PDFsam Basic review

PDFsam Basic does one family of jobs and does them in detail: rearranging whole pages across files. It has six tools, merge, split, mix, rotate, extract pages and insert pages, and it runs offline on your own computer with no watermarks and no size limits. Merge is the deepest module. You can take whole files or page ranges written as 1-10, 14, 25-, decide whether bookmarks are merged, discarded or rebuilt with one entry per file, handle AcroForms with clashing field names, and add a clickable table of contents at the front. Split can break a file after every page, at chosen page numbers, every n pages or into pieces of a given size. The project has been open source since 2006 and publishes its source code, which matters to anyone careful about document privacy. It does not touch the content of a page, so text, images, OCR and forms need another tool from this list.

Who it is for

merging and splitting PDFs with open source software

Price

Free and open source.

PDFsam Basic is a free and open source app that splits and merges PDF files on your own computer, with no watermarks and no size limits.
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 11, 2026.

Key features

• Six tools: merge, split, mix, rotate, extract pages and insert pages
• Merges whole files or page ranges such as 1-10, 14, 25-
• Merges, discards or rebuilds bookmarks from merged files
• Adds a clickable table of contents to merged PDFs
• Splits after every page, at given page numbers, every n pages or by size

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: No watermarks and no size limits
• Strength: Files never leave your computer and no internet connection is needed
• Strength: Open source since 2006, with public source code
• Weakness: Does not edit text or images inside a PDF
• Weakness: Six page tools only, with no OCR or form filling
• Weakness: Also runs on macOS and Linux, so the interface is not Windows-specific

Key facts

• Price: Free
• License: Open source
• Platforms: Windows, macOS and Linux
• Limits: No watermarks, no size limits

Where it ranks

PDFsam Basic is No. 7 in our Best Free PDF Editors for Windows verdict.