Adobe Acrobat Reader vs. Flip PDF Pro for Mac

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Adobe Acrobat Reader
Score 8.5 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
Flip PDF Pro for Mac
Score 5.2 out of 10
N/A
Flip PDF for Mac from FlipBuilder is designed to make it fast and easy for Mac users to convert ordinary PDF files into mobile friendly eye-catching brochures or magazines with amazing page-flipping effect. Integrated with hundreds of templates and themes, the Mac program enables you to create an unique and impressive digital magazine, brochure or catalog within minutes.N/A
Pricing
Adobe Acrobat ReaderFlip PDF Pro for Mac
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Adobe Acrobat ReaderFlip PDF Pro for Mac
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Adobe Acrobat ReaderFlip PDF Pro for Mac
Top Pros

No answers on this topic

Best Alternatives
Adobe Acrobat ReaderFlip PDF Pro for Mac
Small Businesses
Tungsten Power PDF
Tungsten Power PDF
Score 9.0 out of 10
Tungsten Power PDF
Tungsten Power PDF
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
PDFfiller
PDFfiller
Score 9.0 out of 10
PDFfiller
PDFfiller
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat
Score 8.8 out of 10
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat
Score 8.8 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Adobe Acrobat ReaderFlip PDF Pro for Mac
Likelihood to Recommend
8.9
(75 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.2
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Adobe Acrobat ReaderFlip PDF Pro for Mac
Likelihood to Recommend
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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FlipBuilder
It's great for presentations. It makes even the most drab presentation more interesting, and gives you the ability to add animated elements to your presentation. Everybody uses Microsoft PowerPoint, but for Mac it's a little slow and unresponsive. Flip PDF Pro for Mac kind of solves that issue – you can build your project in InDesign, export it out, then import it into Flip PDF Pro. It sounds like a bit of a process but it's actually very easy. Any designer can pick it up and run with it.
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Pros
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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FlipBuilder
  • You can customize or add certain things like your title, logo, toolbar icon appearance, background, fonts, etc. It feels a lot like a design program – which is nice, as a designer.
  • The program allows you to embed almost any sort of media into your flip book – GIFs are easy to add in and work with, they add a dynamic element to your presentation (which wasn't possible before).
  • You can create these things called “hot spots” – basically certain trigger areas in your document that can activate something when clicked – like take you to a e-commerce site, for example.
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Cons
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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FlipBuilder
  • My documents sometimes had a problem with import and output – sometimes it would take a substansial amount of time to export something.
  • In their mulit-lingual version, our freelance linguist caught some mistakes, some words were not translated or translated into other languages – which can make us look pretty bad.
  • There's a limit on audio you can output for each page in your document – it had to be "one audio for two pages".
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Likelihood to Renew
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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FlipBuilder
No answers on this topic
Usability
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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FlipBuilder
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Adobe
The application is pretty much "plug and play"
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FlipBuilder
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
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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FlipBuilder
There are several PDF conversion programs out there, but really Flip PDF Pro for Mac is probably the best one that I've encountered. The amount of versatility in the program really sells it to me. It works just like a design program, but as a customizable PDF, and it's easy-to-use interface really helps speed things up with our workflow and process. There's a lot of competitors out there, but none of them really stack up.
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Return on Investment
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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FlipBuilder
  • It makes our presentations more interesting and dynamic.
  • It allows us to go around using Microsoft PowerPoint (which is a little slow and unresponsive on Mac).
  • Using its animation and hotlink elements, we're able to broaden our services with this program. It really helps out a lot.
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ScreenShots