Adobe Acrobat vs. Soda PDF

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
Soda PDF
Score 9.9 out of 10
N/A
LULU Software in Montreal offers Soda PDF Anywhere, their flagship product, a full-featured desktop and online PDF solution.N/A
Pricing
Adobe AcrobatSoda PDF
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 AcrobatSoda PDF
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 AcrobatSoda PDF
Considered Both Products
Adobe Acrobat
Chose Adobe Acrobat
We ultimately decided to go with Adobe Acrobat as they are a well recognized name in the industry. We deal with a lot of private agreements, business and marketing plans and we needed a top tier known program to ensure safety and compliance as well as confidentiality. It is …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
I think Adobe Acrobat is better designed, has better and more robust options and is more secure than the cloud services that those sites provide. Acrobat also is already integrated in the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite, so is cheaper to use it, because in those tools above you have …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
There really is no comparison. Although we use other PDF programs, we mainly utilize Adobe. Not only because we find it to be a better program but also because everyone is more familiar with it. However, the other products are implemented for various reasons, such as a feature …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
I found Adobe to be richer in features than Foxit or Soda, more intuitive to learn and more reliable when in use. Both alternatives were more prone to crashes or had needed features missing, which is how i made my decision to go with Adobe
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Although Adobe Acrobat DC is not a lightweight application like some other competitors for just the ease of viewing PDFs, it makes up with all of the features available. It is universal across multiple platforms which was an important factor when we were making a decision for a …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Ultimately I chose Adobe because I can access it via the cloud on all of my devices. I also chose it because I can cancel the software immediately and switch to something else if I need to. Adobe constantly has some better features and although I wish it was more intuitive, …
Soda PDF

No answer on this topic

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User Ratings
Adobe AcrobatSoda PDF
Likelihood to Recommend
8.8
(813 ratings)
8.4
(2 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.2
(45 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.2
(254 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.2
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
6.0
(10 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.1
(63 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.7
(15 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
8.0
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
6.0
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.0
(9 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
7.0
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
4.0
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
5.5
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Adobe AcrobatSoda PDF
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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LULU Software
When I get any pdf form to fill, I use this software to fill in all the required details. It is very easy to fill any form in pdf format in this software. Whenever I need to sign any official document digitally, I use this software. It also helps us to protect our confidential documents with password protection. We add passwords to our confidential documents with the help of this software.
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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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LULU Software
  • OCR comes in handy when you need to scan a document image for embedded text for edits. This feature is a common tool but the accuracy of OCR helps for quick edits.
  • Conversion options are a plus and a must-have when you need to convert between Microsoft Office and PDF.
  • During the pandemic, the ability to offer digital signing with personalized signatures is a major plus. Glad to have this tool available when needed.
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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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LULU Software
  • After the edit when I see my documents in full screen view, I find the header of my documents blocked by editing tools.
  • Its Url to PDF creator doesn't work well.
  • It does not have mobile application for PDF editing
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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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LULU Software
No answers on this topic
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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LULU Software
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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LULU Software
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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LULU Software
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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LULU Software
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Adobe
Easy to follow and understand
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LULU Software
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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LULU Software
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.
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LULU Software
I tried Smallpdf for sometime. It is also a very good tool for pdf related tasks but it doesn't provide a comprehensive functionality to edit a pdf document. I couldn't modify the text of my pdf documents in Smallpdf. But SodaPDF gives me the functionality to edit/change the text of my pdf documents. So I shifted from Smallpdf to this software.
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Adobe
The only thing I can think of that may be helpful would be a more flexible tiered pricing options based on usage or document volume.
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LULU Software
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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LULU Software
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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LULU Software
  • A recent project came across my desk where we had to recreate static files into editable word documents. Thank goodness for the OCR feature. It made for an almost flawless conversion. Minor edit here and there, no fault of the program. It was more due to the file quality of the original scan. Saved me time.
  • The feedback option is another plus: The review/comment function is great for easily getting document feedback. We just started using this feature. Another time-saver.
  • Document management due to file conversion options makes it easier to keep documents all in one place. Also, the ability to share these documents with coworkers is a major plus!
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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.