Adobe Acrobat vs. Affinity Publisher

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).
$19.99
per month
Affinity Publisher
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Affinity Publisher replaces the former PagePlus desktop publishing application, from Serif Europe headquartered in Nottingham.
$24.99
Pricing
Adobe AcrobatAffinity Publisher
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
Affinity Publisher
$24.99
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Adobe AcrobatAffinity Publisher
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Adobe AcrobatAffinity Publisher
Considered Both Products
Adobe Acrobat
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.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat has more features and is included in my Creative Cloud subscription.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
It has a better competitive price and provides more options than DocuSign or Canva when it comes to editing text documents. Have the ability to Edit not only text but reorder pages on a document makes it easier. Also, you can integrate the design option such as photoshop by …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat is far more visual than any other document editor/viewer. As a veteran in the market, it understands its customers' needs well and has managed to stay relevant and keep its tools up-to-date. Furthermore, it maintains a good balance between the number of tools it …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat is great for organizations to use, while the other tools are mostly targeted to individual users. We have tried other software, Adobe products with their ecosystem and different products with the same subscription, ended up being more useful than buying different …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
I am sure it works fine but I do not have any reason to ever use it instead of or in addition to acrobat. If the software is working fine, has the features you need and is already well known by the staff, it would be foolish to switch to a different software.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
I don't know if it's the many years of experience I have using Adobe Acrobat or that they just seem to evolve along with the industry, the other programs I have tried (not by choice) just don't seem to have the abilities I have found and used with Adobe Acrobat.
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 …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat is far superior to Microsoft Edge's PDF reader. It is far more robust in the features that are offered without sacrificing any user friendliness.
Bluebeam offers more detailed editing features, specifically for things like construction documents. However, …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat is better for a few reasons: it has more powerful capabilities like editing, it's stable, it's exported files are universally compatible. The two I named above are ok in a pinch, but definitely not something we use if we can avoid it.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat is the best tool to be able to view and amend documents especially for accessibility. While some other products might be better for editing the documents Adobe Acrobat will allow you to do a full accessibility report and ensure that the content of the document is …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
I have used eCopy Pro before. This, when I used it, was very limited on what I can do with whole pages or electronic signatures. It did not at the time have the function to get an electronic signature directly. It would allow me to erase meta data, but I am not sure that is …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
For what we need the application for, Acrobat is the right software. Yes, it is the right tool for the job and for our organization to complete the projects we need it to do and succeed with.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
It just seems like Adobe is PDF-first, and others are trying to catch up. I'm used to it, and it does everything I need.
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
Chose Adobe Acrobat
We like the interoperability between Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat. Their is native support to export from or to either format, but Adobe Acrobat Reader is free & everyone can view & print PDF documents free of charge.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
DocuSign was the main alternative we looked at seriously. The E-Signature side is comparable, but DocuSign does not give you the broader PDF editing and OCR capabilities, so you would still need another tool alongside it. Acrobat made more sense as a single tool that covered …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
I got Adobe Acrobat for free
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.
Affinity Publisher
Chose Affinity Publisher
It works just as well if not better than Adobe and doesn't have a monthly fee
Chose Affinity Publisher
Only useful on the Windows platform. Perhaps it is just fine, but the plug-in style function of the Affinity photo and designer attached to Publisher makes the Affinity solution more robust. The Microsoft product is also attached to a subscription platform, where the Serif …
Chose Affinity Publisher
I used to use Adobe FrameMaker for similar tasks. Affinity Publisher is easier to use with similar functionality (excluding mathematics).
Chose Affinity Publisher
The features in Affinity Publisher easily stack up against the much more expensive Adobe suite of products. With the ability to open all file types it is a bit of a workhorse for all things. We have been using it for social media template designs as well as client booklets and …
Chose Affinity Publisher
It's just as full-featured. It's nice to not be locked into the Adobe Creative Suite. We also use Affinity Photo, so we knew Affinity was a reputable company making some incredible software worth looking into. It took us a while, but very glad we gave it a chance. It can do …
Chose Affinity Publisher
Affinity Publisher has a comparable feature set to Adobe InDesign, but for a fraction of the cost. You can technically create print graphics in Illustrator and Sketch (and some of our people still do), but you have to worry about converting pixels to inches pretty regularly to …
Chose Affinity Publisher
Affinity Publisher is a more cost effective way to achieve the same goals as InDesign and Quark. I'm sure there are various differences that Affinity may lack, however we have yet to run into one that our business has needed, or even recognized. It has completely replaced any …
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Adobe AcrobatAffinity Publisher
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Medium-sized Companies
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User Ratings
Adobe AcrobatAffinity Publisher
Likelihood to Recommend
8.9
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.8
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
5.3
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.5
(0 ratings)
8.6
(0 ratings)
Online Training
9.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.9
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
7.9
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
8.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
7.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
1.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
1.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Adobe AcrobatAffinity Publisher
Likelihood to Recommend
When asked, I tend to suggest Adobe Acrobat vs Docusign, it's easier to use, cheaper and has more editing options available. I suggest Adobe Acrobat for many things over other programs, sometimes the only issues is the cost, you need to own Adobe Acrobat to do a lot of things, and the cost can be can an issue for people.
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Honestly, I thought our department would use this more for creating documentation for our staff and doing some mock-ups and layouts to envision future projects. I also run the social media for us, and I didn't expect to come to rely on Publisher for some of my social media layouts. There are other apps and subscription services that can streamline some social media posts, but with a bit of usage I've come to like using Publisher, as well.
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Pros
  • ISO standard PDF creation is critical for print production, so that there are no surprises on press.
  • Adobe Acrobat's security features are simple to use, and effective.
  • Most clients have no difficulty with the commenting features in Adobe Acrobat, which makes review quick and simple.
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  • Supports just about any format you'll need for your project.
  • The variety of templates makes startign projects simple.
  • The program is just really powerful and fairly priced.
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Cons
  • For as amazing as Adobe Acrobat is, a lot of the time it does feel like one of the more clunky and slow Adobe programs.
  • Ability to edit text! Adobe Acrobat sometimes struggles with fonts and editing the text ends up messing with the text in weird ways.
  • It would be cool to have multiple versions of the same preflight single fixups! I use the same single fixup but need to adjust it for multiple sizes! I'd like to be able to save another version of it with the different sizes.
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  • Menu differences can be an impediment to new users from other softwares
  • Some functions are not in places I would expect
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Likelihood to Renew
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.
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No answers on this topic
Usability
We have not experienced any major problems using Adobe Acrobat within our company. We use a variety of computer devices, and it works well on all machines. The only minor issues we have had occur have been the software getting "hung up" during some printing tasks and conversion tasks, but these sorts of inconveniences have been few and far between.
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It offers a user-friendly interface and powerful design tools that make creating high-quality graphics and layouts straightforward. However, some features can feel complex, especially for new users, which may require a bit of a learning curve. The integration between desktop and iPad is excellent, but improving compatibility with other popular software could enhance collaboration and efficiency even further. Overall, it’s a robust tool that balances functionality and ease of use quite well.
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Reliability and Availability
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
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No answers on this topic
Performance
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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No answers on this topic
Support Rating
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.
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So far, when we've needed support, it has been top tier. However, I rate it an 8 because sometimes searching for things within the application hasn't yielded answers I've hoped for, so I've had to turn to YouTube or other outside sources. Thankfully there's a fantastic community that surrounds Affinity and their various apps that's been quite beneficial
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Online Training
Answered basic questions.
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No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
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
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No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
I am sure it works fine but I do not have any reason to ever use it instead of or in addition to acrobat. If the software is working fine, has the features you need and is already well known by the staff, it would be foolish to switch to a different software.
Read full review
The features in Affinity Publisher easily stack up against the much more expensive Adobe suite of products. With the ability to open all file types it is a bit of a workhorse for all things. We have been using it for social media template designs as well as client booklets and case studies. It's a very versatile program.
Read full review
Scalability
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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No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
  • Time spent on manual document prep dropped noticeably once OCR became part of the workflow, about roughly 3-4 hours a week across the team, just from not retyping scanned documents.
  • Fewer errors in documents going out to clients because edits happen in the original file rather than recreating things from scratch.
  • The pricing is a real negative ROI consideration. At this cost, you expect the performance to be consistently solid, but it isn't always, which makes it harder to fully recommend internally.
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  • The one-time purchase model has saved us approximately 50% compared to subscription software, freeing up budget for other critical business needs.
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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.