The Utilities web apps worth bookmarking

What the Utilities category actually covers

As of September 2026, the Utilities category page on this directory lists 59 apps, all marked free, with 16 installable as standalone apps and 1 that keeps working offline, according to the live category page itself. That single hub covers a wide spread of everyday jobs: turning a photo or document into another format, sending a file too large for email, checking whether an email address or password has leaked, scanning a downloaded file before opening it, and handling PDFs without installing desktop software. The picks below are drawn from that catalogue, chosen because each one answers one of those needs directly.

Rather than ranking all 59 by opinion, the comparison below lines up six apps this article discusses side by side, using only what each one's own catalogue entry states: whether it costs nothing, whether it can be installed like a native app, and whether it keeps working without a connection. For the full list, the Utilities category page stays the source of truth, and a separate guide explains where to browse web apps sorted by category if Utilities is not the only shelf worth checking.

Does VERT.sh really convert files without uploading them?

Yes, for most formats. According to the catalogue entry, VERT.sh is an open-source file converter with no size limit and no ads, and its own homepage states plainly: 'No file size limit, no ads, and completely open source.' Images, audio and documents are processed on the visitor's device via WebAssembly rather than sent to a server, which is the detail that matters for anyone converting something they would rather not upload.

The exception is video: VERT.sh's homepage notes that 'videos are converted on our lightning-fast servers,' since that kind of processing is heavier than a browser tab can handle locally. The catalogue marks VERT.sh as free and installable, meaning it can be added to a device like a native app, though it does not work offline. Its footer links to the source code, a Discord server and a privacy policy, which fits an open-source project built around not tracking what gets converted.

Is WeTransfer enough to send a large file without an account?

For most one-off sends, yes. WeTransfer lets someone upload a file, add a recipient's email or copy a link, and send it — the catalogue describes free transfers up to 2GB with an expiring link, and WeTransfer's own homepage bills itself as 'the simple, quick and secure way to send your files around the world without an account.'

Past that free ceiling, WeTransfer's paid tiers add more size, more storage and password protection on links, per the catalogue entry. The size threshold and what changes above it are covered in more depth in Is WeTransfer free? The 2 GB size limit. WeTransfer is not installable and does not work offline in this catalogue's data, which fits how it is meant to be used: open a tab, send the link, done.

How do you check for a data leak or a suspicious file?

For email addresses and passwords, Have I Been Pwned is the reference: it is a free public service run by security researcher Troy Hunt that lets anyone search whether an email or password has surfaced in a known breach, and subscribe to alerts for future ones. As displayed on its own homepage in September 2026, the service has indexed 1,034 pwned websites and 17,805,159,840 pwned addresses. IT admins can also monitor an entire company domain, according to the catalogue's use-case notes.

Have I Been Pwned has real limits worth knowing: it only knows about breaches that have already surfaced publicly, so not appearing in a search is not proof of safety, and it tells you that data leaked without prescribing more than the obvious next steps — rotate the password, turn on two-factor authentication. Coverage of stealer-log data is described as recent and inherently partial in the catalogue's notes.

For files and links rather than personal data, VirusTotal covers the other half of the question: it analyzes suspicious files, URLs, domains and IPs with 70+ antivirus engines and scanners at once, then lets you explore relationships between threats, and standard lookups are free. Paired together, Have I Been Pwned answers 'was I exposed' and VirusTotal answers 'is this file or link safe to open.'

Which PDF tool should you pick: PDF24, iLovePDF, or another?

PDF24 Tools is a free PDF toolbox from a German company covering merge, split, compress, convert, sign, OCR and edit, with no file-size caps, watermarks or account required, according to the catalogue. Its own page highlights that its tools work directly in the browser with 'no installation necessary,' and that it stays free through advertising on the site rather than a paid tier.

iLovePDF covers similar ground — merge, split, compress, convert to and from Office formats, sign, watermark — plus batch processing for handling several files at once, according to the catalogue entry. Its free tier is described as enough for everyday documents, with a premium option that lifts the size limits that apply on the free plan.

For a closer side-by-side that goes beyond what fits in a category roundup, Free PDF tools compared: iLovePDF, PDF24, Sejda, BentoPDF and Convertio lines up those five PDF workspaces against each other in more detail. It is the better read for anyone choosing between PDF tools specifically, while this section only covers how PDF24 Tools and iLovePDF fit into the wider Utilities category alongside file conversion, file transfer and security checks.

How is this Utilities lineup put together?

Nothing here is a vote or a popularity ranking. Each app in this article was picked because its own catalogue entry states a free price, and because the fields the directory tracks for every listing — free, offline, installable — plus whatever the app's own page says about itself, gave enough to describe what it actually does and where it stops.

That is also why some apps are described in more detail than others: VERT.sh and WeTransfer both state clear limits (open-source local processing, a 2GB free ceiling) that are easy to verify against their own pages, while VirusTotal's homepage requires JavaScript and offers little beyond its own description. Where the catalogue does not state a number — a price, a user count, a version — this article does not guess one. The Utilities category page remains the place to see the rest of the lineup beyond the six discussed here.

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