Adobe Acrobat Sign vs Proof
We give Adobe Acrobat Sign a 1.6 GPA and Proof a 2.0, out of 4.0. Adobe Acrobat Sign grades higher on the free plan. Proof grades higher on ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money, features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Adobe Acrobat Sign
Adobe's e-signatures, sold inside Acrobat plans or on their own
Proof
Online notarization, e-signatures and ID checks, formerly Notarize
How we grade them
| 1.6GPAAdobe Acrobat SignWeak | 2.0GPAProofFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CAbout $51 a month for three on Acrobat Standard for teams, at $16.99 a licence on the annual plan billed monthly. That's the dearer end of this category, but it includes a full PDF editor and uncapped e-signatures. Bulk send and branding need Pro at $23.99. | CGraded against its own alternatives, as notarization is its main job. Pro has no monthly fee: $25 a notary meeting, $4 per signing or ID check. For plain signing that soon passes DocuSign's $11 a month. Your own notaries, the API and branding need Pro+ at $199. |
| Free plan and trial | DNo free plan. There's a 14-day trial of Pro or Studio for teams, but it runs on into a yearly commitment: cancel more than 14 days after it ends and you pay half of what's left. | FNothing free. Pro costs nothing a month, but every notarization, signing and ID check is charged, and there's no trial. That's paying as you go, not trying it out. |
| Features | CSend from Acrobat, several signers at once, tracking, audit trails, web forms and branding, plus the PDF tools. But Adobe itself says the signing in Acrobat Standard and Pro doesn't reach the compliance level of Acrobat Sign Solutions, which is sold through sales. | CIt does notarization fully: on-demand notaries 24/7, your own notaries on Pro+, ID checks to NIST IAL2 and online real estate closings. As a signing tool it's basic below Pro+, though, where signing order, signing groups and the API start. |
| Ease of use | F2.2 from about 650 App Store ratings for the Acrobat Sign app, by far the lowest in this category. You can send from Acrobat on a computer instead, but on a phone this is the app. | BNo store rating on record, but there's next to nothing to set up for a one-off: upload the document, and the signer checks their ID and meets a notary by video, at any hour. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, desktop Acrobat and iPhone, with Word, Teams, Salesforce, Workday, Box, Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive. No Android app is listed, so it misses an A. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with ResWare, SoftPro 360, Encompass and SimpleNexus for real estate closings and an API on Pro+. No desktop app, and the integrations are all for title and lending. |
| Best for | teams that need Acrobat's PDF tools anyway | getting documents notarized without an office visit |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Adobe Acrobat Sign and Proof. How we grade
Price against what you get
Adobe Acrobat Sign starts at $16.99 a month for each person and scores 1.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Proof starts at $199 a month and scores 2.7.
Proof scores higher, and starts $182.01 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other e-signature and proposal tools on the chart, 14 score higher than Adobe Acrobat Sign for less, and 4 score higher than Proof for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Adobe Acrobat Sign starts at $16.99 per license / month, annual plan billed monthly. Proof starts at $199 per month, plus transaction fees (Pro+).
- Proof has a free plan. Adobe Acrobat Sign does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Proof lists an Android app.
- Adobe Acrobat Sign also covers forms.
- Proof also covers templates.
At a glance
| Adobe Acrobat Sign | Proof | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $16.99 per license / month, annual plan billed monthly | $199 per month, plus transaction fees (Pro+) |
| Free plan | None | Pro plan: no monthly fee, but each transaction is charged: $25 per Notarize Network meeting, $4 per e-signature transaction and $4 per identity check. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of Acrobat Pro or Acrobat Studio for teams, for up to 10 licenses | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Adobe | Notarize, Inc. dba Proof.com |
| Price read from | adobe.com | proof.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Adobe Acrobat Sign
- Teams that already need Acrobat for PDF editing and want e-signatures included
- Businesses that send a high volume of agreements, since team plans have no e-signature cap
- Large companies that need Adobe's enterprise e-signature compliance, via sales
Proof
- Businesses whose customers need documents notarized without an office visit
- Title agencies and lenders closing real estate deals online
- Teams that want notarization, e-signing and ID checks in one account
Worth knowing
Adobe Acrobat Sign
- Small teams cannot buy Acrobat Sign on its own: it comes inside an Acrobat for teams plan, and the standalone Acrobat Sign Solutions is sold only through sales.
- Plans are annual commitments paid monthly; cancelling more than 14 days after the trial ends costs half the remaining commitment.
- Adobe says the e-signature features in Acrobat Standard and Pro do not offer the compliance level of Acrobat Sign Solutions.
- The Acrobat AI Assistant is a paid add-on on Standard and Pro and is included only in Acrobat Studio.
Proof
- Transactions cost extra on every plan: a Notarize Network meeting is $25, plus $15 per extra seal, $10 per extra signer and $15 per on-demand witness.
- Using your own notaries, the API and custom branding need Pro+ at $199 a month; SSO and SCIM need the custom-priced Enterprise plan.
- Individuals use the Notarize site and app instead, at $25 per notarization; that account also signs documents at $4 per transaction.
- Title agencies and lenders have separate plans with their own per-closing rates, and the lender plan is priced through sales.
Key features
Adobe Acrobat Sign
- Send from Acrobat
- Request e-signatures directly from Acrobat on desktop, web or mobile, with no usage cap on e-signatures in Acrobat for teams plans.
- Several signers at once
- Send one document to multiple signers, each of whom gets a personal copy; Acrobat Pro adds bulk sending.
- Tracking and audit trails
- Real-time status and notifications for documents out for signature, with audit trails kept for completed ones.
- Web forms and branding
- Turn PDFs or Word files into fillable forms, post signable web forms on a website and add your logo to agreements.
- PDF tools in the same plan
- The Acrobat plans also edit, convert, combine, password-protect and, in Pro, compare and redact PDFs.
- Cloud storage and app links
- Store signed files in Box, Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive, and send from Microsoft Word, Teams, Salesforce or Workday.
Proof
- Online notarization
- Signers meet a commissioned notary over video, 24/7, from the on-demand Notarize Network, and the notarizations are accepted in all 50 states.
- In-house notaries
- On Pro+ and the title plans a business can onboard its own notaries at a lower meeting rate and send overflow to the Notarize Network.
- E-signatures
- Send documents for signature at $4 a transaction. Pro+ adds signing order, signing groups and different signer requirements on one document.
- Identity verification
- Identify checks a signer's identity to the NIST IAL2 standard for $4, with a $25 live meeting with a trusted referee when needed.
- Real estate closings
- Title and lender plans bring seller-side, cash and mortgage closings online, with links to ResWare, SoftPro 360, Encompass and SimpleNexus.
- Fraud monitoring
- Proof Defend, on the custom-priced plans, flags suspicious transactions and checks video frames for deepfakes during notary sessions.
Plans
Adobe Acrobat Sign
Acrobat Standard for teams$16.99
per license / month, annual plan billed monthly
Acrobat plan with PDF editing and conversion that can request e-signatures and track them; the AI Assistant is an add-on.
Acrobat Pro for teams$23.99
per license / month, annual plan billed monthly
Adds bulk send, brand customization, PDF comparison and redaction, plus 24x7 support; the AI Assistant is an add-on.
Acrobat Studio for teams$29.99
per license / month, annual plan billed monthly
Everything in Acrobat Pro plus PDF Spaces, the Acrobat AI Assistant and Adobe Express Premium.
Acrobat Sign SolutionsCustom
The standalone e-signature product, sold through sales, with unlimited seats, deeper integrations and compliance features.
Proof
Pro$0
No monthly fee; pay $25 per notary meeting and $4 per e-sign transaction or ID check. Notarize, Sign and Identify, audit logs and reusable templates.
Pro+$199
per month, plus transaction fees
Adds API access, custom branding, custom fields, signing order and groups, and your own in-house notaries at $15 a meeting.
Premium & EnterpriseCustom
Sold through sales: volume transaction rates, SSO and SCIM through Command Center, Proof Defend fraud monitoring, dedicated SLAs and premier support.
