--- title: PDFsam Basic Reviews meta_title: 'PDFsam Basic Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta_description: Filter 48 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how PDFsam Basic works for a business like yours. aggregate_rating: rating_value: 4.2 review_count: 48 scale: '5' date_modified: '2026-07-31' parent_category: name: Collaboration & Productivity url: https://www.g2.com/categories/collaboration-productivity --- # PDFsam Basic Reviews **Vendor:** Sober Lemur **Category:** [PDF Editors](https://www.g2.com/categories/pdf-editor) **Average Rating:** 4.2/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 48 ## About PDFsam Basic PDFsam Basic, a free, open source, multi-platform software designed to split, merge, extract pages, mix and rotate PDF files. ## PDFsam Basic Reviews ### 1. A simple solution for several of our PDF needs, for free! **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Nima A. | -, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 26, 2022 **What do you like best about PDFsam Basic?** The basic free version has all the capabilities that I need! It lets me split and merge PDFs in addition to other things. All I need to do is to drop the PDFs, reorder them, and select merge. It also has an option to normalize the sizes of pages so that the merged file has a consistent page size throughout the document. Splitting PDFs is equally easy! Just select the file and set how you want it to be separated; like each page or after a specific page. And of course you can opt in to pay a fee and use the enhanced version which has more capabilities but for my basic needs, the free version is more than enough. **What do you dislike about PDFsam Basic?** While PDFsam Basic is fast and has no issues by itself, the update procedure is not that much! Sometimes the updating process gets stuck at 99% and sometimes the program doesn't run after the update therefore I have to restart the machine. **What problems is PDFsam Basic solving and how is that benefiting you?** Mostly, I use it to merge or split PDFs. It is a simple and fast solution and helps me save a great amount of time and hence be more productive. ### 2. My experience with PDFSam Basic **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Juan Francisco U. | Especialista de Proyectos, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 09, 2019 **What do you like best about PDFsam Basic?** The first thing that is appreciated when starting PDFSam Basic (desktop application) is that it presents options to manipulate PDF documents where each option is a module within what we could call “dashboard”. With this application you can only split (in number of pages or size in Mb or Kb), extract pages, combine, rotate and mix PDF documents. It called my attention the option to divide a PDF document into several documents taking into account the weight in MB or KB indicated by the user. PDFSam Basic is offered as a free tool. **What do you dislike about PDFsam Basic?** Other options are also included in the dashboard (such as generate PDF as a virtual printer, convert PDF to Excel, Word, and edit, crop, delete pages and visual combine or reorder PDF documents), but require downloading the PDFSam Enhanced application and paying by activating several of those options. It should be noted that all of the options not offered within the basic application can be obtained in other applications for free. **Recommendations to others considering PDFsam Basic:** Although it is a simple application, PDFSam Basic is a useful tool for executing basic functions such as splitting, merging, rotating and mixing of PDF documents. It is a free tool. **What problems is PDFsam Basic solving and how is that benefiting you?** The option to divide by size in MB or KB a PDF document proves to be a very useful tool if you need to section a file for sending by email. ### 3. Awesome software for basic PDF edition **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Jose Manuel A. | Project Control Manager, Management Consulting, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 01, 2019 **What do you like best about PDFsam Basic?** This software is very simple to use, it has a self explanatory and intuitive interface with a strong set of options to better organize my PDF files. The document manipulation functionalities is very vast, and for those only looking to merge and split files or extract, mix and rotate PDFs quickly, this tool comes in very handy. Another feature to remark about it is the fact that I can manipulate large size files very smoothly without crashes and lags **What do you dislike about PDFsam Basic?** PDFsam Basic might not let you make direct edits to PDFs, but it includes very handy utilities for your basic everyday needs. If you want to edit a PDF file in full depth you’ll need to pay for that functionality. Although this software is relatively inexpensive. Another low point is its design, for me it looks old since it uses old version of java but that doesn’t affect its performance **Recommendations to others considering PDFsam Basic:** I recommend this tool to any user that needs to split or merge PDF files easily, it’s very simple because it has a pretty user friendly interface. It’s a very smooth software that will allow you to coordinate and improve the way the tasks are performed **What problems is PDFsam Basic solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use it on a daily basis since I constantly need to remove and add pages to PDFs as well as split them to create smaller size files so it can be shared with my peers and clients which helps me to gain time making me more productive ### 4. Powerful PDF Software. **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Jordon W. | Owner, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 22, 2019 **What do you like best about PDFsam Basic?** I like how simple and clean the software is. It is also powerful as I have used it to merge PDF's with over 100 pages in them for email. It has well thought out little features like option to automatically adding a table of contents when merging PDF's. **What do you dislike about PDFsam Basic?** The ability to preview PDF's within the software before merging, splitting etc. It just requires you to open the PDF separately then close it before you can make edits in PDFsam Basic. I also could not find how to password protect files but I believe it has this feature. **Recommendations to others considering PDFsam Basic:** Give a try as its free for all of the basic features. Its also great that its an offline tool so you don't need to upload documents that might be sensitive to a server. The premium features add a lot of value as well I just wish you could preview PDF files before you edit them to double check what page needs editing or to be split. **What problems is PDFsam Basic solving and how is that benefiting you?** The ability to merge massive PDF's without crashing and in a small file size that can be shared or sent. If the file is way too big it will split it bu size limit so you can send the PDF in parts. The software makes managing PDF's easy. ### 5. Free Service! **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Jacklyn "Lake" A. | Vice President of Finance, Insurance, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 22, 2019 **What do you like best about PDFsam Basic?** My favorite part of PDFSam is the fact that it's completely free! Instead of buying a service such as Adobe, it can cost hundreds of dollars for a program you might only use a couple of times a year! I always need to merge PDFs at work and for school, and PDFSam allows me to do that with ease. The initial website is very simple and easy on the eyes. All you need to do is download the program to your computer, and use PDF Sam for all of your PDF needs. It can split files, merge 2 or more into 1, and even take away pages from a file. It can do a lot more than that too for free! It's quick to download and get the hand of. **What do you dislike about PDFsam Basic?** The initial website is a little simple, and the advertisement banner on top can be deceiving to new people using the website. The banner ad could potentially be a virus but it says "Download Here". I believe PDF Sam should advertise a different service on their largest banner ad. The website seems a little dated but it still gets the job done. **Recommendations to others considering PDFsam Basic:** Quick download and saves a lot of money for businesses. **What problems is PDFsam Basic solving and how is that benefiting you?** I'm solving financial problems and organization. With PDFsam Basic I'm able to edit my PDFs easily and do whatever I need to do with them instead of paying Adobe. The financial problems I'm solving is not paying Adobe to do the things I am able to do with PDFsam Basic. Adobe can be hundreds of dollars and PDFsam is free. ### 6. PDFsam is always there when you need it **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Roger R. | Consultor de sistemas, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 10, 2019 **What do you like best about PDFsam Basic?** Everything related to PDF manipulation has this software, it can divide, merge, rotate and other options. In addition, this application is a compilation of Java, so it can run on various platforms. **What do you dislike about PDFsam Basic?** The ambience of the user interface is unattractive, it usually looks like an old program. **Recommendations to others considering PDFsam Basic:** PDFsam is a Java based tool, so it can be used by many operating systems. **What problems is PDFsam Basic solving and how is that benefiting you?** The tool of combining PDF files has saved us headaches in the office, since it is really complicated to carry out that function. ### 7. You get more than you pay for with PDFsam Basic **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in E-Learning | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 22, 2019 **What do you like best about PDFsam Basic?** There's the age old phrase "you get what you pay for" and that most often leads people to believe that any free software is worthless. I typically agree on many fronts but PDFsam Basic really does challenge that thought process. Very fast uploads and turnaround times. Also fairly customizable. It also runs on any operating system. You can also edit visually. Great tool! **What do you dislike about PDFsam Basic?** There are some occasional errors while you're using it, but not horrible. or too frequent. The only thing I wish would be improved is that there is no online functionality so you can't connect it to the cloud at all. **Recommendations to others considering PDFsam Basic:** If you want a no hassle and no monetary investment product, this open source PDF Split and merge software really is the way to go! It makes countless tasks that used to require multiple different softwares to be achieved all in one. **What problems is PDFsam Basic solving and how is that benefiting you?** We merge and split a lot of pdf documents in the workplace, especially for training snippets. ### 8. A multiplatform PDF editor **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Miguel C. | Especialista en datos, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 06, 2019 **What do you like best about PDFsam Basic?** What I like most is that it supports the most used operating systems: Windows, Mac and Linux. **What do you dislike about PDFsam Basic?** It is necessary that Java is installed in the computer so PDFsam Basic works and many of us do not like it. **Recommendations to others considering PDFsam Basic:** It has all the PDF editing tools of several software in a single software. **What problems is PDFsam Basic solving and how is that benefiting you?** We edit PDF files in a way that we could not with other software. It has all the editing tools that you can not find anywhere. ### 9. pdf editor **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Rodrigo O. | Consultor de serviços, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 22, 2019 **What do you like best about PDFsam Basic?** I like the functionality of joining two pdfs into one, selecting pages merged into each pdf. **What do you dislike about PDFsam Basic?** Sometimes the software crashes when I'm going to generate a pdf with many pages. **Recommendations to others considering PDFsam Basic:** A tool that assists in the merge of several pdfs. If you need these features then this is the right software for you. **What problems is PDFsam Basic solving and how is that benefiting you?** I need to put together different reports and this tool helps me to accomplish my work. ### 10. A presentable PDF software **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Alfredo C. | IT Specialist, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 14, 2019 **What do you like best about PDFsam Basic?** It has a very easy user interface, since all the tools are at hand. The option to extract images works great. **What do you dislike about PDFsam Basic?** The support takes too long to respond, as if they did not care that you have a query. **Recommendations to others considering PDFsam Basic:** It has interesting tools that will surely be useful to you. **What problems is PDFsam Basic solving and how is that benefiting you?** Basically we use this software to extract images from PDF files, however, we also use other tools such as combining and rotating. ### 11. PDFsam Basic is great, despite being based on Java **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Francisco V. | Consultor Senior de Sistemas, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 19, 2019 **What do you like best about PDFsam Basic?** It has interface divided into the in its own tools and it is very easy to navigate. **What do you dislike about PDFsam Basic?** This program is based on Java and I'm not really a fan of this platform. **Recommendations to others considering PDFsam Basic:** It is a software with many features and with an excellent price. **What problems is PDFsam Basic solving and how is that benefiting you?** Basically we divide, add and merge PDF files into this software that is really a specialist in the field. ### 12. Manage your PDF files with PDFsam Basic **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Victor C. | Asistente de Sistemas, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 21, 2019 **What do you like best about PDFsam Basic?** PDFsam Basic allows you to re-order or recompose multiple pages of PDF files. **What do you dislike about PDFsam Basic?** Occasionally encountered some errors when extracting images. **Recommendations to others considering PDFsam Basic:** It's really worth trying PDFsam Basic. **What problems is PDFsam Basic solving and how is that benefiting you?** This software freed us from the headaches of reordering or recompose multiple pages of PDF files. ### 13. Great! **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Mugdha J. | Student, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 22, 2019 **What do you like best about PDFsam Basic?** It is an open source platform, does not need to be installed and runs on all operating systems. **What do you dislike about PDFsam Basic?** Runs on Java which is mostly not easy to operate for many people. It also keeps adding ads to upgrade to the premium package and I have come across some glitches as well. **What problems is PDFsam Basic solving and how is that benefiting you?** It can really halp in splitting, merging and ordering the documents which helps in organizing the data. ### 14. Worth trying if you need to visually change your PDF **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Research | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 22, 2019 **What do you like best about PDFsam Basic?** It runs on any operating system that supports Java. **What do you dislike about PDFsam Basic?** I got confusing error messages occasionally. **Recommendations to others considering PDFsam Basic:** Great program, but be sure to download from Sourceforge. For some reason, update 60 is quite difficult to uninstall by normal methods - it's necessary to download and install a newer Java, so that it removes 60. The version from Sourceforge does not have this problem. **What problems is PDFsam Basic solving and how is that benefiting you?** I needed a way to easily edit many pages of a PDF. This has saved me a lot of time. ### 15. PDF Tool **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Katherine Y. | Talent Acquisition Specialist, Information Technology and Services, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 22, 2019 **What do you like best about PDFsam Basic?** I like that the software is easy to maneauver through to merge existing documents. **What do you dislike about PDFsam Basic?** I like that there is a function to both merge and cut documents into separate pieces. **What problems is PDFsam Basic solving and how is that benefiting you?** I utilize PDF Sam Basic while feelancing curriculum development projects for my company. ### 16. Excellent alternative to Acrobat for basic PDF manipulation **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** John D. | President and Principal Consultant, Information Technology and Services, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 31, 2019 **What do you like best about PDFsam Basic?** I have recommended this product to several clients and have found the user interface easy to explain. **What do you dislike about PDFsam Basic?** I don't have any particular complaints about it. **What problems is PDFsam Basic solving and how is that benefiting you?** I most frequently use it to combines pages among multiple PDF documents to create a new document. That merging capability is especially helpful for assembling project documentation. ### 17. PDFSam Basic **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Renu D. | Riya, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 22, 2019 **What do you like best about PDFsam Basic?** Simple to use, user friendly, open source **What do you dislike about PDFsam Basic?** Sometimes crashes, errors are occasional **What problems is PDFsam Basic solving and how is that benefiting you?** For splitting pdf documents. Easy to use. ### 18. PDFsam Basic Review **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Health, Wellness and Fitness | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 22, 2019 **What do you like best about PDFsam Basic?** Even this version is better for PSF viewing and editing than Adobe. Highly recommend to those who use pdf documents. **What do you dislike about PDFsam Basic?** I wish it had even more editing capabilities. **What problems is PDFsam Basic solving and how is that benefiting you?** It’s a great way to add to documents used in the industry. It’s a great way to communicate with your colleagues and team. ### 19. Great tool for basic PDF tweaking **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Computer & Network Security | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 21, 2019 **What do you like best about PDFsam Basic?** PDFsam Basic might not let you make direct edits or additions to PDFs, but it does include seven very handy utilities for your basic everyday needs. **What do you dislike about PDFsam Basic?** Not a comprehensive PDF editor and Requires Java **What problems is PDFsam Basic solving and how is that benefiting you?** Several utilities in one package, Simple to use, Available for Windows, Mac and Linux ### 20. Simple to use **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Accounting | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 21, 2019 **What do you like best about PDFsam Basic?** Allows splitting and merging of pages using more than 1 method **What do you dislike about PDFsam Basic?** Does not allow direct edit or additions to the documents. **What problems is PDFsam Basic solving and how is that benefiting you?** Splitting and merging document pages is easy. It can also rotate pages. ### 21. Ease of use **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Hospital & Health Care | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 22, 2019 **What do you like best about PDFsam Basic?** Quick and easy to learn and use software **What do you dislike about PDFsam Basic?** Updates may be needed from time to time. Freezes sometimes **What problems is PDFsam Basic solving and how is that benefiting you?** Ease of transfer and edit of current PDFs ## PDFsam Basic Discussions - [Is PDFsam basic free?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/is-pdfsam-basic-free) - 2 comments - [View PDFsam Basic pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/pdfsam-basic/reviews?filters%5Bnps_score%5D%5B%5D=4§ion=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-08-02+02%3A25%3A03+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=3bf5591c-7bbe-475d-a916-a06a7dc35185&secure%5Btoken%5D=37391a1d37cf417d8a3c3864260267f3cc030e1eb6ba14e1095facd4e16d7e47&format=llm_user) ## PDFsam Basic Features **Organization** - Protect - Document Management - Document Scanning - Editing History **Editing** - Size - Edit Fields - New PDF - Field Functions - Annotate **Operating System** - PC Operating System - Mac Operating System - Linux Operating System ## Top PDFsam Basic Alternatives - [Adobe Acrobat](https://www.g2.com/products/adobe-acrobat/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (4,663 reviews) - [Foxit PDF Editor](https://www.g2.com/products/foxit-pdf-editor/reviews) - 4.6/5.0 (3,455 reviews) - [PDFCreator](https://www.g2.com/products/pdfcreator/reviews) - 4.4/5.0 (125 reviews)