Adobe Acrobat vs. Apple Preview

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).
$29.99
per month per seat
Apple Preview
Score 6.6 out of 10
N/A
Preview is Apple's native PDF and image editor.
$0
Pricing
Adobe AcrobatApple Preview
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
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Adobe AcrobatApple Preview
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Adobe AcrobatApple Preview
Considered Both Products
Adobe Acrobat
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.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat has much more features than Apple Preview. Apple Preview is good for opening up a PDF for quick browsing but their tools to redact information or prepare PDFs for signatures are much simpler. I just go straight for Adobe Acrobat because I don’t want to compromise …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat stacks up way above Apple Preview. There is just no comparison. Adobe Acrobat is just way more robust and even though Adobe Acrobat has way more features I think it is far easier to use than Apple Preview. Apple Preview is seldom used in our company. Adobe Acrobat …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Bottomline is Adobe Acrobat is the standard and full implementation of all that PDF should have. I tried different apps for different reasons to like Apple Preview for quickly viewing the document. However, for final assessment I always prefer to use Acrobat and check if all …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
I have only ever used Apple Preview as an alternative since I never had a reason to try another application, and this only happened when I forgot to install Adobe Acrobat on a new device. Apple's Preview, even for doing just that, is not as easy to navigate around documents as …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Well, Mac Preview is a default app on the Mac. It just works. It comes pre-installed and it is also used for images and various things. The UI, the graphics, the ux, the functionality all seem seamless. The application also feels very light, works very fast and it is easy to …
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…
Chose Adobe Acrobat
It is more elaborate and technical
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Preview is super simple to use the UI is minimal and straightforward.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Opens quicker
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Preview can do some basic work, but Adobe Acrobat is much more advanced in what it can do.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
It's a more robust tool. However Preview is fast to display and app load. I don't always care about speed but it's. Easier
Chose Adobe Acrobat
It doesn't provide editing conversion capabilities
Chose Adobe Acrobat
There are more powerful capabilities in Adobe Acrobat than Preview, as well as security of info, so we prefer Adobe Acrobat. It also has more flexibility and the ability to send for an e signature is great. Adobe Acrobat is more nimble than Preview and there are more options
Apple Preview

No answer on this topic

Best Alternatives
Adobe AcrobatApple Preview
Small Businesses
Tungsten Power PDF
Tungsten Power PDF
Score 9.8 out of 10
Tungsten Power PDF
Tungsten Power PDF
Score 9.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
MSB Docs
MSB Docs
Score 9.4 out of 10
PDF Xchange Viewer and Editor
PDF Xchange Viewer and Editor
Score 9.4 out of 10
Enterprises
Tungsten Capture
Tungsten Capture
Score 9.4 out of 10
Bluebeam
Bluebeam
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Adobe AcrobatApple Preview
Likelihood to Recommend
8.9
(959 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.9
(45 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.6
(374 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
5.3
(10 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.5
(63 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.9
(15 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
7.9
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
4.5
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
8.0
(8 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
7.1
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
1.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
1.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Adobe AcrobatApple Preview
Likelihood to Recommend
Adobe
It is highly reliable for heavy office workloads as it securely handles legal documents workflow and got some advanced form creation facility. It has got some cool features such as Pdf compression, can edit any form of text or images precisely and most importantly it has got an amazingly accurate OCR engine -Optical Character Recognition, which gives it an edge over any other document editing softwares. Ofcourse every thing has got its own pros and cons, similarly with Adobe Acrobat too, this software is not highly recommended for basic Pdf viewing or lightweight editing as the software eats up a large part of the processor to run which makes our work slower.
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Apple
No answers on this topic
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.
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Apple
No answers on this topic
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.
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Apple
No answers on this topic
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.
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Apple
No answers on this topic
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.
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Apple
No answers on this topic
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
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Apple
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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Apple
No answers on this topic
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.
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Apple
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Adobe
Answered basic questions.
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Apple
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
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Apple
No answers on this topic
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.
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Apple
No answers on this topic
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Adobe
I am not responsible for sales or purchasing
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Apple
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.
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Apple
No answers on this topic
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.
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Apple
No answers on this topic
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.

Apple Preview Screenshots

Screenshot of Apple Preview's form editor