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Highlights vs PDFsam

Professional comparison and analysis to help you choose the right software solution for your needs.

Highlights icon
Highlights
PDFsam icon
PDFsam

Highlights vs PDFsam: The Verdict

⚡ Summary:

Highlights: Highlights is a PDF annotation and note taking app for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android. It allows users to highlight, underline, strikethrough, add text notes, shapes and freehand drawings to PDF documents. Key features include organization of annotations by color category and easy export of notes.

PDFsam: PDFsam is an open-source PDF editing software that allows users to merge, split, rotate, mix and extract pages from PDF files. It has a graphical user interface and offers basic PDF manipulation functionalities for free.

Both tools serve their respective audiences. Compare the features, pricing, and user ratings above to determine which best fits your needs.

Last updated: May 2026 · Comparison by Sugggest Editorial Team

Feature Highlights PDFsam
Sugggest Score — —
Category Office & Productivity Office & Productivity
Pricing — Open Source

Product Overview

Highlights
Highlights

Description: Highlights is a PDF annotation and note taking app for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android. It allows users to highlight, underline, strikethrough, add text notes, shapes and freehand drawings to PDF documents. Key features include organization of annotations by color category and easy export of notes.

Type: software

PDFsam
PDFsam

Description: PDFsam is an open-source PDF editing software that allows users to merge, split, rotate, mix and extract pages from PDF files. It has a graphical user interface and offers basic PDF manipulation functionalities for free.

Type: software

Pricing: Open Source

Key Features Comparison

Highlights
Highlights Features
  • Highlight text
  • Add text notes
  • Draw shapes
  • Strikethrough text
  • Organize annotations by color
  • Export notes
PDFsam
PDFsam Features
  • Split PDF files
  • Merge PDF files
  • Rotate PDF pages
  • Extract PDF pages
  • Mix PDF pages
  • Visually reorder PDF pages
  • Encrypt and decrypt PDF files
  • Fill out PDF forms

Pros & Cons Analysis

Highlights
Highlights

Pros

  • Intuitive interface
  • Available on multiple platforms
  • Useful annotation tools
  • Syncs annotations across devices

Cons

  • Limited free version
  • No OCR text search
  • No collaboration features
PDFsam
PDFsam

Pros

  • Free and open source
  • Easy to use graphical interface
  • Good basic PDF editing features
  • Available on Windows, Mac and Linux

Cons

  • Limited advanced PDF editing capabilities
  • Slower performance with large PDF files
  • Lacks optical character recognition (OCR)

Pricing Comparison

Highlights
Highlights
  • Not listed
PDFsam
PDFsam
  • Open Source

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Learn More About Each Product

Highlights
Highlights
Reviews, pricing & alternatives →
PDFsam
PDFsam
Reviews, pricing & alternatives →

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