ABBYY FineReader vs. Adobe Acrobat Reader

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
ABBYY FineReader
Score 9.3 out of 10
N/A
ABBYY FineReader is a PDF editor that allows users to convert, edit, share, and collaborate on PDFs. FineReader also converts scanned documents into searchable PDF files.
$16
per month per user
Adobe Acrobat Reader
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
Acrobat Reader is a PDF viewer and converter, available as a free download from Adobe. Users can view, sign, collaborate on and annotate PDF files, or edit and convert PDFs into file formats like Excel and Word.N/A
Pricing
ABBYY FineReaderAdobe Acrobat Reader
Editions & Modules
FineReader PDF Standard for Windows
$16
per month per user
FineReader PDF Corporate for Windows
$24
per month per user
FineReader PDF for Mac®
$69
per year per user
FineReader PDF Standard for Windows
$99
per year per user
FineReader PDF Corporate for Windows
$165
per year per user
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ABBYY FineReaderAdobe Acrobat Reader
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
ABBYY FineReaderAdobe Acrobat Reader
Top Pros

No answers on this topic

Top Cons

No answers on this topic

Best Alternatives
ABBYY FineReaderAdobe Acrobat Reader
Small Businesses
Square 9 Softworks
Square 9 Softworks
Score 9.8 out of 10
PDFfiller
PDFfiller
Score 9.1 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
MSB Docs
MSB Docs
Score 9.4 out of 10
PDFfiller
PDFfiller
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
Kofax Capture
Kofax Capture
Score 4.6 out of 10
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat
Score 8.8 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
ABBYY FineReaderAdobe Acrobat Reader
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(3 ratings)
9.2
(74 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
7.2
(2 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
ABBYY FineReaderAdobe Acrobat Reader
Likelihood to Recommend
ABBYY
FineReader is critical for any business that handles scanned documents or works with files that need conversion to Excel, PDF, Powerpoint or various other programs. It's ability to automatically process, read documents and suggest tables is impressive. It can take printed documents and convert all of the text to a editable format which is a huge time saver. In regards to tables it can automatically find and identify columns and separate them out for immediate use in Excel
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Adobe
This is a useful tool for anyone who downloads and uses PDFs in the day-to-day operations of their role. It has many functionalities like PDF to word documents, e-signatures, commenting, and printing PDF documents. You can annotate PDFs from anywhere, store files on the cloud, and ultimately it makes it easier to collaborate with colleagues. It would be best for e-signatures and editing PDFs, but mainly the program is used for doing anything you like to a PDF.
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Pros
ABBYY
  • OCR scanning
  • Refining scanned text
  • Sophisticated and flexible OCR settings/adjustments
  • High-quality editing and document comparison tools
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Adobe
  • It has all the tools that individuals need for reading/doing light editing of PDF files.
  • It is the most secure PDF reader on the market, and it tends to get patched with timely updates on a regular basis.
  • It usually works very well, as far as the software itself. It doesn't crash a lot, or is particularly an error prone software platform.
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Cons
ABBYY
  • A versioning system of the work done or the editions that have been saved in the files, or a tracking of changes between one version and another would be fabulous
  • An improvement that would be asked would be as previews or suggestions of the type of file that could be beneficial to use in an edition
  • The redesign of the panels is that of the analyzed document, the edition and the changes in my opinion need a resizing to have a better view of the work
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Adobe
  • Being able to add image "stamps" to a document is a little tricky as the stamp has to already be in PDF format (at least on Mac) to work. This mean you have to convert the image to PDF before you can use it as a stamp.
  • Being only able to save one signature and one set of initials is a bit of a pain but you can actually use stamps if you need different versions frequently used scribbles for various reasons. The stamp won't secure the document and prevent future changes the same way the signature would though.
  • All of the other features you might want to use are only included with Acrobat Pro but the options are all displayed in the Reader app. When clicked they will offer the free trial that leads to a paid subscription. This is more of an annoyance but you can't fault Adobe for trying to make a sale.
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Likelihood to Renew
ABBYY
No answers on this topic
Adobe
To be honest, I do not have any say in the renewal of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC. It is managed at an enterprise level, and the decision to renew or not renew is handled well above my pay grade as an external consultant.
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Usability
ABBYY
No answers on this topic
Adobe
The main issues or limitations with Adobe Acrobat Reader DC usually stem from the device or OS rather than the software or document. Complaints typically arise when contributors use a different app to view or edit, which is understandably outside of Adobe's control. It would be helpful if the ability to open and fill a PDF was built into the OS, but that's more of a licensing issue than anything else.
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Implementation Rating
ABBYY
No answers on this topic
Adobe
The application is pretty much "plug and play"
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Alternatives Considered
ABBYY
While Adobe Reader can identify documents and convert them to some other various formats, it cannot process the documents to identify tables for use in Excel. We only had success by letting Adobe read a file for any identifiable text but it wasn't always accurate. FineReaders ability to handle hundreds of pages at once felt leaps and bounds above Adobe
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Adobe
We have reviewed DocuSign in comparison to [Adobe] Acrobat Reader [DC's] e-sign capabilities. We found that DocuSign has more robust options when creating contracts and consent capabilities. DocuSign's online UI is much more suited to this type of task as well. However, we decided to stick with [Adobe] Acrobat Reader DC because of the price (DocuSign is more expensive) and we felt we didn't need all of the bells and whistles for contract signature and consent.
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Return on Investment
ABBYY
  • ABBYY FineReader is an irreplaceable tool for preparing documents for document management systems and getting the most of them afterward
  • Great time saver in various scenarios related to work with scans and photos of documents
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Adobe
  • It's available for free, so there is no excuse to not install
  • Contains features that you would normally have to pay for in competitor software, so it has a positive impact on ROI
  • Reduces the amount of printing
  • Decreases the amount of time spent on regulatory and governance documentation
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ScreenShots

ABBYY FineReader Screenshots

Screenshot of a display of the options: view, edit, and convert PDFs or compare different versions.Screenshot of PDF editing in FineReader, which is almost like a Word document, where users can rewrite text paragraphs, edit the content in tables, or rearrange the layout.Screenshot of the software's collaboration features, with the ablity to comment on, annotate, or mark up documents.Screenshot of PDF to Word document conversion.Screenshot of fillable fields, in a PDFScreenshot of PDF organization options, which include the ability to merge and rearrange pages, or adding Bates numbering and stamps.