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.



PDFtk is described as 'Simple tool for doing everyday things with PDF documents. It comes in three flavors: PDFtk Free, PDFtk Pro, and our original command-line tool PDFtk Server' and is a PDF Editor in the office & productivity category. There are more than 50 alternatives to PDFtk for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, Web-based and BSD apps. The best PDFtk alternative is PDFsam Basic, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like PDFtk are Adobe Acrobat DC, Master PDF Editor, PDFTK Builder and JOPDF.
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.



Manage documents effortlessly, edit PDFs, create them from other formats, and e-sign anywhere. Secure sharing and comparison tools ensure smooth workflows and data protection. New AI Assistant offers quick document insights. Perfect for desktop and web platforms.




Master PDF Editor is complete solution for editing PDF and XPS files. You can insert, edit, remove, copy, add images or graphics. Export, import, remove and change page layouts. Also Master PDF Editor provides full functionality for changing PDF information, including author...



PDFTK Builder is a free graphical interface to for PDFtk, making it much easier to use. It is a easy to use tool to collate (merge), split, encrypt, decrypt, stamp and rotate (only 90°, 180° or 270°) pdf documents.


The latest version (3.10.0) is from July 2018.
Builds on the exact same library as PDFtk
Only the interface is open source. The more essential component, the core, pdftk, is not. Misleading.


JOPDF is a 100% free PDF editor for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Edit, compress, merge, convert and annotate PDFs with no watermark or signup required.


a web-based platform that allows you to perform various operations on PDF files, such as conversion, merging, splitting, and more. It works by allowing you to upload your files, select the desired operation, and then download the processed file.

Open-source PDF viewer and editor using Qt framework, featuring hardware-accelerated rendering, encryption, multithreading, text-to-speech, annotation tools, form filling, high-res monitor support, document compression, audio book conversion, and signature validation.


Merge, split, rotate, crop and rearrange pdf documents and their pages using an interactive and intuitive graphical interface.


It could have been called something like pdf-to-pdf. It also provides many useful capabilities to developers of PDF-producing software or for people who just want to look at the innards of a PDF file to learn more about how they work.
The app "unlocks/save as" all password-protected PDF by passing to it the password
Has the no nonsense simple features that are needed.
Missing basic function: rotate pages



PDFEncrypt is a free, open-source Windows application that encrypts any PDF file using industry-standard encryption algorithms.

@chitoesque PDFtk Server, the program which PDFtk Builder is based on, is open-source under GPLv2. Other variants of PDFtk are not.