Hi HN,
I originally built ConvertUniverse as a clean, simple suite of 24+ free PDF tools because I was tired of the bloated, ad-heavy alternatives. But after talking to users, I realized the real bottleneck isn't just converting a single file—it's the repetitive, multi-step tasks that happen before and after.
So for V2, I built a visual, node-based workflow builder. Instead of doing things one by one, you can now chain operations. For example: you can set up a flow to fetch a batch of images, convert them to PDF, merge them, run AI OCR to extract data, and apply password protection.
A few technical details on how it works:
Client-Side Processing: The core document processing happens locally in the browser. Your files don't leave your device, solving a major privacy headache for anyone handling sensitive invoices or legal documents.
Tech Stack & Auth: Built on Next.js and Supabase. I opted for Google OAuth specifically to enable deep Google Workspace integration. This allows the workflow builder to seamlessly fetch and save documents directly without clunky manual downloads.
The core conversion engine remains 100% free with no sign-ups required.
I'd love for you to test out the visual node builder and tear it apart. I’ll be hanging around in the comments all day to answer questions, debug, and take feedback on the architecture or UI.