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agathox PDF tools vs PDFsam
Both do 2 of the same PDF tools tasks. Below is what each says about its own limits and pricing, and how each ranks on signals we can measure or quote.
Disclosure: agathox makes some of the tools listed here. They are labelled and scored by the same method as every other tool.
A
agathox PDF toolsMade by agathox
34 tools: merge, split, edit, sign, compress, convert, protect and OCR. They run in your browser, so files are not uploaded. HTML to PDF asks our server only to fetch the web page you enter.
Tested score: 4.4 / 5
Visit pdf.agathox.comB
PDFsam
Free, open source desktop app to split, merge, rotate and extract PDF files. Fully offline, your files never leave your computer, from a free app to a full PDF editor
Signals score: 3.9 / 5 · not a hands-on test
Visit pdfsam.orgPricing, limits and privacy
- Free tier
- A: Free to use. No paid plan and no limits on how many files you process.
- B: PDFsam Basic is free and open source (AGPL) with no sign-up, no watermarks and no limits, per the home page. It is a desktop app that works without an Internet connection.
- Paid plan
- A: There is no paid plan.
- B: PDFsam Visual has a 14-day free trial, then needs a license (one-time purchase or subscription). PDFsam Enhanced needs a yearly subscription for the full editor and runs on Windows only. Prices are not shown on the pages read.
- Signup
- A: No account or sign-up is needed.
- B: PDFsam Basic needs no sign-up. PDFsam Enhanced requires registration even for its free reader and virtual printer.
- Watermark
- A: Nothing is added to your files.
- B: Basic has no watermarks. Not stated for the Visual trial or Enhanced free version.
- Where files go
- A: Runs in your browser, so files are not uploaded. HTML to PDF asks our server only to fetch the web page you enter.
- B: All apps process PDF files locally; the privacy policy says no PDF content is automatically sent or uploaded to its servers. Basic sends and collects nothing. Visual may contact servers for licensing and, if you opt in, send error reports that can include file paths.
From each tool's own pages, checked 2026-11-10 (agathox PDF tools) and 2026-11-01 (PDFsam). Prices and limits change; check the tool before you rely on them. Sources are listed on each tool's page.
Task by task
“Tested” scores come only from our own hands-on tests; “Not enough data” means we have not tested yet, and we do not guess. Website health and community feedback are shown separately on each tool's page.
- Task
- agathox PDF tools
- PDFsam
- Only agathox PDF tools: Compress PDF, Edit PDF, Sign PDF, Word to PDF, PDF to Word, PDF to JPG, Protect PDF, OCR PDF
- Only PDFsam: Rotate PDF
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