Best PDF Splitters in 2026: the buyer's shortlist

ToAny's Split PDF runs inside your browser tab. You drop a PDF, type the pages you want, such as 1-3, 5, 8-, and each range becomes its own file. The pieces download together as one zip. Nothing is uploaded: no PDF tool on ToAny uses the conversion server.

There are two modes, page ranges and every N pages. A run can produce up to 1,000 pieces. ToAny caps total input at 300 MB per run on a desktop browser and 100 MB on touch devices. The tool is free with no account or email. The terms say ToAny may show advertising, and none was visible at the time of writing.

ToAny is the best PDF splitter on this list for a private file you want cut quickly, because there is nothing to install and no one else's server involved. The page also sits beside Delete PDF pages and Reorder PDF pages, which cover two jobs people often do next.

It is not the strongest on features. PDFsam also splits by size and bookmark level, and Sejda adds split by text. ToAny states only ranges and every N pages. There is no desktop app, no offline mode, no API and no cloud-storage import. It also does not edit text inside a PDF.

Large files depend on your device's memory, so a very large PDF may struggle on a phone. A small number of other conversions, 16 pairs out of 1,195, run on ToAny's server after you consent for each upload. PDF splitting is not one of them.

PDFsam Basic is a free, open-source desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux. It splits, merges, extracts pages, rotates and mixes PDFs. There is no browser version.

On splitting it is more capable than ToAny. Its FAQ lists splitting by page numbers, by size and by bookmarks level. The same FAQ calls Basic completely free, with no watermarks and no file size limit, and says a company can use it at no cost. It is licensed under the AGPL, and the GitHub repository showed 4626 stars when we read the API.

On privacy it matches the browser approach. The privacy policy says desktop applications process PDF files locally and send no content to the vendor's servers. The vendor says it has developed PDFsam Basic since 2006, and the underlying engine is the open-source Sejda SDK.

The costs are install and interface. You must download and install it, it needs a 64-bit system, and the FAQ lists about 70 MB of disk and 256 MB of RAM. The features beyond Basic are not covered in the pages we checked, so we make no claim about them.

The PDFsam Basic page source also contains a Google AdSense script. Overall it is the pick when you split often, want no limit, and are happy to install software.

Sejda has the broadest split toolkit here. Its homepage lists six split-related tools: extract pages, split by bookmarks, split in half, split by pages, split by size and split by text. The About page claims 30 or more PDF tools in all.

It comes in two forms. Sejda Web uploads your file to Sejda's servers. The privacy policy says uploaded and output files are permanently deleted after processing, with no backups. Sejda Desktop works offline on Windows, Mac and Linux and processes files on your computer.

The free limits are tighter than they look. The web free tier has no signup, but the pricing page gives page, hourly and upload limits without numbers. The Desktop free tier is 3 tasks per day, with documents up to 50MB and 200 pages. Paid web plans allow uploads up to 500MB per file.

Prices were displayed in Australian dollars when we checked, so they may differ for you. Desktop and Web Annual showed A$99 per user per year, recurring. Web-only Monthly showed A$12.50 per user per month. A Desktop Week Pass cost A$12.95 for 7 days, one time. There is no perpetual licence.

The vendor claims a 4.5 rating from 1,874 Google reviews on its own homepage, which we could not verify. The company, Sejda BV, is in Amsterdam and says it started as an open-source project in 2010. Desktop also contacts Sejda's servers for licensing and update checks.

PDFelement is a full PDF suite from Wondershare for desktop, iOS, Android and web. Splitting is one small part of it, available in a free online tool and in the desktop app.

The free online Split PDF tool is limited. It takes a batch of up to 3 files and splits by pages and page ranges only. The page does not state a daily or size limit. Splitting by file size or bookmarks is desktop only, where the vendor says there are no limits. Online files are uploaded, and the split page says they are erased permanently within 7 days after processing.

Desktop is where the cost sits. The default store block showed a Yearly Plan at US$79.99 per year single-platform, struck through from US$129, or US$89.99 per year cross-platform. A Perpetual Plan was US$139.99 cross-platform, one time. Those are promotional V13 prices and the yearly plans auto-renew. The 14-day free trial adds a watermark to saved files.

Among the paid products here, only PDFelement displayed a one-time price, which will matter to anyone who dislikes subscriptions. The vendor displays a G2 rating of 4.5 out of 5 on its own homepage and claims ISO 27001 certification. We did not read the G2 page, so the review count is unknown.

PDFelement makes sense if you need editing, conversion and signing as well as splitting. For splitting alone, a free tool does the same cut with less friction.

Adobe's free online suite lists 25 or more PDF and e-signing tools. It was founded in December 1982 by John Warnock and Charles Geschke and employed 31,360 people in November 2025.

The online tools run on Adobe's servers. Adobe's compress page says your file is handled by Adobe servers and deleted unless you sign in to save it. It gives no retention period. The desktop app, by contrast, compresses locally. We did not verify the split tool's own page, so check its limits and retention before relying on it.

Free use is capped, but Adobe gives no numbers. Its compress page says unlimited use, batch processing and advanced settings need a paid plan, and basic use needs no sign-up. Splitting may follow the same pattern, but we have not confirmed that.

Paid Acrobat prices were Standard at US$14.99 per month on the annual plan billed monthly, or US$24.99 on a monthly plan. Pro was US$19.99 and US$29.99 on the same terms. Acrobat Pro has a 7-day free trial.

Adobe's company-wide Trustpilot TrustScore was 1.1 out of 5 from 7,540 reviews. That score covers all of Adobe, not Acrobat alone, so treat it as context rather than a verdict on the splitter.

Acrobat is a sound choice if you already have a licence and your files may go to Adobe's servers. If you do not, the free options above are simpler.