Adobe Acrobat vs. Flip PDF Pro for Mac

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
Flip PDF Pro for Mac
Score 5.0 out of 10
N/A
Flip PDF for Mac from FlipBuilder is designed to make it fast and easy for Mac users to convert ordinary PDF files into mobile friendly eye-catching brochures or magazines with amazing page-flipping effect. Integrated with hundreds of templates and themes, the Mac program enables you to create an unique and impressive digital magazine, brochure or catalog within minutes.N/A
Pricing
Adobe AcrobatFlip PDF Pro for Mac
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 AcrobatFlip PDF Pro for Mac
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 AcrobatFlip PDF Pro for Mac
Considered Both Products
Adobe Acrobat
Chose Adobe Acrobat
We tried Flip PDF Pro for Mac, but the software didn't have the accessibility features we need. Plus, most of our web agents across campus are working on PCs, so it didn't make sense to use software they wouldn't have access to use. Adobe Acrobat DC was a great universal …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Secure Sharing: I can share my documents with other team members while ensuring that the data remains protected. I can set permissions for each document, specifying who can view, edit,
Flip PDF Pro for Mac
Chose Flip PDF Pro for Mac
There are several PDF conversion programs out there, but really Flip PDF Pro for Mac is probably the best one that I've encountered. The amount of versatility in the program really sells it to me. It works just like a design program, but as a customizable PDF, and it's …
Best Alternatives
Adobe AcrobatFlip PDF Pro for Mac
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 9.3 out of 10
Enterprises
Tungsten Capture
Tungsten Capture
Score 9.4 out of 10
Bluebeam
Bluebeam
Score 8.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Adobe AcrobatFlip PDF Pro for Mac
Likelihood to Recommend
8.9
(967 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.9
(46 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.5
(382 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
8.6
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
5.2
(11 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.6
(64 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.9
(16 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
7.7
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
3.9
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
8.0
(9 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
7.2
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Professional Services
7.3
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
5.6
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
5.9
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Adobe AcrobatFlip PDF Pro for Mac
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.
Read full review
FlipBuilder
It's great for presentations. It makes even the most drab presentation more interesting, and gives you the ability to add animated elements to your presentation. Everybody uses Microsoft PowerPoint, but for Mac it's a little slow and unresponsive. Flip PDF Pro for Mac kind of solves that issue – you can build your project in InDesign, export it out, then import it into Flip PDF Pro. It sounds like a bit of a process but it's actually very easy. Any designer can pick it up and run with it.
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.
Read full review
FlipBuilder
  • You can customize or add certain things like your title, logo, toolbar icon appearance, background, fonts, etc. It feels a lot like a design program – which is nice, as a designer.
  • The program allows you to embed almost any sort of media into your flip book – GIFs are easy to add in and work with, they add a dynamic element to your presentation (which wasn't possible before).
  • You can create these things called “hot spots” – basically certain trigger areas in your document that can activate something when clicked – like take you to a e-commerce site, for example.
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.
Read full review
FlipBuilder
  • My documents sometimes had a problem with import and output – sometimes it would take a substansial amount of time to export something.
  • In their mulit-lingual version, our freelance linguist caught some mistakes, some words were not translated or translated into other languages – which can make us look pretty bad.
  • There's a limit on audio you can output for each page in your document – it had to be "one audio for two pages".
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.
Read full review
FlipBuilder
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.
Read full review
FlipBuilder
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
Read full review
FlipBuilder
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.
Read full review
FlipBuilder
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.
Read full review
FlipBuilder
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Adobe
Answered basic questions.
Read full review
FlipBuilder
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
Read full review
FlipBuilder
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.
Read full review
FlipBuilder
There are several PDF conversion programs out there, but really Flip PDF Pro for Mac is probably the best one that I've encountered. The amount of versatility in the program really sells it to me. It works just like a design program, but as a customizable PDF, and it's easy-to-use interface really helps speed things up with our workflow and process. There's a lot of competitors out there, but none of them really stack up.
Read full review
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Adobe
I am not responsible for sales or purchasing
Read full review
FlipBuilder
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.
Read full review
FlipBuilder
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.
Read full review
FlipBuilder
  • It makes our presentations more interesting and dynamic.
  • It allows us to go around using Microsoft PowerPoint (which is a little slow and unresponsive on Mac).
  • Using its animation and hotlink elements, we're able to broaden our services with this program. It really helps out a lot.
Read full review
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.