PDF-XChange Editor vs PDFsam (2026): which should you pick?

Pick PDF-XChange Editor if

• Fits if you are on Windows and want a one-time purchase
• Works for people who can live with the free edition for markup

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you use a Mac, Linux or a phone, as it is Windows only
• Tight if you need forms or compare, because those need Editor Plus at $79
• Watch out: licensed features add watermarks in the free version
• Watch out: updates cover 1 year, then renewals cost about 25% of the license price a year
• Not for you if you want a refund, as none is given once license keys are released

Pick PDFsam if

• Fits if you mostly split, merge and reorder PDF pages
• Works for anyone who wants an offline, no-cost page tool

Look elsewhere if

• Not for you if you need to edit text inside a PDF, as Basic and Visual work on pages and files
• Skip it if you want the full editor on a Mac or Linux, since Enhanced is Windows only
• Pricey if you want Visual, at $34.90 a year or $59 once, once its 14-day trial ends
• Watch out: Visual's one-time license covers minor upgrades only
• Tight if you need OCR or forms, because those are in Enhanced at $69 to $129 a year

PDF-XChange Editor

• It runs on Windows 10 and later only; there is no Mac, Linux or browser edition.
• The vendor gives no refunds after license keys are released, so test the free version first.
• Maintenance (updates) covers 1 year; renewals within 30 days of expiry cost about 25% of the license price per year.
• Form creation, document compare and the enhanced OCR need Editor Plus, not the standard license.

PDFsam

• Only Basic is free; Visual's trial ends after 14 days, though merge, mix and two split tools stay free.
• PDFsam Enhanced, the full editor with OCR and forms, is for Windows only; Mac and Linux users get Visual.
• Basic and Visual work on pages and files; they do not edit text inside a PDF.
• Visual's perpetual license includes minor upgrades only; free upgrades are tied to the subscription.

PDF-XChange Editor

Editing and markup

Edit text and images and annotate PDFs, with over 400 features in all, 145 of them licensed.

OCR

Built-in OCR makes scanned documents searchable; Editor Plus uses a more accurate engine.

Forms (Plus)

Editor Plus creates and edits fillable forms and can turn non-interactive PDFs into forms with Identify Forms.

Compare documents (Plus)

Editor Plus compares two documents and summarizes insertions, deletions, replacements and style changes.

AI Assistant

Analyzes and answers questions about PDFs using OpenAI, Anthropic or Google models; it needs your own API key.

Signing tools

The FreeSign tool adds signatures and initials, and Plus can add placeholders where signers should sign.

PDFsam

Merge and split

Basic merges PDFs with bookmarks and forms, and splits by page numbers, bookmark level or file size.

Extract, rotate and mix

Keep only the pages you need, rotate all or some pages, and interleave pages from two files for single-sided scans.

Visual page organizer

Visual lets you drag and drop pages from several PDFs to rearrange, delete, crop, resize or compress them.

Clean and protect

Visual removes metadata and annotations, flattens forms and encrypts files with AES 256.

Full editor on Windows

Enhanced edits, annotates, fills forms, converts to Office formats, runs OCR and signs PDFs.

Works offline

Files stay on your computer: Basic and Visual need no internet connection and upload nothing.

PDF-XChange Editor

• Free$0

  Free for private and commercial use; features marked as licensed add watermarks to saved output.

• Editor, single user$62

  one-time purchase per user

  Perpetual license with 1 year of maintenance; 2 or 3 years can be added at purchase.

• Editor Plus, single user$79

  one-time purchase per user

  Adds a more accurate OCR engine, form creation, document compare, Identify Forms and dynamic stamps.

• Editor, 3 user pack$168

  one-time purchase for 3 users

  Perpetual licenses for 3 users; larger packs run up to 1000 users and site licenses.

PDFsam

• PDFsam Basic$0

  Free, open-source app to split, merge, extract, rotate and mix PDFs on Windows, macOS and Linux.

• PDFsam Visual subscription$34.90

  per user / year, recurring billing

  25+ page tools including compress, crop and metadata cleaning, with unlimited upgrades; 2 computers per user.

• PDFsam Visual perpetual$59.00

  one-time purchase per user

  The same Visual tools without a subscription, with unlimited minor upgrades; 2 computers per user.

• PDFsam Enhanced Standard$69

  per user / year

  Windows-only PDF editor, with free upgrades and support; 2 computers per user.

• PDFsam Enhanced Pro$89

  per user / year

  A higher Windows edition of Enhanced; the page does not spell out how it differs from Standard.

• Enhanced Pro + OCR Advanced$129

  per user / year

  Top Windows edition of Enhanced, with the advanced OCR option.

PDF-XChange Editor

• Education

  Charity and academic offers

  PDF-XChange lists a page of registered charity and academic offers; the free version may also be used in academic settings.

• Other savings

  Cheaper extended maintenance at purchase

  Adding 2 or 3 years of maintenance when buying costs less than renewing later; the pricing page shows examples.

PDFsam

• Education

  40% off for students, nonprofits and teachers

  Students, nonprofits and public school teachers can get PDFsam Visual's Education plan at 40% off; the page shows $20.94 against $34.90.

• Other savings

  Volume discounts on 5+ Enhanced licenses

  PDFsam says it offers volume discounts on five or more PDFsam Enhanced licenses, through its sales team.