SumatraPDF vs PDFsam Basic

SumatraPDF: what it's good at

SumatraPDF opens documents almost instantly and stays out of the way, reading PDF, ePub, MOBI, CBZ, DjVu and XPS. A refreshing alternative to heavyweight readers when all you need is to read a document.

• Opens documents near-instantly
• Reads PDF, ePub, MOBI, DjVu and CBZ
• Portable single-executable option
• Tiny installation footprint

PDFsam Basic: what it's good at

PDFsam Basic performs the core PDF manipulation tasks — splitting, merging, rotating, extracting and mixing pages — entirely on your own machine, so confidential documents never get uploaded to a web service.

• Merge and split PDF documents
• Rotate and extract specific pages
• Works fully offline
• Batch processing

Which should you choose?

Both are free, so the honest answer is that you can install either and decide for yourself — that is the advantage of free software over a paid trial.

Both run on Windows. Only PDFsam Basic supports macOS, Linux. Both are open source, so neither locks you in.

We deliberately do not publish a star rating for either. We have no way to verify a rating that would be honest at scale, and an invented one would be worse than none — so we give you the facts and let you decide.

Frequently asked questions

Is SumatraPDF better than PDFsam Basic?

Neither is universally better. SumatraPDF extremely fast, minimal PDF and ebook reader, while PDFsam Basic split, merge, rotate and extract PDF pages offline. The right pick depends on your platform and workflow.

Are both really free?

SumatraPDF is open source and PDFsam Basic is open source. Both can be downloaded without paying.

Can I install both?

Yes. Since neither costs anything, installing both and comparing them on your own files is usually the fastest way to decide.