Adobe Acrobat vs. Adobe Acrobat Reader

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Adobe Acrobat
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
Adobe Acrobat DC is the current version of the well-established document / PDF management solution, part of the Adobe Document Cloud (the other part being Adobe's eSign services based on technology acquired with EchoSign in 2011).
$12.99
per month
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
Pricing
Adobe AcrobatAdobe Acrobat Reader
Editions & Modules
Acrobat Standard for Individuals
$12.99
per month
Acrobat Standard for teams
$14.99
per month per user
Acrobat Pro for Individuals
$19.99
per month
Acrobat Pro for Teams
$22.19
per month per user
Acrobat for Enterprise
Contact sales team
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Adobe AcrobatAdobe Acrobat Reader
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Adobe AcrobatAdobe Acrobat Reader
Considered Both Products
Adobe Acrobat
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is the younger brother to Adobe Acrobat DC and acts purely as a PDF reader. Although Acrobat Reader DC does its job well as a PDF reader, Acrobat has a clear advantage over it with the extra features it has on top of just being able to view PDFs.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
PDF readers allow you to access PDF files, but that is a bare minimum in my work and not sufficient for my needs when preparing content, adapting it, or even combining content into new PDF files. I've not encountered any application that works as well or intuitively as Adobe …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
I found Adobe to be richer in features than Foxit or Soda, more intuitive to learn and more reliable when in use. Both alternatives were more prone to crashes or had needed features missing, which is how i made my decision to go with Adobe
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Not as friendly to use. Not many are familiar with this software.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Reader and Microsoft Edge (default Windows PDF file reader app) offer limited functionality compared to Adobe Standard DC. For colleagues that do not need extended the functionality of Adobe Standard DC Adobe Reader has been installed on their computers. Adobe Reader …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Acrobat still stands head and shoulders above because of the robust features combined with a user-friendly interface.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Acrobat allows files to be edited, and works very well at doing so.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Adobe helps aid in keeping financial records in order when you organize documents digitally, which helps make it easy to search for items such as spreadsheets, receipts, payments, expense reports, and other documents for tax or billing information. Plus there is much more …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Adobe has more features than the others and they are included in my Adobe software. No other integrations needed
Chose Adobe Acrobat
We do use Microsoft Office for document creation, but documents are always concerted to PDF prior to being distributed outside of our organization. We find PDF to be a better file format for sharing as opposed to docx files.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
I have used other PDF editors through the years to test them against Acrobat, but Acrobat always wins due to the amount of usable features that it offers, as well as ease of use. Aside from Reader, I don't remember the names of the other software unfortunately.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat Reader is an amazing product as well. I like Acrobat DC better because of the functionality of the product. I believe it's easier to edit documents and create documents in general.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
All of Adobes products work cohesively together making projects seamless. Adobe Acrobat DC is my go-to software to share files and documents with others that I know don't have access to more involved Adobe platforms such as InDesign or Illustrator. I know that users will be …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
DC able to edit.. Reader can't
Chose Adobe Acrobat
I tried to find the other .pdf software that I've used in the past but it was not all in the drop-down menu for selection (i.e. CutePDF writer). They've all been reasonably competent at creating and editing .pdf documents but Adobe is still the top dog in features and security.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
There are many pdf viewers and editors in the market but none of them can compete with Adobe Acrobat DC. This software also gives good services but many of them are not for only pdf like Acrobat. In many applications, you can view or edit but can not sign and secure documents.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
I did not evaluate any other pdf management programs other than Adobe Acrobat DC. I was familiar with other Adobe pdf products and never thought to explore any others. I have been very pleased with Adobe Acrobat DC and have not seen the need to look at other pdf management …
Adobe Acrobat Reader

No answer on this topic

Top Pros

No answers on this topic

Top Cons

No answers on this topic

Best Alternatives
Adobe AcrobatAdobe Acrobat Reader
Small Businesses
Square 9 Softworks
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Score 9.7 out of 10
PDFfiller
PDFfiller
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
MSB Docs
MSB Docs
Score 9.7 out of 10
PDFfiller
PDFfiller
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Kofax Capture
Kofax Capture
Score 5.8 out of 10
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat
Score 8.8 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Adobe AcrobatAdobe Acrobat Reader
Likelihood to Recommend
8.9
(475 ratings)
9.0
(75 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(11 ratings)
7.2
(2 ratings)
Usability
8.6
(232 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.8
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.1
(52 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.6
(4 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
10.0
(6 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.7
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Adobe AcrobatAdobe Acrobat Reader
Likelihood to Recommend
Adobe
If your organization uses PDFs frequently, then Adobe Acrobat feels like must-have. I could not imagine our organization not using it. The ability to create, organize, and edit PDFs easily and intuitively are the main reasons my organization uses it. The other additional functions and features are "nice to haves", but ultimately, don't impact our day-to-day
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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
Adobe
  • Easy to understand- the program has a very intuitive layout that is great for people who doesn't use the product very much
  • Includes all features you might need. There are many features I didn't even think we would need that they have included.
  • They have a very recognizable name so my clients feel they can trust what they are being asked to open/sign since the Adobe name is next to it.
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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
Adobe
  • It would be good if Adobe Acrobat could utilize less system resources. I have had crashes due to memory and CPU load this week
  • Quicker load times from a cold launch
  • Easier collaborative commenting for offline documents - knowing where and who wrote what
  • Ensuring documents don't have issues where text cannot be copied before publishing
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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
Adobe
I bought a perpetual license to Acrobat some time ago, but if the software ever stopped being supported in my version of windows or other solution that makes me need to buy another license I would not hesitate to do so since it saves me a lot of headaches. There are workarounds to merge files and edit pdfs with an online interface but I dont think those are a good usage of time when Acrobat exists.
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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
Adobe
My overall experience with Adobe is great because because the it has almost all of the tools in one place and it can be used it for most of my work without going anywhere else. Because the tools are available right there in the main interface, it makes it very easy to use.
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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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Reliability and Availability
Adobe
Pretty much always there for my business and personal needs.
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Adobe
No answers on this topic
Performance
Adobe
One of the best features of Adobe Acrobat is its speed and stability. When dealing with massive multi-page files, having to reload a crashed program over and over again would slow down progress unnecessarily. And expanding on that, having the table of contents generated allows me to skip to different pages with ease, a necessary feature with exceptionally long files. word searches are even more helpful with text recognition.
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Adobe
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Adobe
Because I don't need it. Used it years ago for account management/billing issues but they have changed the user experience so more of that can be managed online. If I have a question the knowledge base or a video that Adobe has posted answers
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Adobe
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Adobe
Answered basic questions.
Read full review
Adobe
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Adobe
Works well with JamF and SmartDeploy. These are our Enterprise imaging solutions for Mac's and PC's. The Enterprise installer is required when pushing out this app.
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Adobe
The application is pretty much "plug and play"
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Alternatives Considered
Adobe
There really is no comparison. Although we use other PDF programs, we mainly utilize Adobe. Not only because we find it to be a better program but also because everyone is more familiar with it. However, the other products are implemented for various reasons, such as a feature or 2 that we find necessary to use at times.
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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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Scalability
Adobe
I find that many users aren't aware of many features of the software they use, nor may they be comfortable with learning multiple-step processes. For the simplest of PDF purposes (scanning, downloading, exporting), it gets a thumbs-up. For anything involving electronic signatures, meh--causes eyes to glaze over, or forgetting what all is involved.
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Adobe
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Adobe
  • Adobe Acrobat has improved the security of our documents, resulting in less risk, as protecting documents is essential to ensure compliance with privacy laws.
  • It saves our company money, as the product makes it easier for our employees to complete their jobs.
  • The product assists our employees with providing quality work product.
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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

Adobe Acrobat Screenshots

Screenshot of Create, edit, convert, and share PDF files all from within Microsoft Teams – as part of Acrobat integrations with Microsoft 365 apps.Screenshot of With Liquid Mode in Adobe Acrobat Reader mobile app, users can read PDFs on phones and tablets without having to pinch and zoom. Navigate lengthy documents with intelligent outline and search tools, while maximizing readability and comfort with font size and line spacing that are adjustable.Screenshot of Fill and sign PDF forms from anywhere and on any device.  Collect signatures, digitally track progress, and automatically archive the signed document.Screenshot of With Adobe Scan mobile app, capture and convert documents into high-quality, interactive PDF documents that can be filled out, signed, and shared.  Eliminates the hassle of finding a printer, filling a form by hand, and scanning it again.