Adobe Acrobat Reader vs. PDFsam

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
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
PDFsam
Score 9.6 out of 10
N/A
PDFsam is an open source pdf editor, available with a free Basic edition, and as well as Enhanced and Visual editions.N/A
Pricing
Adobe Acrobat ReaderPDFsam
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Adobe Acrobat ReaderPDFsam
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
Best Alternatives
Adobe Acrobat ReaderPDFsam
Small Businesses
PDFfiller
PDFfiller
Score 9.1 out of 10
PDFfiller
PDFfiller
Score 9.1 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
PDFfiller
PDFfiller
Score 9.1 out of 10
PDFfiller
PDFfiller
Score 9.1 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 ReaderPDFsam
Likelihood to Recommend
9.2
(74 ratings)
10.0
(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 ReaderPDFsam
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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Open Source
It is well suited for merging file, and if you want to arrange the document to be presentable and also what I like about with this application is that it doesn't crash like other website that I tried.
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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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Open Source
  • Split
  • Merge File
  • Rotate
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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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Open Source
No answers on this topic
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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Open Source
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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Open Source
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Adobe
The application is pretty much "plug and play"
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Open Source
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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Open Source
It is very much more reliable and convenient using PDFsam, the instructions are very clear and precise compare to other application. Here in PDFsam you just have to select and drag the file for you to work it out.
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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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Open Source
  • better file
  • good application
  • easy to use
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ScreenShots