Adobe Acrobat vs. Adobe Experience Manager Forms

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).
$12.99
per month
Adobe Experience Manager Forms
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
Adobe Experience Manager Forms (formerly LiveCycle) is designed to make it easy to create and publish forms for any device. With its machine learning and AI-fueled feature, Automated Forms Conversion, users can modernize forms at speed.N/A
Pricing
Adobe AcrobatAdobe Experience Manager Forms
Editions & Modules
Acrobat Standard for Individuals
$12.99
per month
Acrobat Standard for teams
$14.99
per month per user
Acrobat Pro for Individuals
$19.99
per month
Acrobat Pro for Teams
$22.19
per month per user
Acrobat for Enterprise
Contact sales team
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Adobe AcrobatAdobe Experience Manager Forms
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 AcrobatAdobe Experience Manager Forms
Considered Both Products
Adobe Acrobat

No answer on this topic

Adobe Experience Manager Forms
Chose Adobe Experience Manager Forms
I have only ever used LiveCycle for our PDF form creation. I am not sure what other options there are, but we have never needed to look into anything else as LiveCycle works for us.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
Adobe AcrobatAdobe Experience Manager Forms
Small Businesses
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Score 9.7 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
MSB Docs
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Score 9.7 out of 10
MSB Docs
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Score 9.7 out of 10
Enterprises
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Score 6.0 out of 10
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Score 6.0 out of 10
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User Ratings
Adobe AcrobatAdobe Experience Manager Forms
Likelihood to Recommend
8.9
(473 ratings)
7.0
(5 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(11 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.6
(232 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.8
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.2
(52 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.6
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
10.0
(6 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.6
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Adobe AcrobatAdobe Experience Manager Forms
Likelihood to Recommend
Adobe
If your organization uses PDFs frequently, then Adobe Acrobat feels like must-have. I could not imagine our organization not using it. The ability to create, organize, and edit PDFs easily and intuitively are the main reasons my organization uses it. The other additional functions and features are "nice to haves", but ultimately, don't impact our day-to-day
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Adobe
Helps in creating forms that we normally used to create in Excel. For this reason alone it's a huge upgrade. Plus is relatively easy to use once you know how to use it. Also, it works best for forms that you need to fill in.
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Pros
Adobe
  • Easy to understand- the program has a very intuitive layout that is great for people who doesn't use the product very much
  • Includes all features you might need. There are many features I didn't even think we would need that they have included.
  • They have a very recognizable name so my clients feel they can trust what they are being asked to open/sign since the Adobe name is next to it.
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Adobe
  • It enables me to quickly update and distribute forms that have been changed.
  • The layout features help ensure that the forms look professional.
  • The ability to preview what the final form will look like and how it will work, while still editing, is extremely helpful.
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Cons
Adobe
  • It would be good if Adobe Acrobat could utilize less system resources. I have had crashes due to memory and CPU load this week
  • Quicker load times from a cold launch
  • Easier collaborative commenting for offline documents - knowing where and who wrote what
  • Ensuring documents don't have issues where text cannot be copied before publishing
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Adobe
  • Biggest issue is the user friendliness for the designer. It is hard to get elements to do what you want if you are adding any sort of design to your form. In my case I make flyers which require not only the form fills, but also other elements like pictures and background design elements.
  • The import from PSD or AI function does not work properly most of the time. If you create a document with lots of visual elements, your best bet is to convert as much of that as possible to a rasterized image and then popping that in as the background rather than trying to import elements. They come out very wonky, colors are lost in conversion, and the layout doesn't come over.
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Likelihood to Renew
Adobe
I bought a perpetual license to Acrobat some time ago, but if the software ever stopped being supported in my version of windows or other solution that makes me need to buy another license I would not hesitate to do so since it saves me a lot of headaches. There are workarounds to merge files and edit pdfs with an online interface but I dont think those are a good usage of time when Acrobat exists.
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Adobe
No answers on this topic
Usability
Adobe
My overall experience with Adobe is great because because the it has almost all of the tools in one place and it can be used it for most of my work without going anywhere else. Because the tools are available right there in the main interface, it makes it very easy to use.
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Adobe
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
Adobe
Pretty much always there for my business and personal needs.
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Adobe
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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Adobe
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Adobe
Because I don't need it. Used it years ago for account management/billing issues but they have changed the user experience so more of that can be managed online. If I have a question the knowledge base or a video that Adobe has posted answers
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Adobe
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Adobe
Answered basic questions.
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Adobe
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Adobe
Works well with JamF and SmartDeploy. These are our Enterprise imaging solutions for Mac's and PC's. The Enterprise installer is required when pushing out this app.
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Adobe
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Adobe
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 or 2 that we find necessary to use at times.
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Adobe
We chose this solution because it offered more flexibility , decreased our overall expenses and is what allowed us to execute our operations and business needs effectively. Adobe LiveCycle is a step above all of its competitors. Your only setback will be the initial training time investments.
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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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Adobe
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Adobe
  • Adobe Acrobat has improved the security of our documents, resulting in less risk, as protecting documents is essential to ensure compliance with privacy laws.
  • It saves our company money, as the product makes it easier for our employees to complete their jobs.
  • The product assists our employees with providing quality work product.
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Adobe
  • Easier for employees to fill forms
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ScreenShots

Adobe Acrobat Screenshots

Screenshot of Create, edit, convert, and share PDF files all from within Microsoft Teams – as part of Acrobat integrations with Microsoft 365 apps.Screenshot of With Liquid Mode in Adobe Acrobat Reader mobile app, 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 Fill and sign PDF forms from anywhere and on any device.  Collect signatures, digitally track progress, and automatically archive the signed document.Screenshot of With Adobe Scan mobile app, capture and convert documents into high-quality, interactive PDF documents that can be filled out, signed, and shared.  Eliminates the hassle of finding a printer, filling a form by hand, and scanning it again.