Abstract: A hand-held apparatus for cutting transversely a pipe using a slitter co-operating with rollers to produce a deepening cut, is formed of two half-shells mounted opposite around the pipe with adjustable clamping elements one at least supporting a slitter or radially mobile, in the cutting plane, and the other, at least two rollers rotating in the cutting plane and arranged in pair facing each slitter on the other half-shell to compensate the cutting force in the assembly rotation about the pipe resulting from the cooperation between a tangential driving tool and catching elements distributed over the outer surface or on the periphery of each half-shell.