Adobe Acrobat vs. Dropbox Sign

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
Dropbox Sign
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
HelloSign is an electronic signature software offering acquired by Dropbox in early 2019. It includes features such as customization for businesses of any size and bank-level security.
$0
per month
Pricing
Adobe AcrobatDropbox Sign
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
Free
$0
Essentials
$15
per month
Standard
$17.5
per month starting at two users, per user
Essentials API
$75
per month Starting at 50 signature requests / mo.
Standard API
$250
per month Starting at 100 signature requests / mo.
Premium
Custom
Custom
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Adobe AcrobatDropbox Sign
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalOptional
Additional DetailsAdditional pricing available for HelloWorks and HelloFax
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Adobe AcrobatDropbox Sign
Considered Both Products
Adobe Acrobat
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Adobe is a software that I have used for many years, about 10 years. I feel most comfortable with using it, but I have tried HelloSign since it can be integrated with other software that the company uses. HelloSign is quite similar to Adobe, but can not be used without the …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat DC is not integrated like HelloSign to some of our platforms.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
DocuSign has more features than Adobe Acrobat DC but it costs more and we don't need those features. HelloSign is not as robust as Adobe Acrobat DC. We have yet to use a program that we were as satisfied with the results of converting documents into PDF files as we are with …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Truly, we'd be piecing together the functionality from other apps like Google Docs, Mac Preview, Hello Sign, Dropbox, or PDF Expert. But with Acrobat, we get everything we need in one package plus we have the familiarity with Adobe products over time. Everyone knows how to use …
Dropbox Sign
Chose Dropbox Sign
I selected Dropbox Sign because it was very easy to use, started with a free plan, and I knew that if I needed a professional plan, it would be reasonably priced. DocuSign was too expensive, and Adobe products are always hard to use and integrate with.
Chose Dropbox Sign
It is less expensive and assists nonprofits. That was the biggest factor for us, especially when it came to the integration with Salesforce and SharePoint. Although we do not use it now, we plan on using it other applications were way out of our price range, and DocuSign was …
Chose Dropbox Sign
Great software, however the integration of the Dropbox cloud in tandem with this is amazing and simpler than this great competitor for an all in one solution.
Chose Dropbox Sign
DropBox Sign is more user-friendly and not as confusing as the other.
Chose Dropbox Sign
Dropbox seemed easier to use and cheaper than the others. It was just as functional.
Chose Dropbox Sign
It stacks up pretty well, I do think some of the templates I've seen are a bit lacking with Dropbox sign.
Chose Dropbox Sign
Less features simpler to use though
Chose Dropbox Sign
Cost and interface were the main factors, as well as DocuSign has issue with IRS tax forms deleting all the prefilled fields upon upload.
Chose Dropbox Sign
Dropbox sign stacks up positively against other signature programs in ease of use and cost.
Chose Dropbox Sign
While the options above are viable, they don't seem to have the cost structures set up appropriately to capture the longtail of users that my company and I exist in. Even if they are cheaper, they entangle you in a mesh that basically leaves you stuck in their ecosystem. …
Chose Dropbox Sign
It stacks up well, I don't have knowledge of other document signing services, though.
Chose Dropbox Sign
Dropbox Sign has created the greatest ROI for our company, with ease of use and user training.
Chose Dropbox Sign
We've been using HelloSign for so long that we are sticking with Dropbox Sign. I find Adobe's proprietary nonsense to be frustrating and annoying; I'm happy with Dropbox as a company and don't want to learn a new tool.
Chose Dropbox Sign
Very similar to the others, except this is tightly integrated within the dropbox file/cloud storage, which our company already uses, so that makes it that much more convenient you don't have to go to another platform. You can access it directly within the dropbox ecosystem.
Chose Dropbox Sign
Dropbox Sign stacks up very comparably, but I think the mobile UE on DocuSign is better.
Chose Dropbox Sign
DocuSign seems more for legal documents. HelloSign works great for getting signatures on pdf art files. You could use it for any document that needs a signature. It's great that it saves right to dropbox, so once it's signed, we don't have to go back and put it in the right …
Chose Dropbox Sign
The price point for HelloSign is a very easy decision-making element for us compared to the others. The UX for HelloSign is by far one of the best in comparison.
Chose Dropbox Sign
Much more intuitive and user-friendly.
Best Alternatives
Adobe AcrobatDropbox Sign
Small Businesses
Square 9 Softworks
Square 9 Softworks
Score 9.7 out of 10
Foxit eSign
Foxit eSign
Score 9.2 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
MSB Docs
MSB Docs
Score 9.4 out of 10
MSB Docs
MSB Docs
Score 9.4 out of 10
Enterprises
Tungsten Capture
Tungsten Capture
Score 8.0 out of 10
DocuSign
DocuSign
Score 8.7 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Adobe AcrobatDropbox Sign
Likelihood to Recommend
8.8
(811 ratings)
9.5
(178 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.1
(45 ratings)
9.1
(12 ratings)
Usability
9.2
(254 ratings)
9.9
(124 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(3 ratings)
9.1
(2 ratings)
Performance
5.7
(10 ratings)
9.1
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
9.2
(63 ratings)
1.7
(18 ratings)
Online Training
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.8
(15 ratings)
9.0
(4 ratings)
Configurability
8.0
(4 ratings)
8.3
(120 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
4.5
(2 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
8.0
(8 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
7.0
(4 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
1.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
1.0
(1 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Adobe AcrobatDropbox Sign
Likelihood to Recommend
Adobe
When preparing artwork for print production from an application like Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, or InDesign, the best way to preview and preflight the work is to export to PDF and use Adobe Acrobat's output preview to check process colors, spot colors, dielines, and any special requirements, like foil stamping or varnish. Adobe Acrobat is also where you make any needed final adjustments to ensure correct reproduction on press. Documents intended for screen viewing must be exported to PDF and edited in Adobe Acrobat so as to add and edit needed accessibility features critical for legislative compliance.
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Dropbox
Someone who has never used Dropbox Sign before could quickly figure it out without needing a tutorial or guide. It is very useful in instantly collecting signatures and keeping others in the loop as well, even if they aren't signers. I love that there's an option to cc someone in basically and they'll be able to see the documents and when it's signed. It's also impossible to miss a document not being signed because it automatically sends reminders to signers if they do not sign and emails reminders daily, letting me know how many documents are pending signatures.
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Pros
Adobe
  • Ability to manipulate a PDF in various ways.
  • Print production is incredibly helpful for checking off and making sure PDFs are ready for print.
  • Commenting in Adobe Acrobat is awesome! So nice to be able to hand off a PDF and get it back with edits that are easy to navigate and resolve!
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Dropbox
  • Allows customization for each client.
  • Gives us all the room we need to create a thorough contract.
  • Allows us to save each executed contract as a PDF.
  • Looks like a pricey, professionally drawn-up contract.
  • The ability to send a new customer a professional-looking contract like this makes us look "bigger" than we are.
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Cons
Adobe
  • More printing settings, like being able to adjust the margins and place the print area on the page when the file size is larger than the page, and I only want to print one section. Illustrator has this feature. Often, we print from Illustrator instead, because of this limitation.
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Dropbox
  • It would be nice to be able to build a template for just the location of the signature boxes that would allow me to upload a document, and the boxes could be basically replaced. I have the exact same doc for each of my clients, but there are small changes here and there, and I have to fill in their personal info through another program, so it would be nice to be able to do a template this way instead of just tying a template to one document.
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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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Dropbox
Because this product has been affordable which is so important for a non profit however it is also of good quality so its not like you get a cheap version of this you get a quality product at an affordable price and that is so important for a non profit
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Usability
Adobe
It’s a very easy app to learn and software is essential. I feel like the app could load a bit faster but overall, is one of my go to apps. Makes reading and editing pdfs easy and I enjoy the usability of the app. It is definitely something I make sure to have downloaded on any computer I’m working from
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Dropbox
I found this to be super user-friendly and easy to teach other teammates how to use in 5 minutes. I use it frequently, and there was little to no learning curve with this product. I also find that document signers have no problem navigating the documents we need them to review.
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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
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Dropbox
I have not encountered this because it was so easy to use however just seeing how they created a community is great and shows that they are here for their users. I am going to say I am sure they are available and ready to assist when needed. The fact that we have not yet experienced an outage and issues says a lot though :)
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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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Dropbox
Again I cannot say it is enough this app is simple. We are preparing to be able to integrate with Salesforce and Sharepoint at a very small cost per user (these are the platforms we use) and it is great that they have the option to integrate these apps. We love this app
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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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Dropbox
Support is limited to email only (for our subscription level), which might be OK for a e-signing platform if support was relatively rapid. This is not the case with HelloSign. Since the issues first arose a week ago, we have made no discernible progress in solving the problem. No matter how quickly I respond to a follow-up email, we receive only 1 email a day from the support. The other issue, which is a true edge case situation, is their insistence on receiving email from the same email account as the HelloSign registration. We changed our organizational email recently, and I was still logging into HS using our old email address. This became a hard stop on further support, which doesn't make sense on a practical level. Why would someone write in for support with specific issues if they weren't a customer? And if they did, wouldn't that be a miniscule proportion of the support requests? So if you adopt a policy that stops providing support to anyone who isn't verified, regardless of the situation, isn't that using a blunt instrument to solve a very rare issue? Reflects the overall organizational values, in my opinion, which is not to value the small customer.
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Online Training
Adobe
Answered basic questions.
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Dropbox
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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Dropbox
I can not say it enough - this was the easiest implementation we have had with an application. I became an admin, I added the person who would be the back up admin, we moved forward with adding accounts and that was it. All the users we have were self sufficient enough to move forward with very little guidance and the guidance they received was in house.
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Alternatives Considered
Adobe
In my opinion, both complement each other. Microsoft clearly has with Copilot the AI Edge. However, the visual dynamics of Adobe Creative are Outstanding and provide a balanced approach to creativity, utilizing both Excellent, user-friendly Tools.
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Dropbox
Dropbox Sign seems a little more intuitive and user-friendly than DocuSign. DocuSign also has a limit to the number of documents that you can send for signature over a period of time. Dropbox Sign integrates with just as many applications and software as DocuSign does. I also think the amount of templates that they give you to use is more than adequate for most business applications and more than other services seem to give you.
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Adobe
I am not responsible for sales or purchasing
Read full review
Dropbox
The appropriate price for the system.
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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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Dropbox
Between the easy to use app, the pricing, and the team at dropbox. This app is hands down great! Easy to use. Anyone can start using it and if not I am sure the team at dropbox will guide you to implement. The cost especially for us as a nonprofit is sustainable which is great.
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Return on Investment
Adobe
  • Adobe Acrobat has saved us time in managing documents. In this day, everything is fast, moves fast, and keeping up with that pace demands software that functions at the same level. Adobe Acrobat does that. It has streamlined the steps I need to take to edit and create documents we need to manage our customers.
  • Adobe Acrobat removes the worry and stress associated with managing a large influx of documents. Something as simple as a document featuring an image that was sent to us upside down. Using the old method, I would have to open other software, click 'Edit', find the 'Rotate Image' button, click it a couple of times, save it as a JPEG, then attach it to Word, and finally save it as a PDF. It was a grueling process that consumed a great deal of time. Now, I simply open the image, and Adobe automatically recognizes it is upside down and fixes it for me. I can save and move on; it literally takes me seconds. Amazing.
  • Adobe Acrobat is intuitive and easy to use, and the additional apps are relevant to the needs that come up. If I have an idea, I can go to the available apps and find exactly what I need. Impressive and speaks to the years of experience this company has had to fine-tune its product and make it obvious that it is aggressive in staying on top.
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Dropbox
  • Faster time to contract signature-less overthinking because they sign with their finger on the phone with the sales rep.
  • Reduction of paper waste and organization.
  • Ease for sales reps to quickly choose and alter any agreement they need while on a call.
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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.

Dropbox Sign Screenshots

Screenshot of drag and drop fields for any document to create an e-signature documentScreenshot of signer settings that can be used to distribute agreementsScreenshot of Notifications of completed signaturesScreenshot of uploading a documentScreenshot of Admin homepageScreenshot of template creation