PDFsam vs Sejda (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, PDFsam grades higher than Sejda: 3.0 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
PDFsam grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
PDFsam
Split and merge PDFs offline, with paid Visual and Enhanced editions
Sejda
Web and desktop PDF tools, free within daily limits or by the week
Which one is for you
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
Pick Sejda if
- Fits if you need a week of heavy PDF work and then nothing for months
- Works for Linux users who want a desktop PDF editor
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to edit on your phone, as there's no app
- Tight if you OCR long scans, as even paid plans stop at 100 pages
- Not for you if you want the desktop app monthly, as only the week pass and annual plan include it
- Watch out: free desktop use is 3 tasks a day, 200 pages and 50MB a file, with OCR up to 10 pages
- Too light for linking to cloud storage or other apps, as no integrations are on record
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAPDFsamVery good | 2.2GPASejdaFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | APDFsam Basic is free and open source, with no watermarks or limits. | CThe Desktop+Web Annual plan is $63 a year, a bit under the middle for PDF editors. Web only is $7.50 a month, and week passes are $5 for web or $7.95 with desktop, paid once with no renewal. |
| Free plan and trial | ABasic is free outright and has no cap a normal person reaches; paid Visual and Enhanced are separate. | CFree on web and desktop with no signup, and that includes editing existing text. But desktop is capped at 3 tasks a day, 200 pages and 50MB a file, and OCR stops at 10 pages. |
| Features | CMerge, split, extract, rotate and mix, done fully, but that is a smaller job than editing: it does not change text inside a PDF. | CEdits existing text, turns PDFs into fillable forms, merges, splits, converts to Excel and runs OCR, with batch jobs on paid plans. The gap the listing names: OCR stops at 100 pages even when you pay. |
| Ease of use | BNo rating on record; a program you install and use, with nothing to set up. | BNo store rating on record. No signup on the web, and the desktop app installs and runs, so there's nothing to set up. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWindows, Mac and Linux, which are computers only. No phone or web version. | CThe web, plus desktop apps for Windows, Mac and Linux. But there's no phone app and no integrations on record. |
| Best for | splitting and merging PDFs offline | short bursts of PDF work, a week at a time |
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: PDFsam and Sejda. How we grade
Where they differ
- PDFsam is open source, according to its own site.
- PDFsam can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Sejda also covers forms.
At a glance
| PDFsam | Sejda | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $34.90 per user / year (PDFsam Visual); PDFsam Basic is free | $5 per user for 7 days, paid once, with no renewal |
| Free plan | PDFsam Basic is free and open source, with no watermarks or limits, for splitting, merging, extracting, rotating and mixing PDFs. | Free on web and desktop with limits: on desktop, 3 tasks a day, files up to 50MB and 200 pages, OCR up to 10 pages and one file converted at a time. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of PDFsam Visual with all tools, no credit card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Made by | Sober Lemur S.r.l. | Sejda BV |
| Price read from | pdfsam.org | sejda.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Sejda
- Free use is capped at 3 tasks a day on desktop and by pages and hours on the web, with OCR limited to 10 pages.
- The Web plans do not include Sejda Desktop; only the Desktop Week Pass and the Annual plan do.
- There is no monthly plan that includes the desktop app, and no mobile app.
- Even paid plans run OCR on documents of up to 100 pages.
Key features
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.
Sejda
- Edit existing text
- Add, edit or move text and change its font, size and style, add links, images and shapes, and annotate, highlight and sign.
- Forms
- Fill and sign PDF forms, and turn an existing PDF into a fillable form.
- Merge, split and organize
- Combine files, alternate pages from two documents, split by pages, size, bookmarks or text, and reorder, rotate, crop or delete pages.
- Convert and OCR
- Converts PDFs to Word, Excel or CSV and images, and HTML or images to PDF, with OCR on scans and table extraction.
- Desktop app that works offline
- Sejda Desktop installs on Windows, Mac and Linux and processes documents on your computer rather than on Sejda's servers.
- Batch work and tool chains
- Paid plans process several files at once, and a workflow tool runs a series of tasks on PDFs in one go.
Plans
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.
Sejda
Desktop+Web Free$0
No signup needed; page, hourly and file-size limits and some tool-specific limits.
Web Week Pass$5
per user for 7 days, paid once, with no renewal
Seven days of unlimited Sejda Web, then back to free; no desktop app.
Web Monthly$7.50
per user / month
Unlimited Sejda Web with files up to 500MB, OCR up to 100 pages and batch processing; no desktop app.
Desktop Week Pass$7.95
per user for 7 days, paid once, with no renewal
Seven days of unlimited Sejda Desktop and Sejda Web.
Desktop+Web Annual$63
per user / year
A year of Sejda Desktop and Sejda Web with no page or hourly limits, renewing yearly.
Ways to pay less
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.
Sejda
- Annual discount
Save 30% with the annual plan
Sejda's pricing page says the Desktop+Web Annual plan at $63 per user a year saves 30% over the $7.50 monthly web plan.
- Other savings
Team volume discounts from 2 users
Sejda gives volume discounts from 2 members, 20% for 10 users on its plans, and up to 60% off on desktop volume licenses.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, PDFsam or Sejda?
As of Nov 12, 2026, PDFsam starts at $34.90 per user / year (PDFsam Visual); PDFsam Basic is free, and Sejda starts at $5 per user for 7 days, paid once, with no renewal.
Which has a free plan, PDFsam or Sejda?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both PDFsam and Sejda have a free plan.
Which platforms do PDFsam and Sejda run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Sejda lists a web app. Both list macOS, Windows and Linux apps. 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.