Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

PDFsam VS Redactable

Compare PDFsam VS Redactable 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

Redactable logo Redactable

Try the #1 redaction software. Our auto redaction gives you 98% time savings compared to Adobe and the rest!
  • PDFsam Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-27
  • Redactable Login
    Login //
    2025-04-28
  • Redactable Upload a document
    Upload a document //
    2025-04-28
  • Redactable Start a new project
    Start a new project //
    2025-04-28
  • Redactable Redaction Wizard
    Redaction Wizard //
    2025-04-28
  • Redactable Categories
    Categories //
    2025-04-28
  • Redactable Finalize redactions
    Finalize redactions //
    2025-04-28
  • Redactable Congratulations, redaction complete
    Congratulations, redaction complete //
    2025-04-28
  • Redactable Redaction certificate
    Redaction certificate //
    2025-04-28
  • Redactable Redaction log
    Redaction log //
    2025-04-28
  • Redactable
    Image date //
    2024-11-05

Redactable is a cloud-based redaction tool that helps organizations securely and efficiently remove sensitive information from PDF documents. Powered by AI, Redactable streamlines the redaction process, providing faster results and enhanced data protection compared to manual methods.

Ideal for businesses, law firms, government agencies, and any organization handling sensitive documents, Redactable overcomes the limitations of traditional redaction techniques. It addresses the risks of incomplete redaction commonly found with manual tools like markers or basic PDF editors, which can leave confidential data exposed.

Redactable solves two key problems often missed by manual redaction: First, it prevents incomplete data removal that happens when black boxes are placed over sensitive information, which doesnโ€™t fully delete the underlying data. Second, it ensures complete removal of hidden metadata, often neglected by standard PDF software. Redactable guarantees full redaction of both visible content and metadata, offering a comprehensive solution for document security.

Key features of Redactable include:

โ€ข AI-powered automated redaction for quick, accurate removal of sensitive data โ€ข Permanent redaction, ensuring full data removal beyond surface-level overlays โ€ข OCR for redacting scanned and image-based PDFs โ€ข Comprehensive metadata removal to prevent data leaks โ€ข Integration with Box and OneDrive for seamless workflows

PDFsam

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

Redactable

$ Details
paid Free Trial $19.0 / Monthly (20 documents/month)
Platforms
-
Release Date
2018 November
Startup details
Country
United States
State
NY
City
New York
Founder(s)
Amanda Levay
Employees
20 - 49

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.

Redactable features and specs

  • AI-Powered Automated Redaction
    Redactableโ€™s AI technology quickly identifies and redacts sensitive information within documents, significantly speeding up the process and minimizing human error compared to manual methods.
  • Complete Metadata Removal
    Beyond visible content, Redactable removes metadata that often contains hidden sensitive details, ensuring all traces of private information are thoroughly eliminated from documents.
  • OCR for Scanned Documents
    Redactable includes Optical Character Recognition (OCR), allowing it to recognize and redact text within scanned PDFs and image-based documents, making it versatile for various file types.
  • Cloud Integration
    Redactable integrates seamlessly with popular cloud storage services like Box and OneDrive, providing users with a streamlined workflow for accessing, redacting, and saving documents securely.
  • Collaborative Workflow Tools
    Redactable supports collaborative workflows, allowing teams to securely review, annotate, and approve redacted documents in real time. This feature enables efficient teamwork and consistent document handling, especially for organizations managing sensitive information across departments.

Analysis of PDFsam

Overall verdict

  • PDFsam is considered a good tool, especially for users who need a straightforward and cost-effective solution for managing PDFs. Its open-source background ensures transparency and community support, while its user-friendly interface appeals to those without advanced technical skills.

Why this product is good

  • PDFsam (PDF Split and Merge) is a popular tool for handling PDF documents due to its simplicity, open-source nature, and ability to perform a range of common PDF tasks like splitting, merging, rotating, and extracting pages. It offers both a free basic version and a more advanced version with additional features, making it accessible and flexible for different user needs.

Recommended for

    PDFsam is recommended for individuals and small businesses looking for an easy-to-use, cost-efficient PDF tool capable of handling everyday PDF manipulation tasks without the complexity or expense of more advanced software. Itโ€™s particularly suitable for users who require basic features and occasional PDF editing.

Analysis of Redactable

Overall verdict

  • Redactable is a solid cloud-based redaction tool that helps users permanently remove sensitive information from PDFs and documents efficiently, making it a good choice for organizations that need to protect confidential data and maintain compliance.

Why this product is good

  • Uses AI-powered automation to detect and redact sensitive information, saving significant manual effort
  • Permanently removes redacted data rather than just masking it, preventing data leaks from hidden metadata
  • Cloud-based platform requires no software installation and works across devices
  • Helps organizations meet compliance requirements like GDPR, HIPAA, and CCPA
  • Offers batch processing for handling large volumes of documents quickly
  • Provides an audit trail for accountability and verification of redactions

Recommended for

  • Legal firms handling confidential case documents and discovery materials
  • Healthcare organizations needing to protect patient information under HIPAA
  • Government agencies processing public records requests
  • Financial institutions managing sensitive client data
  • Businesses that regularly handle contracts and documents requiring compliance
  • Teams needing to redact large batches of documents efficiently

PDFsam videos

How to Use PDFsam

More videos:

  • Demo - PDFSamVisual Demo

Redactable videos

Redact PDFs in Minutes: Fast, Secure, and Easy Document Redaction

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Redactable Review - 2025 | How to Redact Text in PDF
  • Review - Redactable Review | Your Solution to Data Redaction!
  • Review - โšก Review โ€“ Redactable โ€“ Over 98% Time Savings with AI-powered Redaction

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to PDFsam and Redactable)
PDF Tools
86 86%
14% 14
PDF Editor
89 89%
11% 11
Document Management
0 0%
100% 100
PDF Creator
100 100%
0% 0

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing PDFsam and Redactable.

What makes your product unique?

Redactable's answer:

Redactable is unique because it combines AI-powered automation with comprehensive redaction features, including metadata removal and OCR for scanned documents. Unlike traditional tools, Redactable automates the identification and secure removal of sensitive information, ensuring both visible and hidden data are fully redacted in a simple, cloud-based platform.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

Redactable's answer:

Redactable offers unmatched accuracy, security, and ease of use compared to traditional manual or software-based redaction methods. Itโ€™s an ideal choice for organizations seeking a streamlined, automated solution that ensures both text and metadata are fully removed, reducing the risks associated with incomplete redaction. The platformโ€™s cloud integration and collaborative features further set it apart, enabling seamless workflows and team collaboration.

How would you describe the primary audience of your product?

Redactable's answer:

Our primary audience includes businesses, legal firms, government agencies, and other organizations that handle sensitive documents. These organizations prioritize data security, compliance, and efficiency, and rely on Redactable to meet high standards in document confidentiality.

What's the story behind your product?

Redactable's answer:

Redactable was developed to address the growing need for secure, accurate, and automated document redaction in an increasingly digital and compliance-driven world. Recognizing the challenges organizations face with manual redaction methods, Redactable was created to simplify the process, improve accuracy, and ensure comprehensive data security.

Which are the primary technologies used for building your product?

Redactable's answer:

Redactable utilizes AI and machine learning to automate the redaction process and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to detect text in scanned or image-based PDFs. Itโ€™s a cloud-based solution built with data security as a core focus, integrating with popular cloud storage services like Box and OneDrive for streamlined workflows.

Who are some of the biggest customers of your product?

Redactable's answer:

Redactable is trusted by businesses, law firms, and government agencies focused on document security. While specific customer names may not be disclosed due to confidentiality, organizations in sectors with strict data protection needs, like finance, healthcare, and legal services, commonly use Redactable to ensure the secure handling of sensitive information.

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 Redactable

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.

Redactable Reviews

We have no reviews of Redactable yet.
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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 / about 2 years 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 / almost 3 years ago
  • Free pdf editor?
    That might be fit for your purpose PDFSam. Source: about 3 years ago
  • My 2023 Bingo Card
    Use pdfsam.org to split the pdf into individual sheets fyi. Source: over 3 years ago
  • What's the best tool to merge pdf files?
    PDFsam - merge, split, extract pages, rotate and mix your PDF files. Source: over 3 years ago
View more

Redactable mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Redactable yet. Tracking of Redactable recommendations started around Jul 2022.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing PDFsam and Redactable, 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.

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

PDF Redaction - Protect sensitive information in your PDF documents with AI-driven automatic redaction and manual editing options.

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

Smallpdf - PDF document management and conversion suite

iLovePDF - Premium online PDF tool set