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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Adobe Acrobat

    Score8.8 out of 10
    N/AAdobe 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).

    $29.99

    per month per seat

    Adobe PhotoShop

    Score9.2 out of 10
    N/AAdobe Photoshop is the best known graphics product on the market.

    $20

    per month

    Pricing
    Adobe AcrobatAdobe PhotoShop
    Editions & Modules
    Acrobat Pro for Individuals
    $19.99
    per month
    Acrobat Pro for Teams
    $23.99
    per month per user
    Acrobat Studio for Individuals
    $24.99
    per month
    Single App
    $20.00
    per month
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Adobe AcrobatAdobe PhotoShop
    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 PhotoShop
    Considered Both Products
    Adobe
    Chose Adobe Acrobat
    If I were to make a comparison between Adobe Acrobat and Illustrator, Illustrator would be the Basilica San Pietro while Adobe Acrobat would be a modern faux gothic church in a small city in the US midwest. That is to say that Illustrator is an industry titan with the most …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Acrobat
    Actually,, Adobe Acrobat is a GO TO PDF partner to all of these. It's a critical member of the production (output) family.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Acrobat
    Adobe Acrobat runs in a parallel way to these other products. Only Illustrator has a function that you can save files as PDF and read them in acrobat Reader. And you can open PDF files and edit them. The thing is that for simple things and simple modifications Adobe Acrobat has …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Acrobat
    Adobe Acrobat has the naming and reliability solidified all over the world and the name already share what's needed to work without security issues
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Acrobat
    Adobe Acrobat is an amazing tool. I chose this one because I did not see any others that I had enough knowledge to give a true review. I am more of a creative user when it comes to Adobe. I am new to marketing.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Acrobat
    Preview is a great, quick tool for viewing docs or images but doesn't always show PDF files as they are intended as it doesn't have all the features that Adobe Acrobat does and nor does it attempt to. I't merely a quick route to checking something out for me. I wouldn't use Prev…
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Acrobat
    In terms of comparisons, the simple fact is that Adobe Acrobat is known and trusted by clients and print providers throughout industry. Third party PDF editors are often more lightweight but also don't have all the features of Adobe Acrobat, so there is the inevitable point …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Acrobat
    To me, I just feel safer using Adobe Acrobat because I've been using Adobe for so long and I have familiarity with it, but DocuSign is good too. Adobe is just like home and when I get something from Adobe I'm less skeptical it's gonna be disasterous because I trust Adobe so …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Acrobat
    Acrobat has less flexibility and editing capabilities
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Acrobat
    It is more elaborate and technical
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Acrobat
    Not used any others
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Acrobat
    Acrobat is an easy to use tool even for people with limited knowledge or technical abilities.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Acrobat
    I found Adobe Acrobat far more intuitive.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Acrobat
    good, a bit more technical
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Acrobat
    Adobe Acrobat is a fantastic byproduct of InDesign and Photoshop, illustrator etc. To send across proof while not needed the full creative cloud suite for everyone. Training is easy as most of our users need basic understanding to be effective
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Acrobat
    I think Adobe Acrobat is far superior to Preview. Preview is just a viewer with basic editing while Adobe Acrobat far exceeds the tool.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Acrobat
    Adobe Acrobat is the best program we’ve found for handling pdfs. It ensures that people in and out of the organization will have no issues with compatibility.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Acrobat
    Acrobat helps the final profit
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Acrobat
    Preview can do some basic work, but Adobe Acrobat is much more advanced in what it can do.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Acrobat
    Apple Preview has way less editing/customization features for me to use. Also it was hard for me collaborate with other coworkers on Preview despite of some basic functionalities it offers. However I think Preview feature is good for taking a quick look at the pdf file.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe Acrobat
    it has many more features. I have always used adobe products
    Incentivized
    Adobe
    Chose Adobe PhotoShop
    Photoshop is leap years ahead of their competition.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe PhotoShop
    Each adobe tool really is created to stand alone for different purposes. I don't think I can compare Adobe PhotoShop with other tools simply because they do different things. As far as Canva goes, I do enjoy using Canva, but there are at times more complicated things I need to …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe PhotoShop
    Adobe Photoshop works pretty seamlessly within the Adobe Creative Suite.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe PhotoShop
    There is no comparison needed. Each of these apps has a place in one's production tasks. You don't compare a donut to a glass of orange juice. They both taste pretty good. One is for fun (and fat). The other is for thirst-quenching and health benefits. Adobe Photoshop is for …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe PhotoShop
    I selected Adobe PhotoShop over other as it is more useful and convenient then other platform,It helps in giving a pro touch in every images and it helps to adjust each and every single element in a photo as we can manually adjust that how much exposure is needed our how much …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe PhotoShop
    illustrious program. In this program, your imagination's capabilities are the only limitations on what you can create, alter, modify, and do. Since its initial release, it has added to its restrictions with each new update, raising them to impossible levels. In other words, …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe PhotoShop
    Adobe Illustrator is excellent for vector designs and illustrations and Adobe InDesign is excellent for layout work of printed materials like manuals. Adobe Photoshop is the go-to program for photo editing and the trio of programs work well together to cover most needs of a …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe PhotoShop
    Adobe Photoshop is one thousand times more advanced, sophisticated and versatile than Canva is. Although there is a free version of Canva, and there are no free options for Adobe Photoshop, I still think that Adobe Photoshop is definitely worth the investment for professional …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe PhotoShop
    All perform different tasks and integrate with Photoshop. Use them all in one way or another with Photoshop.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe PhotoShop
    Many, many years ago we were using Corel Paint Shop. It's UI is friendly, but once we were trained on PhotoShop and it's robust tools and easy UI, we fell in love and never looked back. There wasn't really anything wrong with Corel, it was more that PhotoShop just offered more.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe PhotoShop
    Photoshop is part of Adobe’s Creative Cloud, and all of its products integrate well together, which was a major selling point for me. The level of fine-tuning/adjustments within the program and the wide variety of available third party plugins was important to me as well. In …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe PhotoShop
    We use Photoshop in conjunction with InDesign and Illustrator. Having access to the entire suite allows us to seamlessly design for web and print.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe PhotoShop
    CorelDRAW been around for many years but to date, Photoshop is still the king of any of graphic editing tools currently on the market.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe PhotoShop
    Never even considered another program. Adobe Photoshop CC is the bomb.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe PhotoShop
    Once I learned how to use Adobe Photoshop, I was able to create infographics of any size. I also edited photographs right down to pixel size. It has been my "go to" software for many years. I have tried other software but nothing held a candle to Adobe Photoshop. I have always …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe PhotoShop
    I like Canva a lot and do use it for some graphics we use on social media, but Adobe Photoshop is definitely better suited to editing actual images and getting them appropriately sized and colored for our website, social media, print publications, and more. They are both great …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe PhotoShop
    Corel is nowhere close to the power of Photoshop and I have found that Corel will also not let you convert to certain formats correctly without some loss in quality. The color tools are not as robust and the feature set is lacking. I feel that Photoshop overall has a better …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe PhotoShop
    Photoshop is MUCH easier to use and interacts with other programs MUCH more easily.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe PhotoShop
    I've tried many Photoshop alternatives over the years and generally, nothing stacks up. I sometimes use Canva when I need something created and don't have access to Photoshop. It doesn't do the same kind of heavy lifting, but it works in a pinch. I think that's the real …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe PhotoShop
    I frequently use Adobe Premiere and Adobe InDesign.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe PhotoShop
    Other image editors I've had experience with are Pixlr, Gimp and Windows Paint. While I personally liked Pixlr the most out of those 3, none of them hold a candle to Photoshop. I've spent more time in Photoshop than the others, so naturally, I'm more familiar with it. It takes …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe PhotoShop
    I've never tried any other photo editing software. For the better part of 20 yrs it has been an industry standard & continues to evolve to offer updated creative options.
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe PhotoShop
    Both Lightroom and Capture One also provide a rich, powerful set of features for image editing. However, they are designed for a different purpose -- working with RAW images, and moving through a large number of images quickly. They excel where Photoshop does not, and Photoshop …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe PhotoShop
    I've used Adobe Photoshop for many years now. Unfortunately I have not had time to sit down and learn these other products to find out which I like better. While at home I use Apple Photos and I have tried paint.net a couple of times but due to the availability of Adobe …
    Incentivized
    Chose Adobe PhotoShop
    There are other photo editors out there that cost much less than Photoshop. Some are even free. But what keeps me coming back to Photoshop is the depth of features and the fact that they do usually have at least one new killer feature added with each upgrade. It's a …
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    97%
    Would buy again
    897 Answers
    98%
    Would buy again
    152 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    95%
    Delivers good value for the price
    768 Answers
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    140 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    97%
    Happy with the feature set
    899 Answers
    99%
    Happy with the feature set
    154 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    96%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    594 Answers
    98%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    130 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    99%
    Implementation went as expected
    683 Answers
    99%
    Implementation went as expected
    132 Answers
    Best Alternatives
    Adobe AcrobatAdobe PhotoShop
    Small Businesses
    M‑Files
    Score8.9 out of 10
    GIMP
    Score8 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Esker
    Score7.4 out of 10
    Adobe Illustrator
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Tungsten Capture
    Score9.5 out of 10
    Adobe Illustrator
    Score9.4 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Adobe AcrobatAdobe PhotoShop
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.9
    (967 ratings)
    9.2
    (211 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.9
    (46 ratings)
    9.0
    (31 ratings)
    Usability
    8.5
    (382 ratings)
    8.2
    (36 ratings)
    Availability
    8.6
    (4 ratings)
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    Performance
    5.1
    (11 ratings)
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.6
    (64 ratings)
    10.0
    (54 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.9
    (16 ratings)
    9.0
    (6 ratings)
    Configurability
    7.7
    (5 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    3.9
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    8.0
    (9 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    7.3
    (5 ratings)
    4.0
    (1 ratings)
    Professional Services
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    5.8
    (3 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    6.0
    (2 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Adobe AcrobatAdobe PhotoShop
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Adobe
    In my opinion there isn't a better document program that works with everyone. In a previous role; I had advocated for staff across departments to get Adobe Acrobat licenses because they kept sending every little thing to me since I had the main Adobe license. It really made their departments (sales & finance) run much smoother for a very minimal cost.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Adobe
    Photoshop is a useful tool for everything from creating social media graphics to editing and sizing photos. There is a bit of a learning curve, so you need to have a bit of experience to master it and use it for a variety of tasks. You also need to have a good sense of file organization so you can find files quickly without losing track of them.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Adobe
    • It is easy to sign and send a document.
    • It makes it easy to scan and save a document.
    • It is easy to add text to any document.
    • You can create an editable PDF form for others to complete based on the questions you include.
    • You can create and send a secure document to a client for their signature.
    • It is easy to add photos to any document.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Adobe
    • The fact is that you may quickly pick things up on your own by spending time without using any other resources.
    • It is the program that brings the phrase "to make PhotoShop" to almost all languages. It's not just a photo editing program.
    • Practical and beautiful results are filtered by filtering the desired work without drowning in details.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Adobe
    • I wish the backward compatibility was a little more friendly. PDFLyer had to be updated sooner that we would like when we updated from Adobe 2017 to Adobe 2026.
    • I wish it had list processing like Excel where it could remove duplicates, change formatting, etc.
    • Sometimes after an update we lose our plugins and have to restablish the connection to the plugin or reinstall.
    Incentivized
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    Adobe
    • The effect applying time could be faster.
    • There could be a smarter way to make mockups using smart objects, maybe by directly selecting an area, and generative AI can automate a few steps.
    • If Photoshop can suggest the right stock imagery in case the generative AI doesn't get the right answer.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Adobe
    Adobe Acrobat works seamlessly with the other Adobe products we use that are industry-standard. We will certainly continue to use Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator, meaning it will always be convenient to work seamlessly with Adobe Acrobat for our organization. We are happy with the performance of Acrobat and it's meets our expectations.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Adobe
    We get a lot of use out of this software. It's vital for work with production in our industry and has a lot of cross-functionality - creating social media images, retouching photos, editing photos, creating gradients, and more. It's pretty fuss-free in that we haven't had to reach out to support and the program hasn't crashed on us. We are trained on the software (so again, this isn't for beginners), but for detail-oriented designers and creatives like ourselves - it's a no-brainer.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Adobe
    I would say overall, the product is great and as someone who has used it for many years now, I'm quite familiar with the ins and outs of the application. However, we found that when users were shown it for the first time and a bit after, they would feel a bit overwhelmed by the options and what everything meant. I think the UI could be simplified or an option to have a simplified mode and an advanced mode added.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Adobe
    Adobe PhotoShop is a professional-grade tool that requires months/years to get a grasp of how to use it well. Even then, after over a decade of using Adobe PhotoShop both casually and professionally, I feel like I'm still unfamiliar with a large percentage of the available tools. Without a dedicated training program, it can be extremely overwhelming and/or you may not get good use out of it. That being said, once you do get comfortable with it, the layout and workspace are excellent with myriad shortcuts that speed up your workflow exponentially. Put in the time to learn it, and you'll love it.
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    Adobe
    We have not had availability issues with Adobe Acrobat, or at least none that I am personally aware of. Some may encounter crashes of the software during outages of electricity in their city or neighborhood, which no one can plan for, but with generators in our organization, we have been lucky not to have outages
    Incentivized
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    Adobe
    Adobe Photoshop is very reliable, but is never 100%. There have been times when Adobe Photoshop has had trouble opening, but nothing a little computer restart couldn't fix. I use Adobe Photoshop on a Mac for both work and at home on a daily basis, and I would be lost without it.
    Read full review
    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.
    Incentivized
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    Adobe
    Speed can be an issue when you are dealing with large files for large format printing or billboards. When working on web images, speed is not an issue.
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Adobe
    For a while, Acrobat DC crashed pretty frequently. I contacted Adobe Acrobat support about the problem. At first support was unable to provide a solution. After about a month Adobe's software engineers provided a fix. I just wish it had taken less than a month to solve the problem.
    Incentivized
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    Adobe
    While I never contacted Adobe directly, there is so much content out there in the form of YouTube videos, Lynda/LinkedIn learning that almost any issue, including bugs, can be worked around (and this method is generally faster as there's no turnaround time involved).
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    Adobe
    No answers on this topic
    Adobe
    So, I received the training at the HQ and it was train the trainer training. A good time, I spent a week at their campus
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Adobe
    Answered basic questions.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Adobe
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Adobe
    I was not involved with the implementation process, so I cannot answer this question. However, when it was installed on my computer system, they did so virtually. I just sat there while they took control of my computer over the network and watch them install it, lickety split
    Incentivized
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    Adobe
    I took a course so it really helped. I didn’t take the course until much later after beginning to use it, so I wish work would have sent me right off the bat. It would have alleviated a lot of frustratinon
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Adobe
    Adobe Acrobat has the most premium features that other software can't offer. The seamless UI is consistent on any device, and the ease of use. The security and the advanced AI features are what you won't get on any other platforms or apps.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Adobe
    [Adobe] Photoshop offers the best photo editing as well as content creation. The layer-by-layer approach of [Adobe] Photoshop helps to work between two apps or even two PCs of entirely different Creative Cloud apps seamlessly. The stability and the speed of the tools in photoshop make it even better to make a canvas of creativity.
    Incentivized
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    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    Adobe
    I am not responsible for sales or purchasing
    Incentivized
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    Adobe
    No answers on this topic
    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.
    Incentivized
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    Adobe
    It seems expensive compared to the free/cheap programs now available
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Adobe
    • Definitely a positive ROI when I can receive clear notes/direction on edits for a PDF via Acrobat's comment system, rather than chicken scratch on a printed document.
    • The ability to password-protect my PDFs so I can make sure only the workforce I want to see the information has been priceless!
    • As I mentioned before, a huge positive impact is the ability to edit PDFs without having to return to the original file's native software.
    Incentivized
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    Adobe
    • Adobe PhotoShop in general is a great time saver.
    • It does take a long time for the program to start up, however
    • The most difficult task is onboarding new employees into Adobe PhotoShop who don't have experience with it. It's an investment for their future so we see value in it.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots

    Adobe Acrobat Screenshots

    Screenshot of where to create, edit, convert, and share PDF files all from within Microsoft Teams – as part of Acrobat integrations with Microsoft 365 apps.Screenshot of Liquid Mode in Adobe Acrobat Reader mobile app, where 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 where to fill and sign PDF forms from anywhere and on any device. Here, users can collect signatures, digitally track progress, and automatically archive the signed document.Screenshot of the Adobe Scan mobile app, used to capture and convert documents into high-quality, interactive PDF documents that can be filled out, signed, and shared. This eliminates the hassle of finding a printer, filling a form by hand, and scanning it again.