PDFsam Basic
PDFsam Basic is a free and open-source desktop application for splitting and merging PDF files. It runs entirely on your own computer, so your files are never uploaded anywhere and it works fully offline.
EU
Features
Properties
- Lightweight
- Support for Themes
- Privacy focused
Features
- Combine PDF
- Split and merge PDF files
- Edit PDF
- Split PDF files
- Merge Files
- Extract files
- Works Offline
- Multiple languages
- No registration required
- PDF OCR
- Portable
- No Tracking
- Ad-free
- Dark Mode
- Java based
- Document Merging
- Re-order scanned pages
- Low memory usage
PDFsam Basic News & Activities
Recent News
Recent activities
roshandxt added PDFsam Basic as alternative to Shard.Tools
TechyGeeksHome-Andrew-Arm added PDFsam Basic as alternative to PDFGeek
jabrannoor added PDFsam Basic as alternative to Scribe PDF- namdx1987 liked PDFsam Basic
- andreavacondio updated PDFsam Basic
PDFParrot added PDFsam Basic as alternative to PDFParrot Merge
dcarrero added PDFsam Basic as alternative to Reader Split PDF
POX added PDFsam Basic as alternative to JOPDF- pdfops liked PDFsam Basic
Eelcos added PDFsam Basic as alternative to Fabreasy PDFixer
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What is PDFsam Basic?
PDFsam Basic is a free and open-source desktop application for splitting and merging PDF files. It runs entirely on your own computer, so your files are never uploaded anywhere and it works fully offline. It is fully functional and free forever, not a trial: no account, no watermarks, no file-size limits. Available for Windows, macOS and Linux, released under the AGPL license and actively developed since 2006.
What it does:
- Merge PDF files, whole documents or selected page ranges, keeping or dropping bookmarks and form fields and with an optional table of contents.
- Split PDF files by page (odd, even, single pages).
- Split PDF files by size.
- Split PDF files by bookmark level.
- Extract a selection of pages into a new PDF.
- Insert the same PDF, or some of its pages, into another file at a set page interval.
- Rotate PDF files in batch.
- Mix multiple PDF files, taking pages alternately from each.
Note: PDFsam Basic is free and open source while PDFsam Visual and PDFsam Enhanced are separate commercial products from the same company with different features and pricing.
PDFsam Basic information
Developed by
Andrea Vacondio Licensing
Open Source (AGPL-3.0) and Free product.Pricing
One time purchase (perpetual license) ranging between $59 and $129.Written in
Rating
Average rating of 3.5Alternatives
155 alternatives listedSupported Languages
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AlternativeTo Categories
File Management, Office & ProductivityGitHub repository
- 4,542 Stars
- 397 Forks
- 123 Open Issues
- Updated
Comments and Reviews
PDFTK Builder [1] and PDFsam [3] are the only free portable apps able to split or merge more than 140 pages. If you need a free portable app able to split or merge 147 pages, you can use PDFTK Builder [1], which is available only in english, however. PDFsam is also portable and availaible in many languages (german also). 7-PDF Split & Merge [2] (german + english) can split only max. 50 pages and merge max. 5 files for free. If you want to to split or merge more than 50 pages you must pay 10 EUR for "7-PDF Split & Merge PRO".
[1]
PDFTK Builder
[2]
7-PDF Split & Merge
[3]
PDFsam Basic
[Edited by em4020, April 30]
I have split 600+ page electronic textbooks with PDFSam with no trouble.
Until now PDFSam had no tag "portable" and I did not know, hat there is a portable version until now!
Today I have added the tag "portable" to PDFsam. Thank You dthatcher7 for Your interesting information!
Horrible. Avoid this software. Complaint #1: Does not provide the functionality promised. I purchased the "enhanced" or premium product and it did not ever provide me with the functionality promised. No ability to edit PDFs as promised. Complaint #2: The subscription to a premium version fails. Although installed on my computer, it keeps reverting to the "free" version. Complaint #3: It is very hard to impossible to stop PDF Sam from automatically charging your credit card in the future for renewals. You may have to actually cancel your credit card. Complaint #4: There is no way to reach customer service by phone. Complaint #5: My final complaint is a lawyer-specific complaint but may apply in other professions where you need to upload documents to a government agency. I am a lawyer and frequently need to electronically file documents with courts. Documents that are merged or saved using PDFSam are **rejected **by Court websites. Although they are saved as a PDF, there is something different about these files that causes them to be rejected. Use Adobe Acrobat instead.
Totally agree, this app is a joke.
I use this for scanning double-sided documents on a non-duplex scanner ADF. You scan all the pages once, flip the stack and scan the other side, and then use the Alternative Mix function. There aren't many programs that can do this and they others I tried were hard to use or expensive (or both). Paperport, which came with my scanner, could do this but is now defunct and won't install on Windows 11 so I was happy to find this free alternative.
Almost unusable in the basic version, as you cannot delete pages etc. This is possible in PDFsam Visual, which costs 29,00 € as a yearly subscription price or 49,00 € as a perpetual license. The most powerful version, PDFsam Enhanced, is only available as a subsciption from $ 69 up to 129 $ per year, which is way too expensive.
PDFsam Visual should be satisfying the most needs, like merge, split, delete etc. I will test the program in more detail.
Anyway, there are less expensive or even free programs which do the job similarly well.
I bought a perpetual license of PDFsam Visual for 49,00 € a while ago, and the software does the most needed tasks quite well, in my opinion. But I think, updates are only free within the same major version, like 6 per example. You’ll have to pay for an upgrade from 6 to 7, which is not what I understand by “permanent.”
Bait-and-switch installer, wanted the basic but it installed both basic AND "enhanced," and the only way to do the edit I needed was locked behind a paywall.
I purchased the enhanced version feeling great about supporting a developer that contributes to open source; and finished up bled dry on a renewal the company refuses to refund despite me requesting the refund within days of the renewal; and for a product that NEVER worked after the first 3 months due to the login failing (Note: My password as stored in the password manager has NOT changed). I'm out of pocket $215 AU and feeling abused. I don't trust these guys
Hidden cross sale for the Enhanced Version resulting in an additional charge. After three days the enhanced version has not been delivered yet and customer support is non responsive. Had to file a dispute with my bank to try and get my money back. Whatever you do, stick to the free and open source version and do not buy!