Adobe Acrobat vs Smallpdf
We give Adobe Acrobat and Smallpdf the same GPA: 2.6 out of 4.0. Adobe Acrobat grades higher on features and platforms. Smallpdf grades higher on value for money and ease of use. 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
Smallpdf
30-plus PDF tools in the browser, with Windows and mobile apps
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAAdobe AcrobatGood | 2.6GPASmallpdfGood | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CNo confirmed dollar price: the pricing page fills prices in by location. Smallpdf's own comparison page puts Pro at $9 to $12 a month, which would sit in the normal range. With nothing confirmed, it's a C. |
| 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. | CA free plan with all 30-plus tools, but downloads are capped each day and text editing needs Pro. Fine for the odd job, not regular use. The 7-day Pro trial drops you back to free if you cancel. |
| 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. | CConverts, compresses, merges, and on Pro edits text and OCRs, with AI tools and Sign.com for sending to sign. Everyday jobs are well covered. But no form builder or redaction is on record, and the Windows app converts and merges rather than edits. |
| 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. | A4.84 from 6,891 App Store ratings, about as good as it gets. Drop a file in the browser, pick a tool, download. No setup at all. |
| 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, Windows, iPhone, Android and a browser extension. Integrations are thin, though: Google Workspace and Dropbox, plus its own Sign.com. And Mac users get the browser only. |
| Best for | the complete PDF toolkit, if the price is fine | quick PDF jobs in the browser |
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 Smallpdf. How we grade
Where they differ
- Only Adobe Acrobat lists a macOS app.
- Adobe Acrobat also covers documents and forms.
At a glance
| Adobe Acrobat | Smallpdf | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $14.99 per month on an annual plan, billed monthly | Not published |
| Free plan | Acrobat Reader is free: view, print, share and comment on PDFs and sign them, without editing, converting or the paid tools. | The 30+ tools with a daily download limit, basic compression, limited AI and mobile app use, and a Sign.com account for 2 documents a month. |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial of Acrobat Pro or Studio; 14 days on the team plans | 7-day free trial of Pro; cancelling returns the account to the free plan |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Adobe | Smallpdf AG |
| Price read from | adobe.com | Not confirmed |
| 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
Smallpdf
- People who convert or shrink a PDF now and then in the browser
- Small teams that want PDF tools and e-signatures in one subscription
- Windows users who need PDF tools that work offline
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.
Smallpdf
- US dollar prices could not be read: the pricing page fills them in by location. Smallpdf's own comparison page gives Pro as $9 to $12 a month.
- The same comparison page gives Teams, for 2 to 19 seats, as $7 to $10 per seat a month; 20 or more seats are quoted by sales.
- The free plan limits downloads each day, so regular use of any tool needs Pro.
- The desktop app is for Windows only; Mac users work in the browser.
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.
Smallpdf
- Convert and compress
- Converts PDFs to and from Word, Excel, PowerPoint and images, with basic compression on the free plan and strong and batch compression on Pro.
- Edit text and OCR
- Pro edits text in a PDF and recognizes text in scans, alongside tools to merge, split, rotate, unlock and protect files.
- AI tools
- An AI PDF assistant, summarizer and question generator, limited on the free plan and unlimited on Pro.
- Sign.com included
- Pro includes an unlimited Sign.com Premium subscription for sending documents for e-signature; the free plan's Sign.com account is capped at 2 a month.
- Offline Windows app
- A desktop app for Windows converts, compresses, merges, unlocks and protects PDFs without an internet connection.
- Mobile scanning
- The iOS and Android apps scan paper to PDF, run OCR and use the same tools, limited on the free plan.
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.
Smallpdf
Pricing could not be confirmed. See smallpdf.com.
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.
Smallpdf
No public discounts listed.
