# A PicSVG alternative, tested on the same images.

Looking for PicSVG itself? It lives at picsvg.com; this is pic2svg, a different converter with a similar name. PicSVG is a free, ad-supported tracer that returns a single-colour SVG and offers 18 filters. pic2svg traces in colour. We ran the same four images through both live sites on 2026-11-01 and publish every number below. The converter on this page is ours.

Text of <https://pic2svg.com/picsvg-alternative/>. The page itself also carries the working image converter.

> **Is pic2svg a good PicSVG alternative?**
>
> If your image has colour, yes: on our two colour images and the photo, pic2svg's SVG matched 99.0 to 99.4% of pixels within 32 levels, while PicSVG's best of its 18 filters matched 0.9 to 1.4%, because PicSVG draws every shape in one colour. For black-on-white line art the two are level: on our ink drawing PicSVG's best filter matched 98.9% of pixels and the drawn lines slightly better than we did (87.5% shape overlap against our 84.8%). PicSVG needs no account and has no paid tier; pic2svg's SVG download is free, and other formats are paid.

## How do PicSVG and pic2svg compare?

PicSVG's column is read from picsvg.com and its privacy and Supermode pages on 2026-11-01, or observed in our run that day where the row says so. pic2svg's column is read from this site's code.

| Compared | PicSVG | pic2svg | Source for PicSVG |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Colours in the SVG | One fill colour per file (black by default; a colour picker changes it). Every one of the 72 SVGs in our run had a single fill | Keeps the image's colours: 3 to 55 fill colours on our four images | measurement:/picsvg-alternative/measurements.json |
| Settings | 18 filters (Edge 1-6, Internal 1-5, Smooth 1-2, Clean 1, Sharp 1, Detail 1, Artistic 1-2); Edge 2 is selected after upload | Automatic colour and mode detection with two presets (Balanced, Compact); no filters | <https://picsvg.com/> |
| Input | JPG, GIF and PNG up to 4 MB | Any image your browser opens (JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, BMP), plus TIFF | <https://picsvg.com/> |
| Trace size | Observed: images wider than 600 px came back traced at 600 px wide (900 × 640 became 600 × 427) | Traced at up to about 0.6 megapixels, so a 900 × 640 image is traced at full size | measurement:/picsvg-alternative/measurements.json |
| Output formats | SVG | SVG free; PDF, EPS, AI and DXF from the same trace on a paid plan | <https://picsvg.com/> |
| Price and account | Free, no account; the site shows Google AdSense ads | SVG free with no account (personal, non-commercial licence); Starter $9.99 billed monthly, or $79 billed yearly, which is $6.58 a month, Pro $19.99 billed monthly, or $159 billed yearly, which is $13.25 a month for every format and commercial use | <https://picsvg.com/privacy.php> |
| Your files | Uploaded pictures and generated files are deleted every hour | Traced on pic2svg's own server; temporary trace files are deleted when the trace finishes | <https://picsvg.com/privacy.php> |
| Batches | One image at a time (the upload accepts a single file) | Up to 12 images per batch after a free sign-in | <https://picsvg.com/> |

## What did each one produce on the same four images?

Both live sites, 2026-11-01. For PicSVG we tried all 18 filters and show the default (Edge 2) and the filter that scored best on that image; pic2svg ran once with its default Balanced preset. "Pixels matched" is the share of pixels within 32 levels of the input in every colour channel, after rendering the SVG at the input's size on white. Raw numbers for every filter are in the measurements file.

Source: <https://pic2svg.com/picsvg-alternative/measurements.json>

| Input | PicSVG, default filter | PicSVG, best filter | pic2svg |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Colour illustration, 480 × 320 PNG (sky, hills, flag, sun) | 1.3% pixels matched; outlines only, 44 paths, 11,711 bytes | Edge 5: 1.4%; 174 paths, 29,672 bytes | 99.0% pixels matched; 50 paths in 35 colours, 35,668 bytes |
| Two-colour logo, 1000 × 500 JPEG (blue play button, orange bar) | 71.3% pixels matched; outlines only, 25 paths, 8,469 bytes | Internal 3: a solid black silhouette, 98.8% shape overlap; 2 paths, 3,723 bytes | 99.2% pixels matched, 99.6% shape overlap; 4 paths in 3 colours, 3,103 bytes |
| Black ink drawing, 900 × 640 PNG | 98.8% pixels matched; 4 paths, 5,315 bytes | Internal 1: 98.9% pixels matched, 87.5% shape overlap; 2 paths, 5,480 bytes | 98.6% pixels matched, 84.8% shape overlap; 23 paths, 5,592 bytes |
| Sunset photo, 320 × 213 JPEG | 0.3% pixels matched; a few black horizon lines | Smooth 2: 0.9%; 4 paths, 10,100 bytes | 99.4% pixels matched; 89 paths in 55 colour bands, 19,915 bytes |

## When is PicSVG the better choice?

Where its design or our run favours it.

- **Black line art or a one-colour stencil:** On our ink drawing PicSVG's best filter followed the lines slightly more closely than our trace (87.5% against 84.8% shape overlap) in 2 paths against our 23. If the result is one colour anyway, its filters give you more looks to choose from.
- **Outline or edge effects:** Its Edge and Artistic filters draw the edges of shapes as lines. pic2svg always fills shapes; it has no outline or centre-line mode.
- **Commercial use at no cost:** pic2svg's free SVG is licensed for personal, non-commercial use; commercial use needs Pro ($19.99 billed monthly, or $159 billed yearly, which is $13.25 a month). PicSVG charges nothing.

## When is pic2svg the better choice?

Where our engine and plans fit the job better, by the numbers above.

- **Anything with colour:** Logos, illustrations and photos keep their colours as separate filled shapes; in our run that was the difference between about 99% and at most 71% of pixels matched. See [logo to vector](https://pic2svg.com/logo-to-vector/).
- **Bigger images:** pic2svg traces up to about 0.6 megapixels, so a 900 × 640 drawing is traced at full size; PicSVG returned it at 600 px wide.
- **PDF, EPS, AI or DXF:** PicSVG returns SVG. pic2svg exports the same trace as PDF on Starter and as EPS, AI and DXF on Pro; for cutting and CAD see [image to DXF](https://pic2svg.com/image-to-dxf/).
- **No ads, and batches:** pic2svg shows no ads, and after a free sign-in takes up to 12 images in one run; see the [batch converter](https://pic2svg.com/batch-image-to-svg/).

## How these numbers were made

- **Research date:** 2026-11-01
- **Environment:** Both live sites opened in headless Chromium through Playwright 1.64. PicSVG: each image set on picsvg.com's file input with the default Details setting (Strong), then each of the 18 filters selected in turn, saving the SVG the page fetched. pic2svg: each image dropped on the converter at pic2svg.com with the default Balanced preset, saving the SVG the server returned.
- **Sample size:** Four images from this site's own example set: a colour illustration, a two-colour JPEG logo, a black ink drawing and a small photo. 72 PicSVG outputs and 4 pic2svg outputs.
- **Metrics defined:** Pixels matched: share of pixels whose red, green and blue each lie within 32 levels of the input, with both rendered on white at the input's size by Chromium. Shape overlap: dark areas (luminance under 200) of the render and the input, intersection over union; reported only for the logo and the drawing, which sit on white. Paths: `<path>` elements. Colours: distinct fill values.
- **Not tested by this run:** PicSVG's Supermode (its code requests were closed when we checked), the colour picker, its other tools, and how either file behaves in a cutter, plotter or design app. Four images are a small sample; try your own.
- **Known variance:** One run per image on each site; both services may change their engines without notice. The scripts are in scripts/examples/picsvg-alternative/ in our repository.

## PicSVG alternative questions

### Is pic2svg the same as PicSVG?

No. PicSVG is a separate free converter at picsvg.com. pic2svg (this site) is not affiliated with it and runs its own engine, built on the open-source vtracer library; see [about pic2svg](https://pic2svg.com/about/).

### Can PicSVG make a colour SVG?

Not as one file in our test: every SVG it returned used a single fill colour, which you can change with its colour picker. pic2svg keeps the colours of the image, as separate filled shapes.

### Which one is better for a Cricut or a laser?

For a one-colour cut, both work; PicSVG's Internal filters give a filled silhouette in very few paths. For layered colour cuts pic2svg gives you one shape per colour; see [image to SVG for Cricut](https://pic2svg.com/image-to-svg-for-cricut/).

### Are both free?

PicSVG is free and shows ads. pic2svg's tracing, preview and SVG download are free with no account; PDF needs Starter ($9.99 billed monthly, or $79 billed yearly, which is $6.58 a month), and EPS, AI, DXF and commercial use need Pro ($19.99 billed monthly, or $159 billed yearly, which is $13.25 a month).

### Where can I see more comparisons?

The [Vector Magic alternative](https://pic2svg.com/vector-magic-alternative/) and [Inkscape Trace Bitmap alternative](https://pic2svg.com/inkscape-trace-bitmap-alternative/) pages cover those tools in the same way, and [how to check if an SVG is a real vector](https://pic2svg.com/how-to-check-if-svg-is-a-real-vector/) helps you inspect any converter's output.

## Related converters and guides

- **Image to SVG:** [Trace a photo, logo or illustration into an SVG of filled vector paths.](https://pic2svg.com/)
- **Logo to vector:** [Turn a PNG or JPG logo into the vector file a printer or sign maker asks for.](https://pic2svg.com/logo-to-vector/)
- **Image to SVG for Cricut:** [Turn a sticker or decal design into a layered SVG cut file.](https://pic2svg.com/image-to-svg-for-cricut/)