Hack the Hydra

Editorial policy

This page explains how the tools, examples and guides on hackthehydra.com are made and checked. Pages are published under the name Hack the Hydra; we do not use invented authors, fake reviews or star ratings.

How the tools are tested

Before a tool is published we run it on sample inputs. Text tools (hashes, unit and base conversion, dates, percentages, JSON and YAML) are run in Node.js and compared with known results, for example published SHA test vectors. File tools (PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, images) are run in a real browser with sample files that we build ourselves. When a converter changes, its example and screenshots are regenerated.

Where the examples come from

The input and output shown in the "Example" blocks, screenshots and demo videos are produced by the real converters on this site, not written by hand. Tools with a binary result (merge, split, rotate, image conversion) have no text example on purpose.

Where your files are processed

The converters on this site run in your browser: your files are read on your device and are not uploaded to our servers. To work, the page downloads open-source libraries (pdf.js, Tesseract.js, mammoth, SheetJS and others, pinned to a version) from public CDNs. The separate paid APIs on Apify and RapidAPI process files on those platforms; see the privacy policy.

Limits are stated

The main tool pages have a "Key facts" table (formats, size limit, where processing happens, cost, output). Known limits, such as scanned PDFs needing OCR, are written on the page of the tool.

Guides

Guides explain a task and link to the tool that does it. Each guide shows the date its content last changed. Their numbers and claims come from the code of the tools or from the tools' own output; when we are not sure, we leave the claim out.

Advertising and our own services

The site may show ads (see the privacy policy). Ads never change what a tool outputs. We also run paid APIs for bulk conversion and link to them where relevant; they are our own products and are labelled as such.

Reporting an error

If a result is wrong or a page contains a mistake, write to contact@hackthehydra.com or open an issue on GitHub with the page URL. We fix confirmed errors and update the page date. See also the contact page.

What we do not do

We do not claim the site is free of third parties or cookies: it loads open-source libraries from public CDNs and may show Google AdSense ads, which can set cookies. See the privacy policy.