Comparison

Acrobat Reader vs eSign

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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)
Features
Read full description

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

About

eSign

Easily fill out and sign PDF documents directly on your device. This app allows you to add signatures, merge files, rearrange pages, and annotate PDFs. It integrates with cloud storage and offers OCR for text extraction.

Highlights
  • Fill and sign PDF documents
  • Add digital signatures
  • Merge multiple PDF files
  • Rearrange PDF pages
  • Annotate PDFs
  • OCR text extraction
  • Cloud storage integration
Features
Read full description

**eSign – Fill & Sign PDF Forms Effortlessly** eSign is your go-to solution for quickly filling out and signing PDF files—no printer, scanner, or desktop required. Need to edit or sign a PDF on the fly? With eSign, you can fill in forms, add your signature, and send documents in just a few taps. It's fast, easy, and always at your fingertips. eSign automatically detects fillable fields, making it simple to complete forms anywhere, anytime. Key Features • Fill and sign PDF documents quickly • Add digital signatures with the Add Signature feature • Merge multiple PDF files into one • Rearrange PDF pages with easy drag-and-drop • Annotate PDFs documents with comments and highlights • Connect to Google Drive and Dropbox • Extract text using OCR (optical character recognition) • Search for text within PDF files • Import PDFs from Files, Photos, Google Drive, and Dropbox • Automatically and securely save files to the Files app • Share documents via email or text message • Print PDFs documents directly from your device Upgrade to Subscription Version Unlock cloud syncing, premium features, and ongoing updates by upgrading to the subscription version. Subscription details: • Payment will be charged to your Apple ID at the time of purchase • Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period • Your account will be charged within 24 hours prior to the renewal • Manage or cancel subscriptions from your App Store account settings Links to Your Privacy Policy and Terms of Use: http://www.btoj.com.au/privacy.html http://www.btoj.com.au/terms.html Need help? Please feel free to contact us anytime.

Screenshots

Acrobat Reader4 screens
eSign4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Acrobat Reader at none against eSign's shown. Acrobat Reader also leads on ratings volume (654K vs 112) and chart position (#2 vs unranked). eSign's advantage is review sentiment (78% vs 49%) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.3). On price, rating, update cadence 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Acrobat Reader sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and eSign sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Acrobat Reader against 4.7 for eSign. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Acrobat Reader has 654K ratings behind it against 112, 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 78% of eSign's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Acrobat Reader ships an update every 9 days, eSign every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on September 26, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Acrobat Reader versus eSign: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAcrobat ReadereSign
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (654K ratings)4.7 (112 ratings) — better
Positive reviews49.1% of reviews78.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings654K — better112
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#2 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.313.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size522 MB62 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAdobe Inc.B TO J PTY LTD

Customer experience

Acrobat Reader

All ratings654,141 ratings
Positive91.4%
Neutral2.4%
Negative6.2%
Written reviews3,158 reviews
Positive49.1%
Neutral4.4%
Negative46.6%

eSign

All ratings112 ratings
Positive92.9%
Neutral1.8%
Negative5.4%
Written reviews55 reviews
Positive78.2%
Neutral1.8%
Negative20.0%

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

eSign

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

16 purchases

Acrobat Reader

Subscriptions16
  • Acrobat Premium - Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Adobe Acrobat Premium$4.991 Month
  • AI Assistant for Acrobat$6.991 Month
Show 13 more
  • 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
2 purchases

eSign

Subscriptions2
  • 1 Month Subscription$7.991 Month
  • 1 Year Subscription$49.991 Year

Questions

Is Acrobat Reader free?
Acrobat Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is eSign free?
eSign is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Acrobat Reader or eSign?
eSign is rated higher. Acrobat Reader averages 4.6 out of 5 from 654K ratings, while eSign averages 4.7 from 112 ratings.
Do Acrobat Reader or eSign have ads?
eSign shows ads; Acrobat Reader does not.
Which is updated more often, Acrobat Reader or eSign?
Acrobat Reader ships an update every 9 days, and eSign every 2 weeks. Most recently, Acrobat Reader was updated on September 26, 2026 and eSign on September 26, 2026.

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