PDFill PDF Editor vs PDFsam (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, PDFsam grades higher than PDFill PDF Editor: 3.0 against 2.4 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
PDFsam grades higher on the free plan, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money and features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
PDFill PDF Editor
Windows PDF editor with a free basic version and low-cost licenses
PDFsam
Split and merge PDFs offline, with paid Visual and Enhanced editions
Which one is for you
Pick PDFill PDF Editor if
- Fits if you want to fill and mark up PDFs on Windows for nothing
- Works for people who prefer paying once
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you use a Mac, Linux or Android
- Watch out: the free edition shows an advertisement link
- Tight if you need to edit original text, redact or scan, which are paid-edition features
- Watch out: the download page lists version 15.0 updated in March 2021, and it needs Ghostscript
- Watch out: evaluation copies of the paid editions watermark edited PDFs
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
| 2.4GPAPDFill PDF EditorFair | 3.0GPAPDFsamVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | A$19.99 one-time with free lifetime upgrades is under a year of the $7.99 middle subscription for PDF editors. | APDFsam Basic is free and open source, with no watermarks or limits. |
| Free plan and trial | BFree Basic fills forms, types text and marks up with no watermark, though it shows an advertisement link. | ABasic is free outright and has no cap a normal person reaches; paid Visual and Enhanced are separate. |
| Features | COriginal-content editing, redaction and OCR are paid-only, and the page shows a 2021 update date, so the listing shows gaps. | 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 | CNo store rating on record. It needs Ghostscript installed, which is extra setup. | BNo rating on record; a program you install and use, with nothing to set up. |
| Platforms and integrations | DWindows only; the vendor says it does not support Mac, Linux or Android. | CWindows, Mac and Linux, which are computers only. No phone or web version. |
| Best for | cheap one-time Windows PDF markup | 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: PDFill PDF Editor and PDFsam. How we grade
Where they differ
- PDFsam is open source, according to its own site.
- PDFill PDF Editor also covers forms.
At a glance
| PDFill PDF Editor | PDFsam | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $19.99 one-time, with free lifetime upgrades | $34.90 per user / year (PDFsam Visual); PDFsam Basic is free |
| Free plan | Free Basic version: fill forms, type text and add markup, with no watermark; it shows an advertisement link. | 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 |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Made by | PlotSoft L.L.C. | Sober Lemur S.r.l. |
| Price read from | pdfill.com | pdfsam.org |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
PDFill PDF Editor
- Windows only; the vendor says it does not support Mac, Linux or Android.
- The free evaluation copies of Professional and Enterprise watermark the edited PDFs.
- The download page lists version 15.0 Build 3 updated in March 2021, and it needs Ghostscript.
- Original-content editing, redaction and OCR are listed only on the paid-edition comparison, not the free Basic edition.
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
PDFill PDF Editor
- Fill and type on forms
- Fills interactive forms with spell check and an autofill list, and types formatted text, checks or images onto any page.
- Form maker
- Creates fillable text, check box, radio, combo, list and button fields with keystroke, format, validate and calculate actions.
- Editing of original content
- Paid editions list deleting or replacing original text, images, form fields and comments, and redacting content; see the comparison page.
- Page and document tools
- Inserts, extracts and replaces pages, adds bookmarks, headers, watermarks, Bates numbers, signatures, and runs OCR.
- Markup and ink
- Markup tools cover stamps, text boxes, highlights and shapes; a pen-input ink annotator is listed for the paid editions.
- Free PDF writer and tools
- The package includes a virtual printer that creates PDFs or images from printable programs, plus merge, split, encrypt and watermark tools.
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
PDFill PDF Editor
Free Basic$0
Form filling, typewriter text, form maker and markup tools; an advertisement link is shown.
Professional$19.99
one-time per user, with free lifetime upgrade
Removes the advertisement link and unlocks the paid features; the comparison page marks which tools need Enterprise.
Enterprise$39.99
one-time per user, with free lifetime upgrade
Adds 170 Office shapes, custom shapes and fill mode; the comparison page lists the editing, redaction and scanner tools.
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
PDFill PDF Editor
- Other savings
Multi-license discount
The order page gives extra free licenses on bulk purchases, such as 8 licenses at $19.99 each with 2 more free.
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, PDFill PDF Editor or PDFsam?
As of Nov 13, 2026, PDFill PDF Editor starts at $19.99 one-time, with free lifetime upgrades, and PDFsam starts at $34.90 per user / year (PDFsam Visual); PDFsam Basic is free.
Which has a free plan, PDFill PDF Editor or PDFsam?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both PDFill PDF Editor and PDFsam have a free plan.
Which platforms do PDFill PDF Editor and PDFsam run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, 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.