Adobe Acrobat vs pdfFiller
We give Adobe Acrobat a 2.6 GPA and pdfFiller a 2.2, out of 4.0. Adobe Acrobat grades higher on features, ease of use and platforms. pdfFiller grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe's PDF editor for desktop, web and mobile, with an AI tier
pdfFiller
Online PDF editor and form filler with templates and e-signatures
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAAdobe AcrobatGood | 2.2GPApdfFillerFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DStandard, the cheapest plan that edits, is $14.99 a month on a yearly plan, and OCR, redaction and compare need Pro at $19.99. That's the top of what PDF editors charge. Acrobat Pro 2024 is sold once for three years of desktop use, but no price for it is on record. | CRewriting existing text needs Plus, $12 a month on a yearly plan or $30 month to month. That's the dear end of normal for PDF editors. Basic at $8 only adds text on top, and receiving faxes costs extra. |
| Free plan and trial | CAcrobat Reader is free for good and views, comments on and signs PDFs. Nice. But it won't edit or convert, which is the job here. The 7-day trial covers Pro or Studio, and Standard has no trial at all. | CNo free plan, but a 30-day free trial, which is longer than most. After that you pay. |
| Features | BEdits text with reflowing layout, converts Office files, OCRs scans, compares versions, redacts, runs batch actions and sends documents to sign in bulk. It covers the whole job, though a lot of that sits on Pro rather than Standard. | CBuilds fillable forms and templates, sends for signature, takes payments on Premium, and faxes or posts documents, which no other editor here lists. But no OCR for scans is on record, so it's a forms tool more than a full editor. |
| Ease of use | B4.64 from 661,119 App Store ratings for the Acrobat Reader app, just shy of the top grade. Most people have opened a PDF in it already, so there's not much to learn. | C4.46 from 9,099 App Store ratings, just under the line for a B. And building templates and forms is real setting up before it pays off. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWindows, Mac, web, iPhone, Android and a browser extension, plus Microsoft 365, Teams, Outlook, OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox and Box. It's everywhere. | BWeb, iPhone, Android and add-ons for Chrome, Firefox and Gmail, with Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Box, Zapier and Stripe. No desktop app, which keeps it off the top grade. |
| Best for | the complete PDF toolkit, if the price is fine | filling, signing and sending forms |
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 and pdfFiller. How we grade
Price against what you get
Adobe Acrobat starts at $14.99 a month and scores 3.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. pdfFiller starts at $8 a month and scores 2.3.
Adobe Acrobat scores higher, and starts $6.99 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other PDF editors on the chart, none scores higher than Adobe Acrobat for less, and 5 score higher than pdfFiller 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 starts at $14.99 per month on an annual plan, billed monthly. pdfFiller starts at $8 per month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly).
- Adobe Acrobat has a free plan. pdfFiller does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Adobe Acrobat lists Windows and macOS apps.
- Adobe Acrobat also covers documents.
- pdfFiller also covers templates.
At a glance
| Adobe Acrobat | pdfFiller | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $14.99 per month on an annual plan, billed monthly | $8 per month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Acrobat Reader is free: view, print, share and comment on PDFs and sign them, without editing, converting or the paid tools. | None |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial of Acrobat Pro or Studio; 14 days on the team plans | 30-day free trial, cancel anytime |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Adobe | airSlate Inc. |
| Price read from | adobe.com | pdffiller.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Adobe Acrobat
- Offices that exchange PDFs with clients who also use Acrobat
- People who need OCR, redaction and e-signatures in one desktop app
- Users who read and sign PDFs for free with Acrobat Reader
pdfFiller
- People who fill in and sign government, tax or legal forms
- Small businesses that send forms and collect signatures and payments
- Anyone who needs to fax or mail a document without a fax machine
Worth knowing
Adobe Acrobat
- OCR, redaction, comparing PDFs and bulk e-signatures need Pro; Standard has no free trial.
- AI Assistant comes with Studio, or as an add-on at $4.99 a month on an annual plan for Reader, Standard and Pro users.
- Month-to-month billing costs $10 a month more than the annual plan on each individual tier.
- Adobe no longer sells perpetual licenses; Acrobat Pro 2024 is a one-time purchase for three years of desktop use without online services.
pdfFiller
- Month-to-month billing costs more than double the annual price on every plan.
- Rewriting existing text, redaction, fillable forms and signature requests need Plus or Premium.
- Receiving faxes costs extra: $19.99 a month on Basic, $14.99 on Plus and $9.99 on Premium.
- The enterprise plans need at least 20 users for Basic or 10 for Premium, on an annual commitment.
Key features
Adobe Acrobat
- Editing and conversion
- Edit text and images with reflowing layout, add, delete and reorder pages, combine files and convert to and from Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
- OCR, compare and redaction
- Pro turns scans into searchable, editable PDFs, shows the differences between two versions and permanently removes sensitive content.
- E-signatures built in
- Every paid plan can request signatures and track them; Pro adds branded requests, web forms, reusable templates and bulk sending.
- Batch actions
- Pro's Action Wizard runs saved sequences such as OCR, redaction, watermarking and conversion across many PDFs at once.
- AI Assistant and PDF Spaces
- Studio summarizes and answers questions about documents with citations, and PDF Spaces gathers PDFs, Microsoft 365 files and links into one workspace.
- Shared review
- Share a PDF by link, collect comments from several reviewers in one place and get notified as they respond, including from Teams and Outlook.
pdfFiller
- Edit and rewrite text
- Add text, images, highlights, tables and watermarks on every plan; from Plus, rewrite existing text and permanently redact.
- Fillable forms and templates
- Plus builds fillable forms and reusable templates, and Premium collects payments through Stripe and data through online forms.
- Form library
- Over a million ready-to-use templates on every plan, and Premium adds the US Legal Forms library of state-specific legal forms.
- Signature requests
- Plus sends documents for signature with tracking and reminders; Premium adds signNow signing order, bulk sending and stronger security.
- Send by fax or mail
- Export by download, email, print, fax, USPS mail or secure link, and receive faxes at a dedicated number for an extra monthly fee.
- Integrations and extensions
- Connects to Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive and Box, works inside Gmail, Chrome and Firefox, and automates work through Zapier.
Plans
Adobe Acrobat
Acrobat Reader$0
Free app for viewing, printing, commenting on and signing PDFs.
Acrobat Standard$14.99
per month on an annual plan, billed monthly ($24.99 month to month)
Edit and organize PDFs, convert to and from Office files, fill and sign forms, request e-signatures and password-protect files.
Acrobat Standard for teams$16.99
per license / month on an annual plan, billed monthly
Standard for several people, managed from one admin console.
Acrobat Pro$19.99
per month on an annual plan, billed monthly ($29.99 month to month)
Adds OCR for scans, comparing PDFs, redaction, branded e-signature requests, web forms, reusable templates and bulk sending.
Acrobat Pro for teams$23.99
per license / month on an annual plan, billed monthly
Pro for several people with admin console license management; 14-day free trial.
Acrobat Studio$24.99
per month on an annual plan, billed monthly ($34.99 month to month)
Pro plus AI Assistant, PDF Spaces for asking questions across many files, and Adobe Express Premium; $29.99 per license for teams.
pdfFiller
Basic$8
per month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly)
Add text, images and signatures, organize pages, convert to Office formats, self-sign, share and comment, and 1M+ templates.
Plus$12
per month, billed annually ($30 billed monthly)
Adds rewriting existing text, redaction, fillable forms and reusable templates, signature requests, shared workspaces and version history.
Premium$15
per month, billed annually ($40 billed monthly)
Adds signNow advanced e-signatures, the US Legal Forms library, payment and data collection by form, branding and Zapier workflows.
Ways to pay less
Adobe Acrobat
- Annual discount
Lower price on an annual plan
Adobe's plans page lists Standard at $14.99, Pro at $19.99 and Studio at $24.99 a month on an annual plan, against $24.99, $29.99 and $34.99 month to month.
pdfFiller
- Annual discount
Lower price with annual billing
pdfFiller lists Basic at $8 a month billed annually against $20 monthly, Plus at $12 against $30 and Premium at $15 against $40.
