PDFsam vs Stirling PDF (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Stirling PDF: it is third in our ranking of PDF editors, and it grades higher too, 3.2 against 3.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
PDFsam grades higher on ease of use. Stirling PDF grades higher on features and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money and the free plan.
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
Stirling PDF
Open-source PDF editor you can run on your own machine or server
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 Stirling PDF if
- Fits if you want PDF tools that keep files on your own machine
- Works for developers who want an API for PDF jobs
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you run a team, as SSO and the team workspace are not on the free plan
- Pricey if you need Team, at $99 a month for up to 100 users
- Watch out: air-gapped use, SCIM, data residency and audit logs need the sales-only Enterprise plan
- Watch out: automation credits cost 1 cent each after the first 1,000 a month
- Skip it if you want a phone app, as none is listed
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAPDFsamVery good | 3.2GPAStirling PDFVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | APDFsam Basic is free and open source, with no watermarks or limits. | AFree for individuals, with 60+ tools on web, desktop or self-hosted and 1,000 automation credits a month. |
| Free plan and trial | ABasic is free outright and has no cap a normal person reaches; paid Visual and Enhanced are separate. | AThe free plan has no cap on the PDF tools a normal person uses; automation credits are 1,000 a month, then 1 cent each. |
| 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. | B60+ tools, an API, an MCP server, pipelines and an in-editor assistant. Gaps named are in team features, not the core tools. |
| Ease of use | BNo rating on record; a program you install and use, with nothing to set up. | CWeb and desktop apps exist, but the Linux desktop download is a .jar file run by hand, and self-hosting is a setup job. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWindows, Mac and Linux, which are computers only. No phone or web version. | BWeb, Mac, Windows and Linux, plus an API and MCP. No phone apps. |
| Best for | splitting and merging PDFs offline | free PDF tools you can run on your own machine |
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 Stirling PDF. How we grade
Price against what you get
PDFsam starts at $2.91 a month when paid by the year for each person and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Stirling PDF starts at $99 a month and scores 2.7.
Stirling PDF scores higher, and starts $96.09 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other PDF editors on the chart, 2 score higher than PDFsam for less, and 8 score higher than Stirling PDF 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 can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Stirling PDF is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Stirling PDF also covers workflow automation.
At a glance
| PDFsam | Stirling PDF | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $34.90 per user / year (PDFsam Visual); PDFsam Basic is free | $99 per month for 100 users (Team) |
| Free plan | PDFsam Basic is free and open source, with no watermarks or limits, for splitting, merging, extracting, rotating and mixing PDFs. | Free for individuals: 60+ PDF tools on web, desktop or self-hosted, plus 1,000 monthly credits for automation. |
| 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. | Stirling PDF Inc. |
| Price read from | pdfsam.org | stirling.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 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.
Stirling PDF
- The Team plan is $99 a month for 100 users; SSO and the team workspace are not on the free plan.
- Air-gapped deployment, SCIM, data residency and audit logs need the sales-only Enterprise plan.
- Automation through the PDF Processor uses credits: 1,000 free each month, then 1 cent per credit, prepaid or as used.
- The Linux desktop download is a .jar file that you run manually.
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.
Stirling PDF
- 60+ PDF tools
- The editor offers 60+ tools, including redaction, OCR, compression and conversion, on the web, desktop or your own server.
- Private by design
- Stirling says the editor runs on your machine and the source is public, so files do not have to go to a third-party site.
- Self-hosting
- Run it with the official Docker image, on Kubernetes with Helm, or from a .jar file on a server.
- API and MCP
- Every PDF operation can be called from your own systems, with webhooks when a job finishes.
- Pipelines and policies
- The PDF Processor chains operations and applies rules to files as they arrive, with each action logged.
- In-editor assistant
- An assistant can redact, translate, summarize or convert the file you have open when you ask.
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.
Stirling PDF
Free$0
60+ PDF tools on web, desktop and self-hosted, open source, with 1,000 monthly credits; no card required.
Team$99
per month for up to 100 users
Adds single sign-on, a team workspace and invites, and central control of the tool catalog; more capacity in blocks of 100 users.
EnterpriseCustom
Sold through sales: air-gapped deployment, SCIM provisioning, data residency, audit logs, uptime SLAs and custom terms.
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.
Stirling PDF
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, PDFsam or Stirling PDF?
As of Nov 12, 2026, PDFsam starts at $34.90 per user / year (PDFsam Visual); PDFsam Basic is free, and Stirling PDF starts at $99 per month for 100 users (Team). One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, PDFsam or Stirling PDF?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both PDFsam and Stirling PDF have a free plan.
Which platforms do PDFsam and Stirling PDF run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Stirling PDF 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.