PDF24 Tools vs PDFsam (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, PDF24 Tools and PDFsam share a 3.0 GPA, both have a free plan, and PDF24 Tools has no paid plan to buy, against $2.91 a month when paid by the year for each person for PDFsam.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on all five counts.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
PDF24 Tools
Free online PDF tools paid for by ads, plus an offline Windows app
PDFsam
Split and merge PDFs offline, with paid Visual and Enhanced editions
Which one is for you
Pick PDF24 Tools if
- Fits if you need PDFs merged, compressed or OCR'd for free
- Works for offices that want a free PDF printer on every Windows PC
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you need to change the text already in a PDF, as PDF24 says to convert to Word for that
- Too light for Mac, Linux or phone users who want an offline app, as Creator is Windows only
- Not for you if ads on the page drive you mad, as that's how it's paid for
- Watch out: the online tools process files on PDF24's servers before removing them; only Creator keeps them local
- Tight if you want it linked to your cloud storage or other apps, as no integrations are on record
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
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAPDF24 ToolsVery good | 3.0GPAPDFsamVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree for home and business use, with no limits, and ads on the website pay for it. Creator is a program anyone can download. It costs nothing, but it can't rewrite existing text. | APDFsam Basic is free and open source, with no watermarks or limits. |
| Free plan and trial | AEverything is free online and in Creator, with no artificial limits and no account. The only cost is the ads on its web pages. | ABasic is free outright and has no cap a normal person reaches; paid Visual and Enhanced are separate. |
| Features | CMerges, splits, compresses, converts, OCRs, signs, redacts and compares, plus a virtual PDF printer. But the editor only adds text and shapes on top: changing existing text means converting to Word first, and that's the core job here. | CMerge, split, extract, rotate and mix, done fully, but that is a smaller job than editing: it does not change text inside a PDF. |
| Ease of use | BNo store rating on record. Pick a tool in the browser and go, with no install or account. | BNo rating on record; a program you install and use, with nothing to set up. |
| Platforms and integrations | CThe web, plus Creator for Windows. Mac, Linux and phones get the browser only, and there are no integrations on record. | CWindows, Mac and Linux, which are computers only. No phone or web version. |
| Best for | free everyday PDF jobs with no account | splitting and merging PDFs offline |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: PDF24 Tools and PDFsam. How we grade
Price against what you get
PDF24 Tools has no paid plan and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. PDFsam starts at $2.91 a month when paid by the year for each person and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and PDF24 Tools starts $2.91 a month lower. Of the other PDF editors on the chart, none scores higher than PDF24 Tools for less, and 2 score higher than PDFsam for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- PDFsam is open source, according to its own site.
- PDFsam can be bought with a one-time purchase.
At a glance
| PDF24 Tools | PDFsam | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | $34.90 per user / year (PDFsam Visual); PDFsam Basic is free |
| Free plan | All tools are free without restrictions or artificial limits, online and in PDF24 Creator, for private and business use; the web pages carry ads. | PDFsam Basic is free and open source, with no watermarks or limits, for splitting, merging, extracting, rotating and mixing PDFs. |
| Free trial | None listed | 14-day free trial of PDFsam Visual with all tools, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Made by | Geek Software GmbH | Sober Lemur S.r.l. |
| Price read from | tools.pdf24.org | pdfsam.org |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
PDF24 Tools
- The online editor adds text and shapes but cannot change existing text; PDF24 suggests converting to Word for that.
- The offline app, PDF24 Creator, is for Windows only; on Mac, Linux and phones PDF24 works in the browser.
- The free web tools show advertising, which is how PDF24 says it pays for them.
- Online files are processed on PDF24's servers and removed after a short time; Creator keeps them on the computer.
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.
Key features
PDF24 Tools
- Merge, split and compress
- Combine, split, compress and web-optimize PDFs, and rotate, remove, extract or rearrange pages.
- Convert and OCR
- Converts files and images to and from PDF, saves web pages as PDFs and makes scanned PDFs searchable with OCR.
- Sign, protect and redact
- Sign PDFs, add or remove passwords, black out sensitive content, add watermarks and page numbers and compare two PDFs.
- Annotation-style editor
- Write on pages, insert images, shapes and arrows, draw freehand and add form fields; existing text is edited by converting to Word.
- PDF24 Creator offline
- A Windows app with all the tools working offline, so files stay on the computer, plus virtual PDF printers that turn any printable file into a PDF.
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.
Plans
PDF24 Tools
PDF24 Tools$0
The online tools and the PDF24 Creator Windows app, free for private and business use, paid for by ads on the website.
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.
Ways to pay less
PDF24 Tools
No public discounts listed.
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.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, PDF24 Tools or PDFsam?
As of Nov 12, 2026, PDF24 Tools is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $2.91 a month when paid by the year for each person for PDFsam. PDF24 Tools is free, and PDFsam starts at $34.90 per user / year (PDFsam Visual); PDFsam Basic is free.
Which has a free plan, PDF24 Tools or PDFsam?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both PDF24 Tools and PDFsam have a free plan.
Which platforms do PDF24 Tools and PDFsam run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only PDF24 Tools lists a web app and only PDFsam lists macOS and Linux apps. Both list a Windows app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.