Overall Winner
PDFgear
beats PDFsam by 55 points
PDFgear 🏆 95/100
PDFsam 40/100
PDFgear
Free
VS
P
PDFsam
Free
The verdict
PDFgear scores 95/100 against PDFsam's 40/100. Compare the full breakdown of scores, features, pricing, and user reviews below.
Score breakdown
Dimension
PDFgear
PDFsam
Price & Value
★★★★★ wins
★★★★☆
Features
★★★★★ wins
★★★☆☆
Ease of Use
★★★★☆ wins
★★☆☆☆
Reviews
★★★★★ wins
★★☆☆☆
Each dimension rated 1–5. Higher is better across all four.
What users say
PDFgear
"Free desktop PDF suite users call the VLC of PDF editing."
Pros
Completely free with no signup Full edit convert merge suite Easy intuitive desktop interface
PDFsam
"Free open-source PDF splitter but plagued by aggressive upsell behavior"
Pros
Free open-source basic version for page manipulation Cross-platform support including Linux Specialized in split, merge, extract, and rotate operations
Pricing & value
| Metric | PDFgear | PDFsam | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free tier | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Starting price | Free | Free | PDFgear |
Our pick