Adobe Acrobat vs. Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)

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
Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Office 2016 is the familiar suite of Office products including applications such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for use on a single PC or Mac. The 2016 is no longer available for sale from Microsoft, and support is at an end since 2020.N/A
Pricing
Adobe AcrobatMicrosoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
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 AcrobatMicrosoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
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 AcrobatMicrosoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
Considered Both Products
Adobe Acrobat
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat is very comparable to Microsoft office. They share the same tools and functions.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
have not tried any major competitor against Acrobat, but have used Microsoft Word to edit and create documents in PDF file format. does not have all the same options and features as Acrobat.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Nitro did not always provide updates in a timely manner. I also had issues with it being available on multiple platforms.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
We do use Microsoft Office for document creation, but documents are always concerted to PDF prior to being distributed outside of our organization. We find PDF to be a better file format for sharing as opposed to docx files.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
I have limited experience with Foxit PDF Editor, but use PDF Xchange Viewer and Editor extensively, and have used it for more than a decade. In my limited experience, Foxit PDF Editor was superior to Adobe Acrobat DC in virtually every way, but my familiarity with PDF Xchange …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat DC is the most superior tool for creating and editing PDF files. All the functionality is already included in the software. No need to look further. The only time you might need to use Illustrator or InDesign is when you create graphically heavy content.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
I like Acrobat because it feels like the company pays attention to it and improves it regularly without affecting core functionality. Kofax Power PDF was more difficult to use, and it felt neglected, only getting an update maybe once every year or so.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Acrobat is a software preferred especially for document types shared digitally. Earlier alternatives are Microsoft Office solutions. The prominent difference of Acrobat is that it can be printed, edited, can convert all kinds of documents into PDF and also allows creating a …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
There really is no product that compares when it comes to pdf management. Currently Adobe has a corner on the market.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
There are still some employees who prefer to use Word instead of Adobe for their editing. However, they still use Adobe Acrobat DC in order to export to Word. They are just more familiar with Word and due to their comfort level, they don't want to be bothered with using the …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
We tried a few users on Nitro and found it to be less functional and user-friendly than Adobe. Ease of use is important for user acceptance, and with Adobe being more functional for our team, it has remained our internal standard. We also have not found any other clients who …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat was selected because it is the industry standard.
Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
Chose Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
Office is by far the most compatible of all the options we looked at and it integrates with Exchange email servers really well, so its an easy choice for us.
Chose Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
We did not evaluate other products. The company already had an enterprise license with Microsoft for the Office Suite, and we were able to get a license and installation of our product by using our company email address. The other option was using free tools, which I know from …
Chose Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
In terms of Layout, functionality, versatility, I believe that Microsoft Office, is in general, the standard to follow. Nonetheless, depending on the requirements, LibreOffice and Google Drive may provide the tools and functionality needed for many users. Furthermore, the …
Chose Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
The only similar products I have used would be Google Sheets, Google Docs and Google Slides. These are similar, but Microsoft Office products have more functionality.
Chose Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
Microsoft Office is the best and has been the best for years. 10 years into the workforce and there are no other comparable programs that stack up.
Chose Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
Yes, it's true that there are a lot of alternatives to Microsoft Office 2016 including:

* Google Docs.
Chose Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
I have used Google Drive in the past. I found that I get a lot more storage space with Microsoft Office than I do with Google Drive. I also use PowerPoint a lot when doing proposals, and Google Drive contains nothing of the sort. It is a lot easier to use, and I am used to …
Best Alternatives
Adobe AcrobatMicrosoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
Small Businesses
Square 9 Softworks
Square 9 Softworks
Score 9.7 out of 10
Google Workspace
Google Workspace
Score 9.1 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
MSB Docs
MSB Docs
Score 9.4 out of 10
Google Workspace
Google Workspace
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
Tungsten Capture
Tungsten Capture
Score 8.0 out of 10
Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Score 8.9 out of 10
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User Ratings
Adobe AcrobatMicrosoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
Likelihood to Recommend
8.8
(811 ratings)
7.4
(64 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.1
(45 ratings)
5.0
(3 ratings)
Usability
9.2
(254 ratings)
7.0
(3 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
5.8
(10 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.2
(63 ratings)
8.0
(45 ratings)
Online Training
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.8
(15 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
8.0
(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
7.0
(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 AcrobatMicrosoft Office 2016 (discontinued)
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.
Read full review
Discontinued Products
I'd recommend [Microsoft] Office2016 for any business that has more than a couple of users, as the software is very scalable from just a small business to a large enterprise corporation. I don't know of any case where it might not be appropriate, as even home users and students use the software suite as well.
Read full review
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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Discontinued Products
  • Data manipulation. Excel takes the raw data we receive and allows us to digest it in ways that are useful to our business processes.
  • Communication. Outlook serves as our primary means of communication and setting up appointments.
  • Documentation. Word is the default standard when it comes to using a word processor and we are no different in this regard. Nearly every user has to use the application on a regular basis in order to accomplish their work.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Discontinued Products
  • Office 2016 professional edition can be priced for a single user license, it would be nice to see a drop in the pricing.
  • Office 2016 home edition is a better price but does not include outlook 2016, so it is not a good fit for the workplace environments.
  • Office 2016 can run slowly on older systems, so you need to make sure you have a machine that is 4 years old or less for it to run smoothly.
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.
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Discontinued Products
We believe that office 2016 offers the best value when it comes to features included out of the box. The software is used in its entirety by our organization and is easily supported by our staff of IT technicians. Users find this software to be easy to learn and easy to use with minimal learning curve.
Read full review
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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Discontinued Products
It's fairly easy to use, but the automatic formatting or capturing of formatting when pasting is wonky - especially when there are outlines or other bullets/numbered lists. Fixing and sizing up tables can be annoying, and there are sometimes formatting issues that we just absolutely cannot fix for some reason
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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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Discontinued Products
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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Discontinued Products
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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Discontinued Products
I am an MS feedback hub participant and they certainly don't pay enough attention to several bugs several people raise it in the portal. For the enterprise, it seems to me based on my prior experience that yes, they have a dedicated team to support operations. For mid to small companies or single users, it has been a struggle. So, you are pretty much with MS Blogs and others.
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Online Training
Adobe
Answered basic questions.
Read full review
Discontinued Products
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
Discontinued Products
No answers on this topic
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.
Read full review
Discontinued Products
We use Microsoft Office 2016 because at the time it was the best tool for us, but now with full attention to cloud products, we may be thinking of migrating our solution to a cloud service.
Read full review
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Adobe
I am not responsible for sales or purchasing
Read full review
Discontinued Products
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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Discontinued Products
No answers on this topic
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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Discontinued Products
  • Microsoft Office 2016 saves me a lot of time daily. I have functions and macros set up that calculate and show me a lot of things just from a couple of my inputs. This would take full days sometimes if not for that.
  • Apart from time, it saves me money, I manage data in Excel, I don't have to buy software specifically for that.
  • Sooner or later my company will have to switch to new edition, which will hurt revenues because of a subscription model.
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.