--- title: "PDFsam Basic Software Pricing, Alternatives & More 2026 | Capterra" description: "With the help of Capterra, learn about PDFsam Basic Software - reviews, pricing plans, popular comparisons to other PDF products and more." source_url: "https://www.capterra.com/p/182728/PDFsam-Basic/" page_type: "product" language: "en" publication_date: "2026-10-19" --- # PDFsam Basic Software Review 2026: Features, Integrations, Pros & Cons Last updated on October 19, 2026 Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Description](#description)[Use cases](#use-cases)[Alternatives](#alternatives)[FAQs](#faqs)[Features](#features)[Pricing](#pricing)[Support](#support)[Reviews](#reviews) PDFsam Basic ## What is PDFsam Basic? PDFsam Basic is an open-source PDF software for Windows, Linux, and Mac. It allows users to merge, split, rotate, extract, and mix pages from PDF files. Key features are merging PDFs and bookmarks, splitting PDFs by page numbers or file size, rotating PDF pages, and extracting pages from PDFs. ## What is PDFsam Basic used for? [PDF](https://www.capterra.com/pdf-software/)[PDF Editor](https://www.capterra.com/pdf-editor-software/) Top alternative Featured Overall rating Based on 56 user reviews Reviews sentiment Positive 91% Neutral 4% Negative 5% Contact vendor for pricing Free trial not available Includes Free Version Capterra Shortlist charts the highest-rated and most popular products... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Do you work for PDFsam Basic?[Manage this product listing](https://www.g2.com/products/pdfsam-basic/claim_requests/new?auto=true) ## Compare with a popular alternative Capterra selects software alternatives based on relevant features, verified user reviews and user interactions. Placement may be influenced by client status. ### PDFsam Basic 4.4 (56) VS. [4.7 (4,268)](https://www.capterra.com/p/251329/Adobe-Acrobat-DC/reviews/) Starting Price Contact vendor Starting Price $19.99 Per User, Per Month Free Trial Free Version Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version Ease Of Use 4.6 (56) Ease Of Use 4.6 (10,550) Value For Money 4.5 (34) Value For Money 4.3 (7,035) Customer Service 4.0 (23) Customer Service 4.3 (6,152) ## PDFsam Basic alternatives [4.5 (583)](https://www.capterra.com/p/167449/Nitro/reviews/) Starting price $15.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 92% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [4.7 (451)](https://www.capterra.com/p/65868/ABBYY-FineReader/reviews/) Starting price $16.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 94% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Adobe Acrobat Reader](https://www.capterra.com/p/170833/Acrobat-Reader-DC/) [4.6 (10,550)](https://www.capterra.com/p/170833/Acrobat-Reader-DC/reviews/) Starting price $1.95 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 95% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/170833/Acrobat-Reader-DC/) [iLovePDF](https://www.capterra.com/p/173963/iLovePDF/) [4.7 (1,812)](https://www.capterra.com/p/173963/iLovePDF/reviews/) Starting price $9.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 97% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/173963/iLovePDF/) [View all alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/182728/PDFsam-Basic/alternatives/) ## FAQs about PDFsam Basic Overview ### What problems does PDFsam Basic solve? PDFsam Basic solves the challenge of assembling, separating, and organizing PDF records without printing or manually rebuilding documents. It merges related files, extracts selected pages, reorders or rotates pages, and splits large PDFs into email-ready sections. Office administrators, healthcare staff, legal and risk-management teams, students, and remote workers benefit most. Answer based on 46 reviews Overview ### Which roles and teams benefit most from PDFsam Basic? PDFsam Basic is most used by project managers, administrators, and research teams that need to split, merge, reorder, and share PDF documents for projects, records, and reports. IT and technical staff use it to prepare documentation and manage file packages, while billing, practice, risk, and sales managers assemble client-facing paperwork and internal files. Answer based on 56 reviews Overview ### What company size and industries is PDFsam Basic built for? PDFsam Basic is for small businesses, which represent 68% of reviewers, and Information Technology and Services, its top industry at 9%. It is also intended for students, researchers, and professionals, with adoption in Non-Profit Organization Management and Financial Services at 7% each. Its primary use case is PDF work for 94% of reviewers. Answer based on 56 reviews Features and Usability ### What are the key features of PDFsam Basic? PDFsam Basic includes core PDF merging and splitting tools for combining documents, extracting page ranges, and separating large files. It also supports page rotation and page deletion for basic document management. File management features include drag-and-drop input, file reordering, and output size-based splitting, with support for macOS environments. Answer based on 34 reviews Limitations ### Does PDFsam Basic have bugs or reliability issues? PDFsam Basic generally runs reliably for routine PDF splitting, merging, and page extraction across common desktop systems. Many users describe fast, trouble-free operation, but some report slow launching, recurring upgrade prompts, or pop-ups. Users considering paid editions should confirm feature access and support expectations, as upgrade-related issues can affect usability. Answer based on 18 reviews Getting Started and Support ### What training and onboarding options does PDFsam Basic offer? PDFsam Basic provides documentation to help teams get started. This written reference format gives users material for reviewing features, checking setup steps, and finding guidance when needed. Only documentation is listed as an available training option in the catalog data. Getting Started and Support ### What customer support options does PDFsam Basic offer? PDFsam Basic provides chat support. Reviewer feedback on support is mixed to negative, with users describing repetitive or scripted replies, slow resolution of technical issues, and difficulty getting clear help when the product did not work as expected. Answer based on 3 reviews Features and Usability ### How well does PDFsam Basic merge and split PDF files? PDFsam Basic handles everyday PDF merging, splitting, extracting, and page reordering well for individual users and document-heavy teams. It produces clear output and helps create smaller files for sharing, although some users need to check file order manually and may miss live previews, text editing, or combined multi-step actions. Answer based on 34 reviews Features and Usability ### Is PDFsam Basic easy to use for beginners? PDFsam Basic makes common PDF tasks approachable with drag-and-drop workflows and separate tools for merging, splitting, extracting, and rotating pages. Remote workers, healthcare staff, and small business teams often find it quick to learn, though beginners may find some options less intuitive and the interface dated compared with full PDF editors. Answer based on 18 reviews ## Features AI summary Based on 6,431 PDF reviews Capterra reviewers highlight these as the features buyers care about most when choosing PDF software: - **PDF Reader** (**49%** of reviewers rated this feature as critical) - **Convert to PDF** (**49%**) - **PDF Conversion** (**45%**) PDFsam Basic includes **Convert to PDF**, but it does not include **PDF Reader** or **PDF Conversion**. Instead, it offers **Merge/Append Files** (**40%**), which is another feature reviewers see as important. That makes the product a better fit for teams that need to combine PDF documents rather than read files within the system or handle broader conversion tasks, helping businesses keep documents organized and prepare files for sharing or distribution. Convert to PDF 4.4 (8) 87.50% of 8 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Create, edit, convert to and from PDF files Merge/Append Files 4.7 (27) 85.19% of 27 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Merge or combine files / add pages to a document Collaboration Tools 4.3 (3) 33.33% of 3 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Provides a channel for team members to share AI models, media files, communicate, and work together Rotate Pages 3.0 (1) 100.00% of 1 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Change page orientation Delete Pages Delete pages from a document File Management Create, save, and store files PDFsam Basic 8 features ### All Features - Collaboration Tools: Provides a channel for team members to share AI models, media files, communicate, and work together - Convert to PDF: Create, edit, convert to and from PDF files - Delete Pages: Delete pages from a document - File Management: Create, save, and store files - Mac Operating System: Supports macOS operating system - Merge/Append Files: Merge or combine files / add pages to a document - Rotate Pages: Change page orientation - Size: Give users the option to adjust scanning size --- Features 4.4 (56) 4.4 Based on 56 reviews ## Pricing Value for money 4.5 (34) Value for money 4.5 (34) 4.5 Based on 34 reviews ## Support, customer service and training options Customer Service 4.0 (23) Support - Email/Help Desk - FAQs/Forum - Knowledge Base - Phone Support - 24/7 (Live rep) - Chat Training - In Person - Live Online - Webinars - Documentation - Videos Deployment - Web - Android - iPhone/iPad Typical users - Freelancers - Small businesses - Mid size businesses - Enterprises Customer Service 4.0 (23) 4.0 Based on 23 reviews ## User reviews Overall rating 4.4 Based on 56 reviews Filter by rating Counts reflect reviews available in this feed. 5(35) 4(16) 3(2) 2(1) 1(2) Mentioned topic Recent reviews first, then most helpful RE Reviewer No Used the software for: I used a free trial ### "Programma migliore " 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 January 28, 2026 Eccellente programma, accessibile, semplice e gratuito con potenzialità al pari di altri programmi più rinomati. Pros Velocissimo nel esportare il file definitivo, mai visto un programma così potente e gratuito. Grazie Cons Nulla, non ho trovato alcun problema fino ad ora con l'utilizzo di questo programma, che consiglio a chi deve lavorare con certi file pesanti e ha poco tempo a disposizione. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Jose P. usiness Change Manager. IPMA. PMP. Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "PDFsam Basic, an excellent option to manipulate and interact with PDF documents." 5.0 December 5, 2022 It is a tool that we must necessarily have in our laptops, it behaves excellently in operating systems such as Mac OS and Windows, in addition to being widely used worldwide and preferred in many organizations due to the simplicity with which the functionalities have been implemented. that allow the successful management of documents in PDF format. Pros PDFsam Basic is great for merging all or part of PDF documents and specifying which pages we want to merge for each input file, on the other hand, we can add tables of contents at the beginning of the document, which makes it easy for us to incorporate a list of inputs that work with a single click, allowing easy navigation within the file.PDFsam has many features that increase its usability, such as the Drag and Drop option to drag PDF documents directly from the file manager to the application. Cons PDFsam Basic has little by little incorporated new functionalities in addition to the fact that we can use it in Windows and Mac OS environments without problems. Another notable feature is that we can extract pages from PDF files very easily, and this is a really important aspect when manipulating individual pages or ranges of pages to create a new PDF file. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. RE Reviewer practice manager Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Great little pdf editor" 5.0 November 1, 2023 I've been very happy with the program Pros I have to regularly gather documents and create one file, in healthcare to upload files securely onto the cloud. PDFsam basic is easy to use and super fast, even when my internet is not! Thanks! Cons The free basic program is not as intuitive for splitting pdfs, but it does work once you figure out the method. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. RE Reviewer Designated Broker Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "Hidden Costs" 3.0 Overall Rating 3.0 3.0 Ease of Use 2.0 2.0 Features 2.0 2.0 Customer Service 1.0 1.0 Likelihood to Recommend 1/10 October 20, 2020 Disappointing and a waste of money and time. Pros Honestly, there is very little that I like about this product. And nothing worth what I have paid for so far. Cons I don't need it to print to PDF and even using it for that is not simple. I have upgraded twice now and it still doesn't have the functionality that I need. It prompts me constantly to upgrade. The product description is unclear which is why I have upgraded. And I still don't have a function that I would like to have. It is helpful to delete pages from a PDF document, but I will need to upgrade another time to be able to merge documents together . I am not going to bother. I will switch to Nitro PDF and know exactly what I am getting. And their customer service is awful. I went back and forth several times with their customer service, explaining and re-explaining before someone actually took the time to read what I was writing and not just respond with what felt like a scripted reply. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. RE Reviewer Firm Technical Specialist Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Great, effective and powerful free tool with an outdated interface" 5.0 August 25, 2021 Overall, I am very happy with this piece of software -- it is reliable, available at little to no cost, and easy enough to train users on and recommend. I wish it were available on a platform like Ninite so that it would be easier to install with other utilities at the same time. I have no hesitation recommending this software. Pros This software is very reliable, and works quickly. It can handle or generate a large number of files without stuttering, and is very easy to use once you get used to it. Cons The interface is outdated, and requires users to read what each field or line is asking before and choosing the acceptable option. After each A more modern interface would come preset with common defaults for each type of job, and then allow the users to modify those with a popup menu if needed. I also did not like that the most accessible download pushes the paid version so heavily. However, download the MSI version (for Windows) from the download page eliminates that issue. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Marianela F. Water Treatment Consultant Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "PDFsam, an excellent software designed to split, merge, extract pages, merge and rotate PDF files." 5.0 October 10, 2022 PDFsam is extremely useful during digitization procedures and the generation of consolidated files. It is important to have PDFsam's functionalities, in addition to the many opportunities for its use, either to deliver official documents or to avoid losing files attached to a main document. Pros PDFsam allows it to be installed very simply and quickly in windows and mac environments, in addition to its features being fast, especially for processing large documents that require incorporating multiple pages, which makes it very reliable when generating documents to deliver, for example in a bidding process, since it incorporates proven elements in document management. Cons PDFsam is widely used worldwide, being tested by thousands of users daily, which creates a great opportunity to incorporate this tool with great functionality in the mobile environment and smart devices. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Pascual G. Project Manager Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Highlights in the use of PDFSAM." 4.0 June 21, 2022 An excellent tool and very easy to use, it is perhaps one of the most important features, and the updates that are notified to the user allow them to incorporate new features that increase the level of satisfaction. Pros One of the most outstanding aspects is precisely the fact that it is possible to carry out the functionalities with just a few clicks. Among which, it is possible to use the merge, split, rotate and "split by size" options most often. Additionally, there are many default options and each one of them has its contextual menu and with the icon (?) it is possible to interpret the operation of that particular option. Cons It is possible that so many configuration options can overwhelm the novice user so that he will probably have to perform the (run) option several times until he achieves the objective that he had set for himself. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. RE Reviewer Engineer Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Fast and reliable PDF merging tool" 5.0 October 16, 2022 It is a life saver when in need to merge some pdf files. Pros Fast and reliable. Most important - it's free. Cons There is not much not to like. It does what it is designed for. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. RE Reviewer Editor Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "A winner: free app that works like a charm" 5.0 June 7, 2022 For basic use, I don't see any need for other software. If I needed the premium PDF editing features, I'm confident that the PDFsam family of apps will work just as well. Pros It's easy to extract or split pages or merge them. The interface is clear, and you can drag and drop files to work on, specify which pages to extract, change the order of files to merge, etc. Bottom line: it does exactly what it says it will do and works quickly. Cons There isn't anything I don't like; it works beautifully. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. RE Reviewer Assistant Director Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Love the features but it often crashed on my computer" 3.0 July 4, 2023 I like all the features and the low price, however the constant crashing was problematic. Pros The ease and level of controls given to merging PDFs into one document. Cons It often crashed on my computer when going through the PDF merge process. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. [View all Reviews](https://www.capterra.com/p/182728/PDFsam-Basic/reviews/) ## Top-rated software of 2026 ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox. Popular comparisons [Adobe Acrobat Reader vs PDFsam Basic](https://www.capterra.com/compare/170833-182728/Acrobat-Reader-DC-vs-PDFsam-Basic)[Adobe Acrobat vs PDFsam Basic](https://www.capterra.com/compare/182728-251329/PDFsam-Basic-vs-Adobe-Acrobat-DC) [iLovePDF vs PDFsam Basic](https://www.capterra.com/compare/173963-182728/iLovePDF-vs-PDFsam-Basic)[PDF-XChange vs PDFsam Basic](https://www.capterra.com/compare/170838-182728/PDF-XChange-vs-PDFsam-Basic)