Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

PDFsam VS Apache PDFBox

Compare PDFsam VS Apache PDFBox and see what are their differences

PDFsam logo PDFsam

PDFsam Basic, a free, open source, multi-platform software designed to split, merge, extract pages, mix and rotate PDF files

Apache PDFBox logo Apache PDFBox

The Apache PDFBox™ library is an open source Java tool for working with PDF documents.
  • PDFsam Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-27
  • Apache PDFBox Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-14

PDFsam

Website
pdfsam.org
$ Details
free
Platforms
Windows Linux Mac OSX

PDFsam features and specs

  • Cost
    PDFsam Basic is free and open-source, which makes it highly accessible for individual users and small businesses.
  • User Interface
    The interface is simple and straightforward, allowing users to easily navigate and use the essential features without a steep learning curve.
  • Functionality
    PDFsam includes essential features such as merging, splitting, rotating, and extracting PDF pages, which can cover most common PDF editing needs.
  • Cross-Platform
    PDFsam is available on multiple operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux, ensuring broad compatibility and usability.
  • Community Support
    Being an open-source project, PDFsam has a community of users and developers who contribute to its improvement and troubleshooting.

Possible disadvantages of PDFsam

  • Advanced Features
    The free version lacks advanced features like OCR, which are available in the paid versions such as PDFsam Enhanced.
  • Performance
    Some users report that the application can be slow when processing large documents or performing complex tasks.
  • Interface Design
    While functional, the user interface is not as modern or visually appealing compared to some other PDF software.
  • Commercial Use
    For businesses, the licenses for the advanced features in PDFsam Enhanced can be costly, especially for small enterprises.
  • Customer Support
    While there is a user community for support, professional customer support is limited to the paid versions, which might be a hurdle for those needing quick assistance.

Apache PDFBox features and specs

  • Open Source
    Apache PDFBox is a completely open-source library, which means it's free to use and the source code is available for customization.
  • Comprehensive Features
    PDFBox provides a wide range of features, including PDF creation, manipulation, rendering, and extraction of text and images, making it versatile for PDF handling.
  • Java-Based
    Written in Java, it integrates well with Java applications and takes advantage of Java's portability across different platforms.
  • Active Community
    It benefits from an active community and ongoing support from Apache, ensuring regular updates and a wealth of shared knowledge.

Possible disadvantages of Apache PDFBox

  • Performance Limitations
    Handling very large PDF documents can be resource-intensive, potentially affecting performance.
  • Learning Curve
    The library can be complex for new users due to its extensive feature set and lack of detailed beginner-friendly documentation.
  • Java Dependency
    Being Java-based, it might not be suitable for projects using different programming languages unless interoperability bridges are used.
  • Limited GUI Support
    PDFBox focuses primarily on backend processes and provides limited support for GUI operations, potentially requiring additional libraries for visual PDF modifications.

PDFsam videos

How to Use PDFsam

More videos:

  • Demo - PDFSamVisual Demo

Apache PDFBox videos

No Apache PDFBox videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to PDFsam and Apache PDFBox)
PDF Tools
83 83%
17% 17
PDF Editor
90 90%
10% 10
HTML To PDF
0 0%
100% 100
PDF Creator
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare PDFsam and Apache PDFBox

PDFsam Reviews

15 PDF editors quick review
This is a simple open source Java pdf editor. The basic version allows you to edit the content and structure of pdf documents. Builds of this version are available for Windows, MacOS and Linux. PDFsam Enhanced version provides all the basic tools needed for the pdf editor. Special utilities for securing files and converting their contents are only available in the Pro version.

Apache PDFBox Reviews

Best BFO Java PDF Library Alternatives (2024) for your project
Apache PDFBox is a powerful Java package that enables developers to easily create, edit, and extract content from PDF documents. This is made possible by Apache PDFBox. Because it is open-source and because it has a comprehensive feature set, it is a formidable competitor among PDF libraries. PDFBox is a flexible option for manipulating PDF files due to its support for a...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, PDFsam seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 32 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

PDFsam mentions (32)

  • JavaFX In Action with Pedro Duque Vieira, aka Duke, about Hero, PDFSam, FXThemes, FXComponents,...
    He shares insights into a few applications, like Hero (CAD application to calculate energy efficiency) and PDFSam (powerful and professional PDF editor). PDFSam had 100.000 downloads in April '24! - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • Pdftool.org: modify pdfs offline in the browser
    I find pdfsam to be the perfect offline tool for me on Windows. https://pdfsam.org And it's open source as well: https://github.com/torakiki/pdfsam. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Free pdf editor?
    That might be fit for your purpose PDFSam. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • My 2023 Bingo Card
    Use pdfsam.org to split the pdf into individual sheets fyi. Source: over 2 years ago
  • What's the best tool to merge pdf files?
    PDFsam - merge, split, extract pages, rotate and mix your PDF files. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

Apache PDFBox mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Apache PDFBox yet. Tracking of Apache PDFBox recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing PDFsam and Apache PDFBox, you can also consider the following products

Adobe Acrobat DC - Make your job easier with Adobe Acrobat DC, the trusted PDF creator. Use Acrobat to convert, edit and sign PDF files at your desk or on the go.

IronPDF - SDK for creating and editing PDFs.

PDF-XChange Editor - The smallest, fastest, most feature-rich PDF editor/viewer available

Aspose.PDF for Java - Aspose.Pdf is a Java PDF component to create PDF documents without using https://alternativeto.

PDF24 PDF Creator - Create PDF and convert documents to PDF for free with the free PDF24 PDF Creator.

iTextPDF - iText offers flexible tools for PDF creation, editing and inspection.