PDFsam Basic

Open-source alternative · mapped from 2 paid tools. Fit is not feature parity.

Facts

License

GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 Permissions of this strongest copyleft license are conditioned on making available complete source code of licensed works and modifications, which include larger works using a licensed work, under the same license. Copyright and license notices must be preserved. Contributors provide an express grant of patent rights. When a modified version is used to provide a service over a network, the complete source code of the modified version must be made available. May Commercial useModificationDistributionPatent usePrivate use Must License and copyright noticeState changesDisclose sourceNetwork use is distributionSame license No LiabilityWarranty Summary from GitHub's choosealicense.com

Paid-feature tier A

Self-host

Paid-feature limitsNone established

Tier A: The named Basic desktop edition runs locally without watermarks or file-size limits; all six Basic tools are free. Enhanced and Visual are distinct commercial products, not extra Basic OSS modules. Basic handles page manipulation rather than full text editing, OCR or conversion. License source. Repository: torakiki/pdfsam. Self-host: desktop; hosted offer from the project: no.

Replaces 2 paid tools

Adobe AcrobatEntry price USD 14.99 / seat / month

Fit:

Use existing PDF files locally for split, merge, rotate, mix and page extraction. Basic does not replace Acrobat text editing, OCR, conversion, forms or e-signature collection.

Sources: pdfsam.org, www.adobe.com · checked 2026-10-21
Full comparison: Adobe Acrobat vs PDFsam Basic
SmallpdfEntry price Not established

Fit:

Local page-processing replacement for Smallpdf merge, split, rotate and extract tasks. No cloud account migration; retain PDF files. Basic lacks Smallpdf OCR, content editing and compression workflows.

Sources: pdfsam.org, smallpdf.com · checked 2026-10-21
Full comparison: Smallpdf vs PDFsam Basic

Selected by OSSHunt

PDFsam Basic is listed as an open-source alternative to Adobe Acrobat and Smallpdf, with partial fit or better. Maintainers can show this in a README; the badge links back to this page.

Markdown

[![OSSHunt: replaces Adobe Acrobat · Smallpdf](https://osshunt.com/badge/pdfsam-basic.svg)](https://osshunt.com/alternatives/pdfsam-basic/)

HTML

<a href="https://osshunt.com/alternatives/pdfsam-basic/"><img src="https://osshunt.com/badge/pdfsam-basic.svg" alt="OSSHunt: replaces Adobe Acrobat · Smallpdf"></a>

reStructuredText

.. image:: https://osshunt.com/badge/pdfsam-basic.svg
   :target: https://osshunt.com/alternatives/pdfsam-basic/
   :alt: OSSHunt: replaces Adobe Acrobat · Smallpdf

Shields users: https://img.shields.io/endpoint?url=https%3A%2F%2Fosshunt.com%2Fbadge%2Fpdfsam-basic.json. Styles: add ?style=flat-square, plastic or for-the-badge. What the badge means and how to remove it.