Acrobat Reader vs PDF Pencil
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Acrobat Reader
This app is a powerful PDF tool for viewing, editing, annotating, and signing documents. It offers AI-powered features for summarizing and interacting with PDFs, along with robust conversion and security options. Collaborate on files and access your documents from anywhere.
- View, edit, and annotate PDFs
- Sign and fill PDF forms
- Convert files to and from PDF
- AI-powered document summarization
- Collaborate in PDF Spaces
- Compress and secure PDFs
- Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
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Major new updates: Collaborate and share your files in PDF Spaces, and turn your document summaries into podcast-style audio in Acrobat Studio. The world’s most trusted PDF reader, PDF editor, and PDF maker with more than 635 million installs. View, share, annotate, add comments, and sign documents - all in one app. You can store your files online and read documents anywhere. Get your 7-day free trial and try all the features of Acrobat Reader. Paid features: Adobe Acrobat AI Assistant • Work across multiple files in one place with PDF Spaces. Collaborate, store, and use AI Assistant across files • Use voice or text prompts with AI Assistant chatbot • Ask questions and get cited answers about details in your document, including charts, graphs, and tables with Figures Q&A • Easily share the responses you get • Try voice support to ask queries and have answers read aloud. • Use new Hands-free to keep the conversation flowing with voice only • Instantly generate summaries from your PDFs with Generative AI Summaries • Get content for emails, text, study notes, blogs, and more [Adobe Acrobat AI Assistant is a paid feature*, free for a limited time] Edit PDFs • With our PDF editor, edit text and images directly in your PDF (mobile only) • Fix typos or add paragraphs with the PDF editor • Easily add, delete, or rotate any image • Use this PDF signer and PDF viewer to get your docs just right Recognize text • Optical Character Recognition (OCR) turns scanned PDFs into searchable, editable text to use in other formats Merge & organize PDFs with PDF Converter • Split or combine multiple files into one PDF with PDF converter • Use the PDF editor to insert, delete, rotate, crop & reorder pages in your PDF file Create, convert & export PDFs • Easily convert to PDF from any file type including Microsoft, Google Docs, and images • Export and convert PDFs to Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or various image files • Convert web pages to PDFs Compress & highly secure PDFs • Compress PDF files for easy saving and sharing • Password Protect PDF documents Have your PDF read aloud • Listen to your PDFs on the go, great for reading support • Choose free voices or upgrade for high-quality options Subscribe now to access all these features and use Acrobat across mobile and web platforms. Free-to-use features: PDF signer: Fill & Sign Adobe Fill & Sign is free & available in Acrobat Reader. A form filler and PDF signer that lets you fill, sign, and send Liquid mode in the optimal PDF viewer • Get the best PDF reading experience with this PDF viewer • Search, navigate & adjust font size or spacing to fit your screen Annotate PDFs • Add sticky notes, comments, and highlight text Store & manage files • Link online storage accounts like Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox, or Google Drive • Star files to quickly open important documents Connect the PDF viewer and reader to Google Drive • A PDF creator that lets you edit, compress, and export Google Drive files with a subscription Work with scanned documents • Access scanned PDFs from Adobe Scan in Acrobat to fill, sign, and share The Acrobat Reader mobile app is designed to work with customers who have Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) enabled. *An Adobe Acrobat AI Assistant add-on plan is available to Acrobat Individual customers. iOS 16 or above required. Terms & Conditions: Your use of this application is governed by the Adobe General Terms of Use http://www.adobe.com/go/terms_linkfree_en and the Adobe Privacy Policy http://www.adobe.com/go/privacy_policy_linkfree_en Do not sell or share my personal information www.adobe.com/go/ca-rights-linkfree
PDF Pencil
Easily sign, annotate, and scan PDF documents. This app allows you to create vector signatures, add text and notes, and convert images or camera scans into PDFs. It offers features like password protection, page rearrangement, and iCloud synchronization for seamless document management.
- Vector signature creation
- PDF annotation and form filling
- Camera-based PDF scanning
- Image to PDF conversion
- Password protection for PDFs
- Page rearrangement
- iCloud synchronization
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Experience the most natural way to sign, scan, and markup documents. With PDF Pencil, you can sign your PDF documents like paper with full vector support—no more blurry image stamps. Transform your device into a professional portable scanner and go paperless today. # Pro Vector Signatures Upgrade your finger or Apple Pencil into a high-precision stylus. PDF Pencil uses full vector technology, allowing you to zoom in without losing quality. • Customizable: Pick your favorite ink color and line thickness; the app remembers your preferences for next time. • Security First: PDF Pencil prioritizes your privacy. We never save your signature—not even inside the app. # Advanced PDF Markup & Editing • Fill forms and annotate documents with ease. • Fill & Sign: Add text, handwritten notes, and drawings to any PDF form. • Full Control: Use Undo/Redo, rearrange pages, duplicate files, or rename documents instantly. • Reader & Search: A powerful built-in PDF reader with a search feature to find exactly what you need. # Your Mobile Portable Scanner • Turn physical paper into high-quality PDF files using your camera. • Smart Detection: Auto-capture, crop, and rotate features with B&W conversion for a clean, professional look. • Scan Anything: Perfect for expense receipts, business cards, paper contracts, and handwritten notes. • Image Converter: Quickly convert photos from your gallery directly into PDFs. # Organize & Protect Manage your professional document workflow directly from your iPhone or iPad. • Password Protection: Secure your sensitive files with encrypted password support. • Page Management: Rearrange, copy, or delete individual pages within a multipage document. • Cloud Sync: Import and save files from iCloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, and Google Drive. # Seamless Sharing • Standard Share: Send your documents anywhere using the Apple standard share sheet. • Universal Access: Synchronize PDFs in iCloud to access your work from all your Apple devices. • Dark Mode: Full iOS Dark Mode support for comfortable viewing in any environment. # Go Paperless Replace paper, save trees, and protect our planet. While we love trees, PDF Pencil supports AirPrint for those times when a physical copy is absolutely necessary. Get the full version to SCAN and SHARE without limits. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: Acrobat Reader at freemium against PDF Pencil's subscription. Acrobat Reader also leads on update cadence (every 10 days vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (664K vs 141). PDF Pencil's advantage is review sentiment (83% vs 49%) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 18.3). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Acrobat Reader sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and PDF Pencil sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Acrobat Reader against 4.6 for PDF Pencil. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Acrobat Reader has 664K ratings behind it against 141, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 49% of Acrobat Reader's written reviews are positive against 83% of PDF Pencil's.
Acrobat Reader ships an update every 10 days, PDF Pencil every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Acrobat Reader | PDF Pencil |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (664K ratings) — better | 4.6 (141 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 49.1% of reviews | 82.6% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 664K — better | 141 |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium — better | Subscription |
| Best chart rank | #2 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.3 | 15.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 552 MB | 27 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Adobe Inc. | Warif Rishi |
Customer experience
Acrobat Reader
PDF Pencil
Bugs and requests
Acrobat Reader
Reported bugs
4 issues- Frequent crashes and freezes
- Inconsistent behavior when editing PDFs
- Inability to open or save certain file types
- Sync issues between mobile and desktop versions
Requested features
5 requests- Add erase tool for annotations
- Improve palm rejection for Apple Pencil
- Allow direct text editing in PDFs
- Provide better cloud integration and sync
- Offer more customization options
PDF Pencil
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Acrobat Reader
- Acrobat Premium - Monthly$3.991 Month
- Adobe Acrobat Premium$4.991 Month
- AI Assistant for Acrobat$6.991 Month
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- Acrobat Premium$7.497 Days
- Acrobat Premium - Monthly$9.991 Month
- Acrobat Premium - Weekly$9.997 Days
- PDF Pack - Doc Creator$9.991 Month
- Premium - Edit & Create PDF$9.991 Month
- PDF Edit and Convert Monthly7 Days trial$12.991 Month
- Acrobat Premium - Monthly$12.991 Month
- Acrobat Premium - Monthly$14.991 Month
- Acrobat Reader Plus - Yearly$19.991 Year
- Adobe ExportPDF$23.991 Year
- Adobe Acrobat Pro$24.991 Month
- Acrobat Premium - Yearly7 Days trial$48.991 Year
- Acrobat Premium - Yearly7 Days trial2 variants$69.991 Year
PDF Pencil
- Premium Weekly$3.997 Days
- Premium Monthly3 Days trial$9.991 Month
- Premium Yearly3 Days trial$49.991 Year








