The TinyPNG alternative with no upload and no 5MB limit
TinyPNG is great until you hit 20 images at a time, 5MB each, all going to someone else's server. Picmal compresses images, video, audio, and PDFs on your Mac, in batches of hundreds, for $29 once.
$29 once, updates included. No account, no subscription, works offline. Need 2, 5 or 10 Macs?
TinyPNG is very good at one thing: squeezing PNG and JPEG for the web, free, in your browser. The limits are 20 images at a time, 5MB each, and every file gets uploaded. Picmal ($29, pay once) compresses the same formats on your Mac with no caps, and also converts formats and handles video, audio, and PDFs.
- Pick Picmal if
- You compress images often, your files go past 5MB, or you'd rather not upload client photos to a web service to make them smaller.
- Pick TinyPNG if
- You compress a handful of small web images now and then. It's free and it works, so keep using it.
Picmal vs TinyPNG at a glance
TinyPNG is a free web compressor for images. Picmal is a Mac app that converts and compresses images, video, audio, and PDFs without uploading anything.
| Feature | Picmal | TinyPNG |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $29 one-time | Free tier, then subscription |
| Where files are processed | On your Mac | Uploaded to their servers |
| Works offline | Yes | No |
| File size limit | None | 5MB per image (free) |
| Batch size | Hundreds at once | 20 at a time (free) |
| Image compression | Yes | Yes, its speciality |
| Image conversion | Yes, unlimited | 3 free images |
| Video | Convert & compress | No |
| Audio | Convert & compress | No |
| Compress, merge, split, images to PDF | No | |
| Resize | Yes | Yes, on paid plans |
| Folder monitoring | Yes | No |
| Shortcuts integration | Yes | No |
| Finder right-click | Yes | No |
| Platform | macOS 15+ | Any browser |
Which one is right for you?
Here's where each one makes more sense.
Choose Picmal
You're compressing constantly, or your files are big
- Your images are over 5MB, which most camera photos are
- You're tired of uploading 20 at a time and repeating
- The images are client work, and uploading them isn't your call
- You also need to convert formats, or shrink video and PDFs
Stay with TinyPNG
Occasional web images, and free is hard to beat
- You compress a few small web images a month
- You want the absolute smallest PNG and nothing else matters
- You're not on a Mac, or you need it from any browser
- You're using their API inside a build pipeline
Everything else Picmal does
One app for images, video, audio, and PDFs. Convert, compress, and edit, all on your Mac. These are the essentials, and there's plenty more in the docs.
Convert between formats
Over 100 formats across images, video, audio, RAW, and PDF. HEIC to JPG, MOV to MP4, FLAC to ALAC. Drop it in, pick the output, done.
Compress and save space
Get under an email limit or a slow upload, without the quality drop you'd actually notice. No browser, no waiting.
Split, combine and organize PDFs
Break a PDF apart, merge a stack into one, drag pages to reorder, or turn a folder of photos into a PDF. Your documents never leave your Mac.
Combine, download and watermark videos
Stitch clips into one video, paste a link to fetch a clip, or stamp a logo over a preview while it converts.
Merge and split audio
Join tracks into one file, or split a long recording by its chapters. Podcasts and audiobooks, sorted.
Crop, cut out and trace images
Trim margins, lift a subject onto a transparent PNG with on-device Vision, trace a logo to real SVG paths, or build a full icon set from one image.
Watch a folder
Point Picmal at a folder and whatever lands in it gets converted, compressed, or built into a PDF on its own. Set it once.
Strip metadata
Take GPS coordinates, camera model and timestamps out of a photo before you send it. Or keep them, and add your own copyright.
What people are
saying about Picmal
"Clean and easy to use. Perfect for quickly converting images without unnecessary extras."
"Everything works as expected - great app!"
"Great app! Simple and easy to use."
"It works perfectly now! Thanks and good work. It's really the kind of utility that I find very useful. I know that there are tons of free online tools doing the same thing but it's so much faster that way."
"Wonderfully simple app! I struggled with converting my images from one format to another constantly with online free tools. Picmal makes it effortless. Worth the money to avoid the hassle for sure!"
"You did a great job here! I like how easy Picmal is to use, and the frequent upgrades show that you are very committed to improving this beautiful software."
"It's a Mac-assed Mac App. Focused, customizable, flexible, well designed and super fast. 10+ times a day I need to convert a file for use on a website. Picmal makes that process a joy. My favorite conversion is taking a multipage PDF and converting each page to an individual image with one click (something even Preview can't do)."
"I really like these kinds of tools: simple interface, focused functions, one-time purchase, and continuous updates."
"Been enjoying the app! Thanks for the very handy utility."
"I f* love this app. Just so you know. Keep building!"
"Clean and easy to use. Perfect for quickly converting images without unnecessary extras."
"Everything works as expected - great app!"
"Great app! Simple and easy to use."
"It works perfectly now! Thanks and good work. It's really the kind of utility that I find very useful. I know that there are tons of free online tools doing the same thing but it's so much faster that way."
"Wonderfully simple app! I struggled with converting my images from one format to another constantly with online free tools. Picmal makes it effortless. Worth the money to avoid the hassle for sure!"
"You did a great job here! I like how easy Picmal is to use, and the frequent upgrades show that you are very committed to improving this beautiful software."
"It's a Mac-assed Mac App. Focused, customizable, flexible, well designed and super fast. 10+ times a day I need to convert a file for use on a website. Picmal makes that process a joy. My favorite conversion is taking a multipage PDF and converting each page to an individual image with one click (something even Preview can't do)."
"I really like these kinds of tools: simple interface, focused functions, one-time purchase, and continuous updates."
"Been enjoying the app! Thanks for the very handy utility."
"I f* love this app. Just so you know. Keep building!"
Pay once and you're all set
Already own Picmal? Add more Macs
How many Macs?
2 Macs is $10 more
-
Convert, compress and edit images, video, audio and PDFs
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Everything runs on your Mac, nothing gets uploaded
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Use it on 1 Mac
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Command line tool, Raycast extension and watched folders
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Free updates forever, no subscription
14-day refund after you buy, no questions asked. Needs macOS 15 or later.
More than 10 Macs? Email me.
Prices in USD, tax added at checkout, paid securely via Stripe.
How does the license work?
You pay once and keep it. No renewals, no subscriptions. Your license activates on the number of Macs you bought it for, and you can move it to another Mac whenever you want.
I bought Picmal and now I need more Macs. Can I upgrade?
Yes, and you only pay the difference. Going from 1 Mac to 2 is $10, 2 to 5 is $50, 5 to 10 is $60, and every other jump works the same way. Enter your license key here and the same key covers more Macs. The offer never expires, so starting small is never the wrong call.
What happens if I get a new Mac?
Open Picmal on your old Mac, go to Picmal → Register license to deactivate, then activate on the new one. Takes about ten seconds.
Do you offer student or country discounts?
Yes. I want Picmal to be affordable wherever you are. Students and educators get 40% off: verify your school email on the education page and the code lands in your inbox. If the price is steep for your country, checkout already adjusts it for you. If it still doesn't work, email support@picmal.app and tell me where you are, and I'll send a code.
A note from Picmal's founder
Hello there 👋
I'm Alberto, the developer behind Picmal.
Picmal started because I was tired of opening a browser every time I needed to convert a few files. I figured there had to be a better way, so I built one.
Over time, that simple image converter has grown into something much bigger, mostly thanks to the people who use it.
Along the way, I've tried to stay true to a few simple ideas: your files should stay on your computer, the app should feel at home on your Mac, and you should only have to pay once.
One of my favorite parts of building Picmal is talking to customers. Many of the features in the app today started as conversations with people who needed something that didn't exist yet.
So if there's a feature you've always wished for, or something you haven't found in other tools, I'd love to hear from you. If it fits Picmal, I'll do my best to build it.
Best,
Alberto
Frequently asked questions
Can't find what you're looking for? Email support@picmal.app
Is Picmal a good TinyPNG alternative?
If you compress images regularly, yes. Picmal does the same job on your Mac with no per-file size cap, no 20 image batch limit, and nothing uploaded. TinyPNG is excellent and free for occasional use, so if you compress a few images a month there's no reason to switch.
What are TinyPNG's free limits?
20 images at a time, 5MB each. Format conversion is limited to 3 free images, while compression itself is unlimited in batches of 20. Files are uploaded to their servers and deleted within 48 hours. Picmal has no caps because nothing leaves your Mac.
Does Picmal compress as well as TinyPNG?
For normal web use the results are close enough that you won't see a difference at the same file size. TinyPNG has spent years tuning its lossy PNG quantisation and is genuinely very good at that one job. Picmal compresses JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, AVIF and more, plus video, audio, and PDFs.
Can I compress images larger than 5MB?
In Picmal, yes, there's no size limit. That's usually the reason people look for a TinyPNG alternative, since camera photos and screenshots on a retina display go past 5MB easily.
Does TinyPNG upload my images?
Yes. It's a web service, so images are uploaded, compressed on their servers, and downloaded back. They state files are deleted within 48 hours. Picmal never sends an image anywhere and works with no internet connection at all.
What if Picmal doesn't work for me?
Full refund within 14 days, no questions asked. Email support@picmal.app.