Comparing .pub File Converters: Which One Actually Works?

With Microsoft Publisher reaching end of life in October 2026, the question of how to convert .pub files is coming up for a lot of organizations. Here's an honest look at every real option — what works, what doesn't, and who each is right for.

The core trade-off: parsers vs. real Publisher

Before comparing specific tools, it helps to understand the fundamental split in how .pub converters work:

• Third-party parsers reverse-engineer the .pub file format. They read the binary file and try to reconstruct the layout. This is faster and cheaper to operate, but the .pub format is poorly documented — the output reflects that.
• Real Publisher automation opens the file in actual Microsoft Publisher and uses its rendering engine. The output looks exactly as Publisher would render it, because it is Publisher rendering it.

All free online converters use parsers. Markzware Publisher2ID uses a parser (as a plugin). Publisher Conversion uses real Publisher automation.

LibreOffice Draw

Cost: Free. Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux.

LibreOffice Draw can open .pub files and export them to PDF or ODP. For simple one-page documents — a basic flyer, a plain certificate — it's worth trying. It handles Publisher's simpler elements reasonably well.

For anything more complex: text reflows noticeably, multi-column layouts collapse, and content on Publisher's pasteboard is generally lost. It also has no IDML output, so you can't use it to migrate to Affinity Publisher or InDesign.

Best for: Reading the content of simple .pub files for free. Not suitable for layout-sensitive conversion.

Free online converters (Zamzar, CloudConvert, Convertio)

Cost: Free for small files; subscription for larger files. Output: PDF, image formats.

These services are convenient — upload a file, get a PDF back in minutes. They all use third-party parsers and produce similar results: serviceable for simple layouts, unreliable for anything complex.

Common problems:

• Text wraps at different points than the original
• Fonts are substituted with generic alternatives
• Images shift position
• Content on the pasteboard is lost
• Multi-page documents can have pages in the wrong order

There's also a privacy consideration: your files are uploaded to a third-party server and processed by their infrastructure.

Best for: Quick previews of simple files. Not suitable for batch conversion or anything you'll print or publish.

Markzware Publisher2ID

Cost: ~$299 one-time licence. Requires: Adobe InDesign.

Markzware Publisher2ID is a plugin for Adobe InDesign that converts .pub files to InDesign format. It's the most established dedicated tool in this space and handles many Publisher files reasonably well — better than generic online converters.

The significant requirement: you must own Adobe InDesign (approximately $22/month). If you're already an InDesign user, Publisher2ID is a solid option for one-off conversions. If you don't have InDesign, the effective cost is $299 + $264/year — which changes the calculus considerably.

It also converts files one at a time, which is workable for a handful of files but tedious for large batches.

Best for: InDesign users who need to convert Publisher files occasionally. See our detailed comparison with Markzware.

Publisher Conversion (real Publisher automation)

Cost: $5/file (volume discounts at 100, 500, 1,000 files). Output: PDF + IDML.

Publisher Conversion runs actual Microsoft Publisher on a dedicated Windows machine. Your .pub files are opened natively in Publisher — the same process as opening them yourself — and exported to both PDF and IDML. Because nothing is being parsed or guessed, the output reflects the document as Publisher would actually render it.

Key advantages over the alternatives:

• No InDesign licence required
• Batch processing — upload hundreds of files at once
• IDML output for Affinity Publisher 2 migration
• Pasteboard content preserved
• Fonts embedded correctly in the PDF
• Per-file pricing — pay only for what you convert

Best for: Organizations with multiple files to convert, anyone who needs IDML output, and users without InDesign.

Summary comparison