDF → text, PDF → EPUB, PDF → JPG, PDF → PNG, PDF → SVG.

CAD & archives

AutoCAD plans: DWG → PDF, DXF → PDF, PDF → DXF. Local archives: ZIP tool (create, extract, optional Argon2 + AES encryption in the browser — French page).

Images & photos: convert, compress, OCR

The Images section handles JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, TIFF, AVIF and more.

Convert image changes format. Compress image reduces file size. Resize adjusts pixels or social presets. Remove background outputs transparent PNG via local AI. Clean metadata strips EXIF, GPS or XMP before publishing. Need text from a photo? OCR extracts content without server upload.

Audio & video

In Audio: M4A to MP3, extract audio from MOV or video (extract audio), cut audio, convert format (MP3, WAV, OGG…). For ad ops and programmatic audio, AudioReady validates LUFS, IAB specs, Spotify, etc.

Video: convert video (MP4, WebM, MOV, 3GP…) with codec, resolution and subtitle options — mostly local via FFmpeg in the browser.

Text & security

Text comparator: diff two versions (contracts, code, translations). Password generator: strong passwords generated locally, no network call.

Code, data & ad-tech

The Code section is for developers, data analysts and ad ops teams.

Tabular data: JSON ↔ Excel, XML ↔ Excel. JSON: formatter & validator. Encodings: URL encoder, Base64. Security: hashing & encryption (SHA, AES, bcrypt…), JWT Decoder.

Marketing & compliance: QR code generator, VAST Reader (IAB video tag debug), redirect tracer (HTTP chain, ad-tech macros), TCF Decoder (GDPR consent string).

Calculators, salary, VAT & business

Word counter, date calculator, gross → net salary (2026, France), IBAN validator with RIB scan.

Business: VAT exemption threshold (France), VAT calculator, e-invoice preparation (French page).

When a server is needed (transparency)

We don’t claim “100% browser” for absolutely everything. A few heavy conversions go through our servers in Europe (Amsterdam):

• Advanced Office conversions (Word ↔ PDF, Excel ↔ PDF…) when LibreOffice is required server-side.
• Automatic subtitle transcription on the video tool (audio extracted, then deleted immediately).

In those cases, files are not kept after processing. No resale, no model training on your documents. Everything else — client-side PDF, images, JSON, QR, VAST, etc. — stays local.

Your feedback and ideas build the catalog

We read every message. If your use case is shared by others — or we need it ourselves — we prioritize adding it. No opaque roadmap: one useful, well-built tool beats a list of 500 dead links.